Suzanne Ghais is a mediator, facilitator, trainer, and author with 30 years in the field of conflict resolution including international peacemaking and peacebuilding, organizational, environmental, public policy, and interpersonal issues. Her strength is helping groups with strong differences reach agreements and work together.
In her early career, she cultivated conflict resolution skills in progressively larger scale situations: first interpersonal and consumer-business disputes, then small groups and on to large, complex multiparty processes, often involving high-ranking officials. To complement this, she gained expertise in peace processes, international politics and negotiations, comparative politics, and civil wars through her doctoral studies.
In addition to her practice, Suzanne teaches courses on conflict assessment, conflict prevention, and international negotiation at the International Relations Online program at American University’s School of International Service and the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies. She is the author of Extreme Facilitation: Guiding Groups through Controversy and Complexity (Jossey-Bass/Wiley 2005) and many articles.
Suzanne holds a Ph.D. in international relations, with a focus on inclusivity in peace negotiations, from American University; a master’s in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University; and a bachelor’s magna cum laude from Brown University.
A multicultural background helps inform Suzanne’s practice. Her father immigrated from Egypt as a young adult, and her mother is an American of Irish descent from the Boston area. Suzanne spent most of her childhood in the racially and ethnically diverse town of Columbia, Maryland. As a teenager she moved with her family to London, UK, and has also lived in Paris and Cairo. She has traveled to dozens of countries across five continents.
Suzanne and her husband are happy residents of Arvada, Colorado (in the Denver area) and proud parents of two daughters, one a graduate of and the other a student in JeffCo Public Schools. She enjoys music, hiking, cycling, yoga, and good food.