NW Collaborative
Futures Conference

Workplace Conflict: The Walls that People Build

Mediation is all about tearing down walls and building up communication. People build fortresses around themselves at work, stop all conducive conversations and begin to build an empire of conflict. The biggest complaint is that people are not being heard or understood. Most workplace conflicts do not belong in the courts. They need to be deconstructed, understood and rebuilt on healthier relationships. James Cook and Alice Shikina will discuss the nature of conflict in the workplace and the ways to deal with larger organizational turmoil and how to deconstruct those walls in order to begin to build bridges.

Speaker: Alice Shikina
Mediator/Negotiator

Alice Shikina is a mediator and negotiator. She mediates divorces, workplace conflicts, landlord-tenant cases, probate, conservatorship, and personal injury. She also offers small group coaching for entrepreneurs who want to improve their communication and negotiation skills. Alice teaches conflict transformation classes to the incarcerated. Alice has a BFA in acting. She also spent many years directing. Alice is unique in that she uses her acting training in her mediations. She has honed her people-reading skills through her theatre training. Alice lives in Oakland, CA with her two teenage boys.

Speaker: James Cook
Civil Litigator

James Cook’s focus is Section 1983 civil rights litigation. His other practice areas include DUI – DWI Defense, Criminal Defense, Landlord Tenant – housing law, Personal injury law, contract law, and corporate entity formation for profit and non-profits. James volunteers for VLSC’s Unlawful Detainer Mediation, Bankruptcy, and Family Law Clinics, and is an active member of the Earl Warren Inn of Court. Before becoming a lawyer, James was a professional competitor and decorated champion in Muay Thai Full-Contact Kickboxing who competed internationally and throughout the United States. He won Golden Gloves Boxing in two states and he competed in Mixed Martial Arts.