Alumni Profile: Jon Ebersole, MA '83

Conflict transformation

Sometimes people just need to fight, but how they fight may decide whether the outcome is positive or negative, said Jon Ebersole. "Fighting fairly and honestly and standing up for what one believes is one thing. Undermining a colleague, or lying and cheating and so on, is quite something else."

Those ideas from Morton Deutsch, founder of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University, help Ebersole explain some of the principles behind his work as managing director of Dialogue Services in Albis, Switzerland. The firm offers services in mediation, negotiation and what he calls "conflict transformation."

Ebersole, who earned his MA at Binghamton in anthropology, honed his peacemaking skills working with organizations such as the United Nations, the World Conference on Religion and Peace and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He has participated in efforts to end the Angolan war, the Arab-Israeli conflict and other major clashes. Today he paints on a smaller canvas, helping to resolve interpersonal conflicts that often distract institutions from pursuing their missions.

In one not-for-profit organization he assisted, two factions got into a bitter fight over whether to choose a new leader or renew the present leader's contract. Ebersole first talked on the phone with members of each group, getting them "to turn on their problem-solving skills" before meeting face to face. "Once that attitude shift has been achieved, it's a lot easier at the table," he said. Eventually, the two sides were able to work calmly toward a decision.

Good mediators bring a lot of humility to their work and watch for biases they may have toward one party or the other, Ebersole said. "You need to be aware of that and try not to let that guide you, but rather to look a little deeper into what's going on from each party's perspective and help draw them toward a constructive dialog."

Along with building his mediation business, Ebersole said he hopes one day to found an institution that would provide funds to "people in very tough conflicts who are trying to help the communication process." In Rwanda, the Middle East, Angola, Sri Lanka and many other trouble spots, "there are people who are doing this stuff, and doing it in a way that's much better than any Western European or American could do it by parachuting in. I'd like to start a foundation to help those folks."

— Merrill Oliver Douglas, MA '82