Beth Fisher-Yoshida

Executive Director

Dr. Fisher-Yoshida is Co-Executive Director of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) and Director of the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) program, both housed in the Earth Institute at Columbia University. In her role at YPS she has been working to develop systemic approaches to building more effective communities through youth leadership in Medellín, Colombia, using a Social Lab approach.

She is also a professor of Professional Practice at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia. Beth Fisher-Yoshida teaches classes in negotiation, conflict resolution, and conflict analysis. Her approach to learning is based on her core belief that when we improve communication by developing more self-awareness, we will have better relationships and improved negotiation practices.

Dr. Fisher-Yoshida partners with clients to develop customized interventions aimed at improving organizational performance. She is able to blend the best of both worlds: the knowledge from academia with effective practices to apply successfully to real life situations. Her firm, Fisher Yoshida International, focuses on leading organizations through change by improving communication and creating shared goals and practices to align with the organization’s mission and vision. She works globally with clients and speaks conversational Japanese having lived and worked in Japan for 13 years.

Dr. Fisher-Yoshida is the author of numerous articles, chapters, edited books, and authored a book on transnational leadership. She has a new book to be released soon on women and negotiation. Her main areas of focus are Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), negotiation, intercultural communication, conflict resolution and transformative learning.

As Vice Chair of the Faculty of Professional Studies, Dr. Fisher-Yoshida collaborates with the Chair of Faculty and Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to coordinate and manage the School’s academic governance committees—specifically, the Academic Excellence Committee, Admissions Committee, Chair’s Committee, Resource Allocation Committee, and Reputation, Relationship, and Development Committee.

Dr. Fisher-Yoshida is also a Certified Clinical Sociologist (CCS).