Tools for Change Institute, April 2007

Insight Collaborative trainers Michael Blank and Jeffrey Christiansen facilitated an Effective Negotiation breakout session at the Tools for Change Institute in April 2007. Tools for Change is an educational workshop held at UMass-Amherst for student leaders focused on fusing social justice and effective leadership. This program is part of the Massachusetts Campus Compact and addresses obstacles and challenges currently facing student leaders and provides them with new tools to increase participation and civic engagement.

Facilitator Michael Blank will be completing his J.D. at Harvard Law School in June 2007. This past year, he served as a teaching assistant for Linda Netsch at Harvard Law School Winter Negotiation Workshop, and conducted facilitations in the corporate context as a co-trainer. Prior to law school, Michael worked as an analyst in the leveraged finance group at Bear, Stearns & Co. in New York City. He received a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College. 

Jeffrey Christiansen graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with degrees in History and Political Science. Jeffrey participated in the Middle East Symposium on Conflict Resolution in Cyprus, and taught courses on Negotiation and Conflict Management to students and practitioners in Tbilisi, Georgia. He has explored his interest in international relations as a context for negotiations through his travels to Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Morocco, and is currently studying Arabic for a career in Middle East diplomacy.

For more information about the Massachusetts Campus Compact, click here.