Michael Kern carries with him 20 years of experience helping diverse groups reach common ground on public policy issues in Washington and the Pacific Northwest. He is director of the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, operated by Washington State University Extension and University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs. The center provides expertise on improving the quality and availability of voluntary collaborative approaches for policy development and multiparty dispute resolution.
Kern recently completed projects for the City of Seattle, Washington state, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and others. He also provided facilitation and project management for the North Cascades Initiative, Hatchery Reform Project, and Hanford Openness Workshops. In addition, Kern has served as a research assistant for the UW Native American Science Outreach Network; case developer for the UW School of Law Mediation Center; and project assistant for Northwest Renewable Resources Center, all in Seattle.
Kern earned his Master of Public Administration from UW in 1995.