Bring your priorities to life

Education strategy and design.

Conflict resolution.

Services

Education strategy & design

We quickly get to grips with the goals, challenges and characteristics that make your work and field distinctive.

We can help you identify and explore your specific challenge and find creative ways forward. This can include harnessing the collective intelligence of stakeholders as well as using our expertise in learning systems, research and communities of practice.

Our clients include government agencies, unions, Workforce Development Councils, Centres of Vocational Excellence, education providers, and vocational and professional learning bodies in a range of sectors including health and construction.

We create solutions that are principled and practical:

Expert guidance and capability building in workplace learning and assessment: practice, standards development and systems

Quality assurance system design

Learning programme and course design

Frameworks and strategies at all levels

Industry and stakeholder engagement

Research and analysis for compelling business cases or for growing organisational insights capability

Conflict engagement and resolution

reach a mutually agreed resolution to a dispute

nip a conflict in the bud, or stop it escalating or spreading

hold onto, or mend, important relationships

re-set a team’s sense of purpose and connection

get better at having difficult conversations.

Our conflict resolution approaches are designed to meet the interests of all the involved parties. You will be supported to reach your own agreement through a mediation or restorative process tailored to your needs.

It can be applied to resolving one-off disputes or harmful events, or to the design of an ongoing, organisation-wide scheme.

These approaches often take just a few hours. Individuals can move on with their lives. Organisations can avoid drawn-out conflict that saps morale and productivity.

Testimonials

"I've worked with Karen in conflict coaching and co-mediating family disputes involving children. She has an amazing ability to connect with people from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. She's skilled at listening deeply and asking insightful questions that help people deal effectively with conflict. I love working with Karen and have learned a lot from her."

Sue Hurst, Accredited Family Dispute Mediator, Sue Hurst Mediation

"Karen is a skilled communicator and relationship builder, and she’s a pleasure to work with. Her fresh thinking and leadership on projects, including leading and MC-ing the national Women+ Summit, has been really important for RANZCOG. She's supported us to consider multiple perspectives, form relationships with other organisations and take innovative approaches."

Catherine Cooper, Head of Aotearoa New Zealand and Global Health, RANZCOG

"Karen’s individual sessions helped me verbalise my concerns and reflect on how we had gotten stuck in turmoil. Her facilitation of group sessions led us to new respect and engagement. We are now focused on our job and purpose, as well as becoming friends. I would recommend Karen to anyone wanting to unite a team through a very rewarding process of mediation."

Shelly Warwick, Ward Councillor

"Karen brings a fresh perspective to complex issues. She has co-designed restorative schemes and provided strategic advice for a number of projects. Her cross sector experience has been invaluable. Karen has a person-centred approach, and brings warmth and humour to even the most difficult of topics."

Associate Professor Jane Bolitho, Chair of Te Ngāpara Centre for Restorative Practice, Victoria University of Wellington

"Karen crafted a framework to build our understanding, and strategic use, of research. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Karen. Her expertise and insights were invaluable. This gave us a great platform to work from. Karen really evolved our thinking."

Kirsten Ralph, Manager Strategy and Evaluation, Tertiary Education Commission

"As our conference MC, Karen's expertise as a communicator was clear. She created and maintained an atmosphere of warm connection with everyone throughout all three days, whether chatting informally to individual delegates, or using a microphone to engage the whole group. Dispute resolvers think they are a discerning audience when it comes to these skills, yet Karen had us all in her hands from the outset. Thank you, Karen, for reminding us to focus on the final "loaf" that grows out of the flour, the water, and the yeast."

Alysoun Boyle, Chair, National Mediation Conferences Ltd

"Andrew’s wealth of practical and strategic experience is immensely valuable to us. He has challenged us and helped us define our place as both an education provider and industry membership organisation. We can count on Andrew and look forward to working with him again."

James Mead, Group Manager Education, Development & Delivery, Site Safe New Zealand Inc

"Karen intervened courageously to help us resolve a serious situation threatening one of our contracts. Staff respected her expertise, her willingness to have hard conversations, and her ability to make each person feel valued. We learned a lot and saved our contract."

General Manager, Not-for-profit organisation