Barbara McNeil

Barbara McNeil Board Member

Barbara McNeil, BSc, MA, is a Chartered Mediator, Facilitator and Trainer. She mediates extensively and consults on conflict management issues in the energy industry, in the workplace, and for municipal and land issues. Barbara has designed and delivered conflict management training for many clients and served on the Alberta Municipal Government Board for three years, adjudicating decisions on assessment and subdivision appeals.

One of the most trenchant responses came from Barbara McNeil, a facilitator in Calgary, Alberta. "Facilitators ... cannot be afraid of anger," she wrote, because otherwise "some participants will look for a facilitator's weakness and then annihilate them on it.

Barbara McNeil Board Member

Barbara McNeil was appointed to the Natural Resources Conservation Board as a part-time Board Member on October 1, 2008. Barbara brings to the Board extensive working knowledge and experience in both rural and urban communities.

An accomplished senior mediator, Barbara is skilled in conflict management in a variety of complex and controversial issues. Her background includes experience in tribunal and ajudicative processes, including chairing hearings and decision writing for a wide variety of boards and agencies.

Barbara is a past delegate of the Alberta Cattle Commission and has served as a member of the Alberta Municipal Government Board and Federal Farm Debt Review Board. For the past 15 years, Barbara has taught Conflict Resolution and Mediation at the University of Calgary.

Barbara holds a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of British Columbia, a Masters in Administration from Carleton University, and a B.Sc. in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba.

She has been a partner in a cattle ranching operation and has done extensive consulting in farm business management with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. Currently, Barbara is a volunteer Board Member with the Foothills Land Trust and sits on the MD of Foothills Municipal Development Plan Steering Committee.