County Board Roundtables
Get the Tools for Leading Locally

Open to all Commissioners, New and Experienced

You’ve learned about the job of a county commissioner at County Government 101...
Now, learn about how to make it all work!

The Association of Minnesota Counties has partnered with the Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s Dispute Resolution Institute on new County Board Roundtables that cover our most requested topics from commissioners across the state.

You will walk away with effective tools to:

  • Manage difficult conversations
  • Deal with conflict
  • Find common ground with other elected officials
  • Respond effectively to public requests

Julie Ring, AMC Executive Director, and Jim Coben, Professor and Senior Fellow, will lead a discussion about how to navigate the toughest parts of the job. There will be plenty of opportunities to talk with fellow commissioners and share stories and advice.

Registration Details:

Staples, Thursday, March 21 | Register
Sourcewell (formerly NJPA)
202 12th Street NE

North Mankato, Wednesday, March 27 | Register
South Central Services Cooperative
2075 Lookout Drive

Check-in window begins at 9:00 a.m.
Session time: 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. 
Coffee/Morning snack and Catered lunch included.
Cost: $50

countygovroundtablesponsors

  

ring
Julie Ring
Executive Director, Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC)

Julie Ring has more than 25 years of experience in the public sector, working in state, local and regional government in Minnesota and South Dakota.  Julie was appointed Executive Director of the Association of Minnesota Counties in 2013, after serving as Legislative Coordinator and Health & Human Services Policy Analyst for the association. Before joining AMC, Julie served as the director of the Local Public Health Association of Minnesota for six years. Julie also worked for ten years at the Minnesota Department of Health in a variety of positions focused on grant and contract management, legislative policy, and local public health system development. Julie began her career as a grant writer in an economic development district in rural South Dakota. She has a bachelor of arts in economics and political science from the University of Minnesota-Morris.

 

coben
James Coben
Senior Fellow Dispute Resolution Institute, and Professor of Law

Professor James Coben, a senior fellow in Mitchell Hamline’s Dispute Resolution Institute, which he directed from 2000-2009, teaches civil procedure, mediation, negotiation, and theories of conflict. He was the founding director of Hamline Law’s Master in the Study of Law (MSL) program and also pioneered a variety of innovative alternative dispute resolution clinical opportunities for law students, including mediation advocacy on behalf of clients in family law and employment cases.

Professor Coben coordinated the 5-year “Rethinking Negotiation Teaching Project,” a joint effort of the law school, the JAMS Foundation, ADR Center Foundation (Rome), and Convenor Conflict Management to critically examine what is taught in negotiation and how we teach it, with special emphasis on how best to “translate” teaching methodology to succeed with diverse, global audiences. The project opened with an international conference in Rome, Italy, moved on to Istanbul, Turkey, and closed with a conference in Beijing, China.