PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: Negotiation and Entrepreneurship - New Directions for the Georgetown Pivot Fellows
By Eva Niedermeyer, Negotiation Works Intern and J.D. Candidate, Class of 2022, Georgetown Law
Georgetown Pivot Program graduation, 2019 (Photo by Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business)
Negotiation Works recently partnered with the Georgetown Pivot Program, a one-year transition and re-entry program for formerly incarcerated individuals “centered on a blend of academic work and supported employment.” Pivot Fellows spend the first part of the program in classes that include grammar and study skills, business communication, accounting, entrepreneurship, philosophy, design thinking, and more – all aimed at developing the skills necessary to flourish in a business and professional environment. Following the academic program, the Fellows transition to a three-month internship. Upon completion of the program, the Fellows receive a custom certificate in business and entrepreneurship.
Negotiation Works approached the Pivot Program in July 2020 about offering a negotiations course to supplement the existing course work in the first part of the program. Alyssa Lovegrove, academic director, Georgetown Pivot Program, believed a Negotiation Works class fit well within the Pivot Program.
“In my view, the program aligns very closely with our goals, as it builds a number of really important skills - problem-solving, empathy, learning to communicate in a strategic way (how to have your voice heard), building a sense of self-efficacy,” said Alyssa.
Similarly, Aliyah Graves-Brown, assistant director of Program Management, noted that as returning citizens, the Fellows constantly negotiate various aspects of their lives.
“They are negotiating with parole officers, case managers, halfway houses, family, and friends and trying to balance everything... and many have not had a structure around negotiating or thinking through conflict resolution,” said Aliyah.
Beginning in November 2020, Negotiation Works volunteer instructors Charlene Proctor, an employment law attorney and certified mediator, and Derek O’Leary joined Melissa Reinberg in leading weekly Monday and Friday classes for the Pivot Fellows, a group with six men and four women. The Monday classes focused on introducing the negotiations concepts and engaging in role plays, while the Friday classes provided a space for the Fellows to apply these concepts to situations in their own lives. Derek reported that from the beginning, “the Fellows brought exceptional creativity, insight, and sincerity to both the discussion of the negotiation concepts and the simulations, which reinforced week after week how meaningful it is for any of us to study and apply negotiation.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing both Negotiation Works and the Pivot Program to proceed virtually, the course began at a time when the Fellows remained strangers. Aliyah highlighted the critical role that the Friday classes played in bringing the cohort together.
“The role plays helped the Fellows get to know each other, learning more about the things that folks are going through and negotiating,” said Aliyah. “We were blown away by the stories that folks were sharing at a phase where people didn’t really know each other. They were very vulnerable and transparent in their sharing.”
Overall, Aliyah and the Pivot Program staff were thrilled by the negotiations course.
“As a staff, we loved featuring it and are very interested in continuing the partnership because it was a super valuable experience for our Fellows and foundational to a lot of our other courses and projects throughout the program,” said Aliyah.
The Fellows were equally appreciative of the class. Pascal, one of the ten Pivot Fellows in the cohort, views negotiation skills as “absolutely essential” for returning citizens.
“In prison, they don’t teach you how to deal with people, but beyond prison’s walls that’s what you’re going to have to do – negotiate and have conversations,” said Pascal.
“Personally, I learn well by reading, a little better by watching, but best by doing,” said Pascal. “[The Friday classes were] very awesome with the real world applications.”
As a certified nutrition practitioner and businessman with experience opening fitness companies, Pascal was familiar with negotiating in a business environment, but the class forced him to confront his weaknesses in negotiating personal relationships because “with family, we tended to argue and then avoid each other,” said Pascal.
Through using the POSE (Prepare, Outline, Strategize, Evaluate) framework and focusing on the other side’s interests, Pascal was able to alleviate the impulse to grow frustrated and walk-away.
“Within a matter of weeks, I became a better communicator in my personal life,” said Pascal.
Sometimes an ability to walk away remains the best solution, as Pascal was reminded when he employed the BATNA strategy (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). Earlier this year, Pascal wanted to pursue compassionate release in order to avoid the limitations imposed by the halfway house and the Bureau of Prisons’ continued custody over him. However, when he brought his motion before the judge, the prosecutor continued to fight him every step of the way. Pascal then revisited his BATNA, considered his options, thought about the prosecutor’s interests, and realized his time would be better spent focusing on his classes and completing the Pivot Program. So, he walked away, something he would not have done, and often did not do, prior to learning negotiation. These days, Pascal keeps a laminated sheet of negotiation strategies close by, and he finds himself pulling it out often to share with others.
Negotiation Works’ instructors also learned a few things of their own during the class. Derek gained a deeper understanding of negotiation itself.
“Observing the Fellows gain the confidence and skill to put different negotiation concepts into practice, often at the same time, showed me a lot about how negotiation is both a science and an art,” said Derek.
In addition to seeing how negotiation plays out in non-adversarial or less adversarial situations than she encounters as a mediator in employment matters, Charlene was also “reminded of the value of listening and learning from extremely talented individuals who are overcoming many challenges to restart their paths to success in life professionally and personally,” she said.
Negotiation Works hopes that the success of its partnership with the Georgetown Pivot Program will serve as a model for future collaborations with programs supporting returning citizens and others who seek to strengthen their ability to resolve everyday conflicts and rebuild their lives.