Thursday, October 8th
Our special guest this week, Doug Noll, Lawyer-Turned-Peacemaker, will present on:
Nervous System Leadership-A New Approach to Dispute Resolution
Disputes and conflicts disrupt participant and advocate nervous systems to the point that critical thinking and decision-making are impaired. New skills based on fMRI brain-scanning studies show how mediators can help parties regulate their nervous systems and regain access to the prefrontal regions of their brains.
When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting Central California Food Bank
Our presenter:
Douglas E. Noll, J.D., M.A. teaches a counter-intuitive and counter-normative set of listening skills that stops all fights and arguments, ends conflict, and de-escalates strong emotions in literally seconds.
His work has taken him from maximum-security prisons, teaching murderers to be peacemakers, to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, training analysts how to de-escalate Members of Congress and staff. As a professional mediator and peacemaker, Doug specializes in difficult, complex, and intractable problems.
Doug was honored by California Lawyer Magazine as Attorney of the Year in 2012 and by Best Lawyers in America as Lawyer of the Year in 2014.
Doug is the author of the books De-Escalate: How to Calm an Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less (Beyond Words/Atria/Simon & Schuster, September 2017) and Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts (Prometheus Books, April 2011). His fifth book, Empathy Leadership: How a Hidden Skill Drives Success, was published by Simon & Schuister in September 2025.
He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the San Joaquin College of Law, and is an adjunct faculty member at the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law.
Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin, and moderated by Kimberly Best, Felicia Harris Hoss, Jeff Kichaven, Jean Lawler, and David Shraga.
This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else. Join in! Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.