215.933.9978

Conflict Resolution & Mediation Services

Successful leaders aren’t deterred by conflict. Instead, they learn from it. Conflict provides the foundation to develop a new way to engage with others and to better understanding yourself, supporting your work in the world.

Valerie is a licensed attorney and mediator, and is trained in collaborative law, an emerging field in alternate dispute resolution. This skill and expertise gives her a deep understanding of conflict, how to turn conflict into clarity and authentic connection, which can help you to achieve your goals, and learn new skills, using conflict as an instrument of growth. When conflict arises, you don’t want a ‘take-no-prisoner’ advocate. Instead, Valerie’s approach offers a unique combination of the clarity and detail of a trained legal counsel with the open-heartedness and compassion of a mindfulness practitioner. She can help your organization:

  • Resolve conflict and move toward consensus
  • Bridge differences that undermine productivity and cooperation
  • Build genuine understanding, promoting greater collaboration

“It has been my pleasure and the pleasure of the faculty at Buckingham Friends School to work with Valerie Brown for the past two years. Val has led us through conversations about diversity and inclusion and has helped us open our consciousness to the unique life experiences of all people. Through her quiet strength, she has guided us through sometimes “prickly” conversations and has reminded us to look within as we learn.”
— Kathy Fluehr, Director of Admissions, Buckingham Friends School, Lahaska, PA

“I have known and worked with Valerie for many years and have always known her to be a true professional; her hard work and dedication are unparalleled. Valerie’s ability to work with everyone across ideological lines makes her a great asset to any organization.”
— Senator Peter Barnes, Edison, NJ

Contact Valerie to learn more about these services.

Conflict Resolution & Mediation Services

Named one of the best courageous books of 2014 by the Center for Courage & Renewal, this book is for educational leaders who feel overwhelmed, stressed, and exhausted, and offers explicit practices to help readers avoid burnout and become the mindful, poised, effective leaders they were meant to be. Loaded with real-time encouragement with portraits of educational leaders who are incorporating mindfulness practices, like attentive breathing, mindful walking about the school building, or calming pauses in the office throughout the school day, this book is a must-have guide.

Valerie Brown and Kirsten Olson. Corwin, December 2014. 344 pages.

The Road that Teaches: Lessons in Transformation through Travel.

Not your average travel guidebook, this book explores some of the world’s great pilgrimages, destinations, and the author’s reflections on the lessons she learned from them. Read this book to discover how travel can be transformational, how to be more mindful while traveling and every day, the adventures of traveling alone, the delights of encountering new people and places, ancient pilgrimage journeys and sacred travel worldwide.

Valerie Brown. QuakerBridge Media, 2012, 152 pages. Also available from QuakerBooks.

Heartfulness: Renewing Heart, Mind, and Spirit on Retreat and Beyond Valerie

Valerie Brown guides readers toward renewal of mind, heart, and spirit by encouraging them to take time away from the busyness of their lives through retreat. Drawing on her experience as a retreatant and retreat leader, she introduces readers to opportunities for personal restoration within a variety of focused retreats. She wonders how Friends experience of expectant waiting influences the retreat process and how retreats influence expectant waiting. She encourages the “big questions”—What has meaning and purpose in my life? What am I avoiding? What brings me most alive?—and offers specific practices for retreatants to cultivate in everyday life.

Valerie Brown. Pendle Hill Pamphlet #421.

Quakers are advised to begin worship by “centering down.” This is the first step in a Friend’s intention to wait in “holy expectancy,” to be drawn by the Light into communion with God. Centering prayer is also a practice used by Christian mystics to prepare for contemplation, and “centering” describes the meditation of a Buddhist in pursuit of that deep awareness called “mindfulness.” Valerie Brown is an explorer and teacher of centering practices, a Buddhist, and an active Friend. Drawing upon her own experiences and wide studies, she describes for Friends how these various traditions can offer us a better understanding and preparedness for our precious, elusive, mysterious, and simple practice of centering into worship. Discussion questions included.

Valerie Brown, Pendle Hill Pamphlet #407. 2014.

95 Old York Road
New Hope, PA
18938

215.933.9978

Valerie@leadsmartcoaching.com