Michael Kern

Michael Kern serves as a Distinguished Practitioner at the Evans School, Adjunct Associate Professor of Extension at Washington State University (WSU), Principal of Michael Kern Consulting, LLC, and is the former Director of the William D. Ruckelshaus Center (a joint effort of WSU Extension and the Evans School that fosters durable, effective and collaboration solutions to public policy challenges in the State of Washington and Pacific Northwest).

Kern has an MPA from the UW Evans School, and more than 30 years of experience in the field of collaborative governance and public policy conflict resolution, through which diverse public and private sector interests reach common ground and develop collaborative solutions to complex, often controversial public policy challenges. Most of this work has been on natural resources issues (such as large-scale environmental clean-up, water and watershed management, salmon and other species restoration, natural disaster recovery and resilience, etc.), but has included a range of other issues (such as land use and growth management planning, health policy, outdoor recreation, transportation, and economic and community development).

He has a national and international reputation through organizations such as the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM), Association for Conflict Resolution-Environment and Public Policy Section (ACR-EPP), University Network for Collaborative Governance (UNCG), American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), National Coalition for Deliberation and Dialogue (NCDD) and other professional/academic organizations.