Staff Members

Susan Sherry, Founder and Executive Director

Susan pioneered the use of multi-party stakeholder efforts in and around the State Capitol region of California to address highly complex and controversial public policy issues. She has served as a public policy mediator and facilitator for the California State Legislature and state agencies as well as local and regional government, working on such issues as water supply, economic development, environmental protection, public finance and governance, growth management, transportation, air quality, land use, and social and health services.  She successfully mediated the nationally recognized Sacramento Area Water Forum Agreement, a six-year effort to develop a safe, reliable, and environmentally sound water supply for the three county metropolitan area through the year 2030. 

Susan developed the Center from a one-person effort into the current self-supporting University program comprised of a team of twenty employees and an equal number of mediator consultants.  The Center currently provides collaborative policy services to almost all regions of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley, Lake Tahoe region, Southern California, and Sacramento and its Sierra Foothill area.  Susan holds a Masters in Social Work, with an emphasis in public policy.