Rachel Freed

Rachel Freed is a Senior Consultant at the Consensus Building Institute. She has over 25 years of experience as a mediator, facilitator, negotiator, trainer, and coach working with government, non-profit, and private organizations on a wide range of environmental and organizational topics. She has mediated and facilitated dozens of multi-party cases involving conflicts over complex regulatory and policy issues related to water resources, land use, ecological restoration, and transportation infrastructure. In addition to environmental conflict resolution, her practice includes facilitating and mediating dialogues with organizations to help them collaborate on challenges such as strategic planning, priority-setting, building capacity, and managing change. Rachel is adept at process design and has expertise helping leaders develop systems to support collaborative engagement. She has designed and led dozens of trainings on conflict resolution, mutual gains negotiation, and facilitation, as well as coaching emerging leaders.

Rachel previously worked at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), where, in addition to her other responsibilities, she provided in-house mediation, facilitation, and training to MassDEP and other state agencies. Her experience in government gives her a deep understanding of how agencies function with regard to regulatory and policy processes, as well as the myriad challenges that public sector employees must navigate when engaging with stakeholders on highly complex environmental issues.

Areas of Focus

Strategic planning and organizational/structural processes; water resources (wetlands, coastal and riverine systems, drinking water, and wastewater); ecological restoration; land use; transportation infrastructure; environmental regulatory and policy conflicts; conflict process/system design; work place conflict resolution; coaching for leaders. 

Exemplary Projects

• Water Force/Southeast Mass. Economic Development Corporation – Assessment of the potential for constructive regional collaboration on water supply and wastewater
• Mass. Municipal Association – Organizational strategic planning process
• New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection – Facilitation Skills Development
• Town of Concord, Warner's Pond Task Force – Facilitation of multi-member task force charged with making recommendations about dam removal on a local pond and stream system
• New York Department of State Offshore Wind Technical Work Group

Education and Affiliations

Rachel holds a Master's Degree in Conflict Resolution from UMass-Boston, a Master's Degree in Urban Affairs and Environmental Planning from Boston University, and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Boston University. She is a member of the Roster of Mediators for the Community Dispute Settlement Center (CDSC) and is a certified mediator.

Clients 

The following is a partial list of clients.

• Mass. Municipal Association
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
• US EPA 
• South Shore Economic Development Corporation 
• Town of Wellesley, MA
• Town of Concord, MA 
• State of New York
• Town of Brookline, MA
• Town of Arlington, MA
• Lemberg Children's Center, Waltham, MA 
• Commonwealth of Massachusetts (multiple agencies)                                                     
• Combined Jewish Philanthropies
• Mass. Invasive Plant Action Group (MIPAG)

Publications

Review of The Name of War:  King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore.  ACResolution, Fall 2013.

"The Road:  A Case Study of the Marrett Road Mediation and Implementation Processes," 1997 (M.A. Final Project).

"Considering Ethical Obligations for Public Sector Mediators," (co-authored with Maura Zlody), 1996. Presented at SPIDR Annual Conference, 1997.