Brown Bag Lunch Series: ‘Listen: Opposition is Your Friend’

David Rodman. Courtesy Photo

The nonprofit Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center hosts a free talk on Thursday, July 19, as part of their “Finding Solutions, Growing Peace” Brown Bag Lunch Series. Talks are on Third Thursdays of each month from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney at 655 Kīlauea Ave. in Hilo.

This month’s speaker is David Rodman on the topic “Listen: Opposition is Your Friend.”

“There is importance in opposition,” says Rodman, “especially working in the context of community mana‘o gatherings.” Rodman was one of the facilitators of the EnVision Maunakea project, a community based initiative to gather a wide range of perspectives on the mountain’s future.

In this talk, learn about the listening process used during the project and how it relates to the challenges faced in facilitation.

David Rodman has been a mediator since 1992, with experience in community, business, and domestic mediations. He has designed and presented mediation training programs on the Big Island as well as the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. Rodman has a long career in software engineering and is a musician. He is the founder of Red Road Telecom and lives on the Big Island with his wife, Judy.

Ku‘ikahi’s Brown Bag Lunch Series is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch, enjoy an informal and educational talk-story session, and meet others interested in “Finding Solutions, Growing Peace.”

For more information, contact Ku‘ikahi Program Coordinator Al-Qawi Majidah at (808) 935-7844 x 3 or majidah@hawaiimediation.org. Or visit www.hawaiimediaiton.org.

This lunch-and-learn series is made possible thanks in part to funding from the Atherton Family Foundation, County of Hawai‘i, and Hawai‘i Island United Way.