The Montana Consensus Council
Staff & Consultants
MCC Staff
Judy Edwards, Executive Director
(406) 444-9838
juedwards@mt.gov
Judy Edwards is the Executive Director of the Montana Consensus Council. Judy is a Montana native with 15 years in public policy with areas of expertise in health care, natural resources and tribal/state relations. Prior to returning to Montana in 2002, Judy worked for the State of Utah in the Department of Health and the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. She has also served as the lead on Indian health policy for the Western Governors' Association for several years. While in Utah, Judy convened the Western Summit on Indian Health Care with tribal, state, and federal agencies which continued to meet for seven years to help better understand the complexities in addressing health care for American Indians and develop workable policies. Judy is a Registered Nurse with a BS from MSU Bozeman and a Masters Degree in Public Health from the School of Public Health, University of Alabama, Birmingham.
Jacqueline L Gibson, Mediator/Project Manager
(406) 444-4457
jgibson@mt.gov
Jacquie was a founding associate of Family Mediation Services, Missoula, Montana, in 1984, while pursuing her M.A. in Communication and after receiving divorce and family mediation training from Divorce Mediation Associates of Atlanta. Moving to Oregon, she directed the Mediation Program at the University of Oregon from 1988 to 1997, handling more than 400 disputes among students, staff, faculty and administrators, and doing countless facilitations, designing and presenting hundreds of workshops for students, staff and faculty. She has taught conflict management, communication skills, and/or mediation at five colleges and universities, and given workshops and presentations to many public and professional groups. After working briefly with a consulting group in Oregon, she joined the Collaboration Institute in Montana in 1997. She has a BA in English and MB in communication from UMT Missoula. She has specific training and diplomas in divorce mediation, family conflict resolution, intercultural conflict resolution, and trust and betrayal in the workplace. She lives in Helena with her partner Sandy Shull.
Mark Squires, Administrative Assistant
444-2075
msquires@mt.gov
Mark Squires, originally from Wisconsin, has a BA in Psychology, Physical Education and Secondary Education from Luther College, Decorah IA. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard. He has 30 years experience in Management, Administration and Customer Service. He has worked in wholesale, retail, healthcare services and equipment, and as a consultant and trainer for small businesses. Mark moved to Helena in 2000 to work for The Holter Museum of Art and now works part-time as an Administrative Assistant for The Montana Consensus Council.
Consultants
Kathy A. Van Hook
Kathy A. van Hook was a Managing Director on the staff of the Montana Consensus Council from May, 1999 until May, 2006 and currently works for the Office of the Governor. Kathy's education and background includes a B.S. in Resource Conservation, formal training in mediation and interest-based negotiations and problem solving. For more than 20 years she has worked with both public and private parties to resolve disputes, involve broad interests, provide training in negotiation, facilitation, mediation, and public participation. Her recent work includes facilitating public participation forums for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Bureau of Land Management, lead staff in coordination of the biennial Leadership Institute, design and facilitation of a negotiated rulemaking process along with facilitation/mediation of numerous multi-party disputes. Prior to joining the Consensus Council, she worked as a labor mediator for the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, trained more than 30 groups in interest-based bargaining, and coordinated the Annual Employment Relations Conferences. She is a member of the Montana Mediation Association and the Association for Conflict Resolution. Kathy has lived in Helena for thirty years with her husband Charles.
Will Harmon
Will Harmon is a writer and editor, on contract as the Communications Coordinator for the Montana Consensus Council. He has a degree in English from the University of Montana. He was a technical writer and editor for the U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Research Station in Missoula and for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in Helena. Will has written five books on outdoor recreation and numerous newspaper and magazine articles on natural resources and consensus building. He is the project editor for more than forty books, including an ongoing series of mountain biking guides for Falcon Publishing, and he produces a quarterly newsletter for the Transboundary Initiative, a think tank promoting consensus-based problem solving in the U.S. and Canada. Will lives in Helena with his wife, Rose, and their sons Evan and Ben.
Gerald Mueller
Gerald Mueller is a facilitator and mediator on contract with the Montana Consensus Council. He has been helping people resolve complex, multi-party disputes involving energy and natural resources outside of the legal system since 1988. Prior to starting his own private consulting firm, Mr. Mueller gained fourteen years experience in Montana state government and was appointed by Governor Ted Schwinden to serve as one of Montana's original members of the Northwest Power Planning Council. Mr. Mueller began his professional career in 1974 in the Energy Planning Division of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, first as an air analyst and later as program manager for the Major Facility Siting Act. Gerald received a M.S. in atmospheric science from Colorado State University in 1974, and a B.A. in physics from California State University at Fullerton in 1971. He is a member of the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution.
John Mundinger
John Mundinger is a facilitator and mediator on contract with the Montana Consensus Council. Prior to starting a private consulting firm, he worked for more than 22 years with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Through that professional experience, he gained an appreciation for the interdependence of people with interests in natural resource issues. The focus of his business is to help people effectively participate in interest-based problem solving approaches; to work together to achieve shared objectives; and, to resolve some of Montana's many contentious natural resource issues. Mr. Mundinger has a degree in zoology from the University of Colorado and degrees in fish and wildlife management from Montana State University.
