The doorway is already open
ABOUT JODIE
I help people and organizations see conflict not as a rupture, but as a doorway — guiding them to clarity, compassion, and courageous change. This isn't just what I do. It's what I believe about every difficult conversation worth having.
My story
I came to conflict work the way most people do — through lived experience. After years of navigating complex relationships, organizations, and systems, I realized that the moments I found most meaningful were always the ones where something difficult became something transformative.
That realization led me to graduate study in conflict resolution at California State University Dominguez Hills, where I earned a 4.0 GPA and completed original research on AI-driven insurance denials and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence in dispute resolution. It led me to 40-hour mediation training through the SONAR Method and an internship with Humboldt Mediation Services. It led me to design an 8-hour de-escalation training program for the Humboldt Workforce Coalition — drawing on Brené Brown, Bill Eddy's BIFF model, and trauma-informed frameworks.
I also know what it means to run an organization. As a co-owner of a business for six years, a board member for the Arcata Chamber of Commerce and Sequoia Humane Society, and a longtime community member in Humboldt County, I bring a practitioner's understanding of what conflict actually costs — and what becomes possible when organizations learn to navigate it well.
Where I am now
I am in the early stages of building my practice here in Humboldt County, and I want to be honest about that. I am not a consultant with ten years of client files behind me. I am someone with serious training, a deep commitment to this community, and a genuine belief that the organizations here deserve access to this kind of work.
I am currently an approved volunteer mediator, instructor, and facilitator with Humboldt Mediation Services, and I am in the process of joining their board. I am taking on a small number of clients as I build, which means the people I work with get my full attention.
Who I work with
The people who tend to reach out to me are leaders who have quietly become the conflict person at their organization. Not because they trained for it, but because no one else would. They are competent and exhausted, and somewhere underneath the exhaustion is a nagging feeling that what they are managing is not really a people problem. It is a systems problem.
If your team is walking on eggshells, if hard conversations keep getting postponed, if you have become the full-time referee between the same two people, or if you sense that something structural is broken but you cannot name it yet — that is exactly the kind of situation I work with.
I work primarily with nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and local government agencies in Humboldt County. If you are outside the county, I am available remotely.
Most people approach conflict from a single lens. I bring three simultaneously — and it's the integration of all three that makes the difference.
My approach
The human lens
What are people feeling, needing, and trying to protect? Every conflict has an emotional and relational layer that must be understood before anything else can shift.
The system lens
Conflict doesn't happen in a vacuum. It lives inside structures, policies, power dynamics, and organizational cultures. I help clients see and redesign the systems that create it.
The meaning lens
The goal isn't just resolution — it's transformation. What does this conflict make possible? What healthier, more purposeful organization could exist on the other side?
Where others analyze problems, I ask: how could this become something healthier and more meaningful?
Education & credentials
Education
M.A. Negotiation, Conflict Resolution & Peacebuilding — CSUDH, 4.0 GPA
B.A. — Cal Poly Humboldt
Community & Leadership
Board Member — Arcata Chamber of Commerce
Board Member — Sequoia Humane Society
Co-Owner — JB Maryn (2012–2018)
Training & Certification
40-hour SONAR Method Mediation Training
Train the Trainer Certification
Humboldt Mediation Services Internship
Research & Specialization
AI Ethics in ADR & Dispute Resolution
Conflict Systems Design
Trauma-Informed De-Escalation
Let's have a conversation
If something on this page resonated, I would love to hear what you are working on. Not a sales call. Not a pitch. Just a real conversation about what is happening in your organization and whether I might be able to help.