It feels like there is an uncomfortable level of hate-mongering in the world today. And most of us are fairly comfortable assuming that we aren’t part of the problem. I, myself, was quite comfortable making that assumption until a few years ago. Now, I’m far less convinced about my innocence… Through this conversation we’ll explore the normalization of hate and how we can counter it.

Laura C. Smythe, is Ombuds for University of Idaho. In addition, she is CEO of Communication Connections, LLC and works in that role as an Organizational Culture Diagnostician©. Smythe works with businesses and organizations to diagnose their culture and to mindfully work through a change plan to create a culture of transparent and responsible conflict management. Smythe is an attorney, mediator, professor, coach, trainer and also a former Executive Director of a community mediation center and school administrator. She has mediated thousands of disputes and trained, coached and consulted with a wide variety of organizations in a myriad of industries throughout the country.