John Ford and Associates

"John is blessed with great equanimity and gentleness of spirit. He is
a patient listener and insightful neutral, which enables him to look
right into the heart of a conflict. I recommend John whole-heartedly. He's very good at what he does."
Colin Rule
Director of Online Dispute Resolution
Ebay

"John Ford has been conducting our conflict resolution training for years...he has that rare ability of being able to reach managers as well as front-line employees with a sincerity that helps deliver important messages in a believable and effective way. We'll continue to use John as long as he continues to offer training."
Harriette Heibel,
Communication Services Manager
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District

“Thank you for a great class. I learnt a lot from you. I will
be sure to let others know of your classes. Take care and I hope that our paths will someday cross again.”
Dr. Cheong L. Chuah
Director of Music Technology
Los Medanos College

"John was instrumental in helping us address a deep rift between two of
our teams that needed to work together. He was able to gain the trust of some difficult personalities and worked with the teams both individually and collectively to gain commitments on how they would cooperate."
Rich Cortes
Business Services Manager
Union Sanitary District

"John Ford is an exceptional trainer. He is very knowledgeable and has an excellent rapport with training participants as well as business clients. In completed program evaluations, John consistently receives an approval rating of 90% or better. I look forward to working with John in the years ahead."
Judi Watkins
Program Coordinator
Regional Training Institute

“John has handled several mediations involving students, faculty and staff. He is one of the most effective mediators I have worked with. He has a way of gaining the trust of the parties in a mediation setting and has a calming effect in even the most contentious of situations. He handles issues relating to diversity with skill and sensitivity. His ethics are above reproach, and his understanding of human nature is extraordinary. I always think of him first when I need a mediator.”
Teri Cannon
Dean
School of Law
JFK University

“John Ford is a skillful mediator and adept trainer. He brings a great breadth of knowledge, experience and pragmatism to his work.”
Eileen Barker
Barker Mediation

“I worked over a year with John Ford as a consultant for developing a
comprehensive Conflict Resolution Procedure for my company. I was
consistently impressed with John Ford's clarity, honesty, skillful
intervention, communication skills, and ease in working on very difficult, stressful problems. He is a remarkable asset.”
Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D.
Acupressure Institute, Founder

"John has presented classes for managers in Dealing with Difficult People in the Workplace, that I plan to have as part of my core curriculum requirements for management development."
Christine Moore
Training Manager
John Muir Mount Diablo Medical Center

"Sitting under a siege situation a whole day with my labour negotiator taken hostage by between one to two hundred disgruntled employees (mainly lobster fishermen), facing threats of guns and rampant violence, which only defused when the special armed police unit arrived from the capital eight hours later. It was a relief to learn that a labour dispute expert would be arriving with the Chairman of the board the day after, to help resolve the explosive situation at hand. During the following days Mr John Ford proved to be the voice of reason able to get the labour union to the negotiating table, to find a constructive and peaceful resolution for the future of the company and the employees."
Sigurdur Bogason, CEO
National Fishing Corporation of Namibia Ltd. &
Seaflower Lobster Corporation Ltd.
Lüderitz, Namibia

"John Ford has worked with District staff on several occasions with
excellent results. He not only helped the groups resolve their conflict
and get back to productive work, he also left the organization with
improved skills that we can apply in the future."
Donna Wies, Judi Berzon, Joanne Silva
Union Sanitary District.

Student Comments:

"Your strength is your understanding and familiarity with the theory of conflict resolution."

"John, I feel, is an amazingly soft-spoken man who emanates peace, tranquility, and a sweet spirit."

"John is a good facilitator. He enables active participation of the class."

"I will use what I’ve learned not only at work, but also at home. The class was very informative."

"John is a wonderful facilitator and I wouldn’t have
gained such knowledge without his expert direction."

“Excellent presentation skills, excellent knowledge of materials and professional expertise.”

“Very informative, and well prepared!”

“John is a wonderful instructor/communicator. He helped me learn about conflict management and how I myself react to conflicts. Great course! Great instructor!”

“John makes learning fun and exciting. The time passed quickly!”

"John Ford is a wonderful facilitator and I wouldn't have gained such knowledge without his expert direction."

"John is a great speaker. I will apply the tools I learned today at work and at home."