Ona Ferguson is a Senior Associate at the Consensus Building Institute, where she designs and facilitates [1]meetings about environmental [2] and public policy issues. Recent projects include designing and facilitating the founding meetings of the National Community Land Trust Network [3], facilitating a symposium on air quality in Boston [4], co-facilitating a task force on solid waste planning for the State of Maine, and moderating public forums on rethinking urban transportation at the Museum of Science in Boston. Ona co-manages a coalition of agencies and organizations working to improve air quality in the Boston area through voluntary programs. She assists the lead facilitator of a community advisory group that works with the EPA and GE to oversee dredging PCBs from the Hudson River [5]. Ona has facilitated small group dialogues on issues as diverse as managing federal lands, diversity among high school students, and regional collaboration across state and municipal boundaries.
Ona has co-authored multiple situation and conflict assessments, including an assessment of the potential for negotiated rulemaking of off-road vehicle use on Cape Hatteras National Seashore [6]and a stakeholder assessment for the North American State of the Carbon Cycle Report. [7] She has developed and delivered courses on negotiation and communication skills for conservationists, and manages an ongoing series of courses on resolving land use disputes.
Ona has a Masters of Environmental Management degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she studied Land Use Law and Policy, and a B.A. from Smith College.
