Sol Erdman became an expert on resolving political conflict by first becoming adept at conflict itself. His first career was on Wall Street, an environment that Erdman describes as “one of the most highly evolved forms of aggression known to mankind — the right place for me in my 20s and 30s.” During that time, he rose to senior vice president and head of options arbitrage at Oppenheimer & Company.

At midlife, however, Erdman was drawn to the idea of resolving difficult conflicts. Attending the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, he was soon doing independent research with some of its leading thinkers. Most prominent among them was Lawrence Susskind, director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program. By studying Susskind’s methods for resolving complex, multi-party disputes, Erdman discerned what it would take to coax elected officials to resolve their differences on highly contentious issues.

To disseminate this new approach, Erdman founded the Center for Collaborative Democracy. He has presented its innovative methods to the Council of State Governments, members of Congress, the American Political Science Association, and leading pundits. Erdman’s articles, with Lawrence Susskind, have appeared in State Government News, Roll Call, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times.