What CDR Associates does

CDR Associates is a 501(c)(3) non-profit facilitation and stakeholder engagement consultancy founded in September 1978 in Boulder, Colorado. The firm specializes in collaborative decision-making across four practice areas — transportation, land management, disaster resilience, and water resources — serving government agencies at local, regional, state, and federal levels, tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and select private-sector clients. Its service portfolio includes facilitation and convening, public and partner engagement, strategic planning and policy development, training and capacity building, mediation and conflict resolution, and a dedicated service line for working with tribal governments. CDR also offers a productized three-day in-person training course called FEC (Facilitation, Engagement, and Collaboration in Environmental Conflicts) priced at $1,300 per participant, alongside customized training workshops for teams and organizations.

CDR's value proposition rests on 45+ years of accumulated expertise and a team of recognized practitioners, including its co-founders Christopher Moore, Susan Wildau, and Mary Margaret Golten, who collectively work in close to 50 countries. The firm operates without proprietary technology; its capabilities are entirely human-capital based, anchored in process design, facilitation techniques, and collaborative problem-solving methodologies. Intellectual property includes staff-authored publications such as 'The Conflict Paradox,' 'Dynamics of Conflict,' and 'Mediation Process,' plus the MSP Guide for multi-stakeholder partnerships (translated into French and Spanish). Notable project work includes the Colorado Wildlife and Transportation Alliance (begun 2018), a nationally recognized model for interagency collaboration.

The business model is primarily project-based professional services. CDR contracts directly with clients and also partners with other firms as prime contractors or sub-contractors when technical expertise is required. Pricing is quote-based for consulting engagements and publicly disclosed at $1,300 per participant for the standard FEC training, with early-bird and multi-participant discounts. CDR maintains offices in Boulder, CO (headquarters), Salida, CO, and Portland, OR (West Coast office led by Abby Hall), and extends international reach through a strategic partnership with the Centre for Development Innovation at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. With approximately 16 staff members and 6 board members, the firm operates as a small, specialized consultancy with deep sector relationships but limited scale.

Name

CDR Associates

Legal name

CDR Associates

Website

https://cdrassociates.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CDR Associates is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consultancy providing facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative decision-making services to government agencies, tribal nations, and non-profits across transportation, land management, disaster resilience, and water resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Facilitation Services: CDR provides professional consulting services including facilitation, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, policy development, training, and mediation. They contract directly with public, private, and non-profit clients on complex projects involving transportation, land management, disaster resilience, and water resources.
2. Training Programs: CDR generates revenue through their FEC (Facilitation, Engagement, and Collaboration in Environmental Conflicts) course and customized training workshops. Standard pricing is $1,300 USD per participant with early bird and multi-participant discounts available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CDR Associates delivers professional facilitation, stakeholder engagement, public involvement, strategic planning, mediation, and conflict resolution services to government agencies, non-profits, tribal governments, and private-sector clients. The firm specializes in collaborative process design for complex multi-party projects in four practice areas: Transportation & Mobility, Land Management, Disaster Resilience, and Water Resources. It also offers the FEC (Facilitation, Engagement, and Collaboration in Environmental Conflicts) three-day training workshop plus customized training programs for teams and organizations.

Product overview

CDR Associates is a professional services firm offering facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative problem-solving across four main practice areas: Transportation & Mobility, Land Management, Disaster Resilience, and Water Resources. The company offers a structured portfolio of services including Facilitation & Convening, Public & Partner Engagement, Strategic Planning & Policy Development, Training & Capacity Building, Mediation & Conflict Resolution, and specialized services for working with Tribes. The primary training product is the FEC (Facilitation, Engagement, and Collaboration in Environmental Conflicts) three-day workshop. All services are delivered through experienced practitioners via a hybrid working model.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Facilitation, Engagement, and Collaboration in Environmental Conflicts (FEC) A three-day in-person training workshop offering practitioners professional skills enhancement related to land use, disaster resilience, transportation & mobility, and water resources. The course equips participants with practical strategies and tools for facilitating complex discussions on environmental conflicts. Standard pricing is $1,300 USD per participant, with upcoming sessions held in Boulder, CO.
• Facilitation & Convening Services Improves group effectiveness by designing productive discussions, eliciting participation, and resolving conflict. Includes agenda design, meeting facilitation, workshops, retreats, interagency coordination, cross-sector partnerships, collaborative agreements, and conference moderation for government agencies, non-profits, and private-sector clients.
• Public & Partner Engagement Services Plans and implements engagement activities that build trust, raise awareness, and ensure communities and collaborators are meaningfully involved in decision-making. Includes public meetings, open houses, interviews, focus groups, surveys, community events, and communications/marketing support for transportation, land management, disaster resilience, and water resources projects.
• Strategic Planning & Policy Development Services Generates tools, strategies, and analysis to guide long-term planning and policy development. Includes strategic and action planning, community and comprehensive planning, metrics development, data integration, policy adoption, and case studies for government agencies and non-profits.
• Training & Capacity Building Services Provides hands-on assistance to strengthen teams' and individuals' skills, resources, and readiness. Includes project prioritization training, funding and financing plans, program evaluation, and custom training programs for land use, disaster resilience, transportation, and water resources organizations.
• Mediation & Conflict Resolution Services Provides third-party assistance to teams, organizations, and collaboratives facing conflict. Offers procedural guidance using interest-based problem solving and empowers parties to develop collaborative solutions across public, private, and non-profit contexts.
• Working with Tribes Services Supports Tribes and Native-led organizations with planning for resilient, prosperous futures. Includes Tribal strategic planning, natural resource management, climate resilience, government-to-government consultation, and community engagement tailored to sovereignty and Indigenous Knowledge integration.

Quantifiable outcome

• Strengthened skills of thousands of participants through training programs
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Centre for Development Innovation (CDI), Wageningen University & ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHerman Brouwer, CDR's International Senior Partner, works through CDI to engage stakeholders and generate joint solutions. Herman is accredited as a Partnership Brokering Association (PBA) broker and supports local and global partnerships in food security and natural resource management across more than 25 countries.
• Herman Brouwer (MSP Guide)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHerman Brouwer is lead author of the MSP Guide: How to design and facilitate multi-stakeholder partnerships, described as an invaluable management tool. The guide has been translated into French and Spanish and is accompanied by The MSP Tool Guide containing 60 tools for effective multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• RESOLVE: RESOLVE is a non-profit that designs and facilitates collaborative processes, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement for public, private, and NGO clients on environment, infrastructure, and natural resource issues — directly comparable to CDR's core facilitation practice.
• Meridian Institute: Meridian Institute is a non-profit that designs and facilitates multi-stakeholder processes on environment, agriculture, water, and energy policy — overlapping heavily with CDR's transportation, land management, disaster resilience, and water resources practice areas.
• Consensus Building Institute: CBI is a non-profit that provides mediation, facilitation, and collaborative process design to governments, communities, and companies — a near-direct peer to CDR on stakeholder engagement and multi-party dispute resolution.

Emerging players

• International Association for Public Participation (IAP2): IAP2 is a member association that trains, certifies, and sets standards for public participation practitioners — adjacent to CDR's training business (FEC) and overlapping on the public engagement and consultation discipline.
• National Civic League: National Civic League is a non-profit that convenes and supports collaborative local governance, democratic deliberation, and community engagement work — directly adjacent to CDR's stakeholder engagement and public planning practice.
• Kettering Foundation: Kettering Foundation researches and supports democratic deliberation, citizen engagement, and community problem-solving — closely aligned with CDR's collaborative decision-making and public engagement mission.

Broad incumbents

• JAMS: JAMS is the largest private alternative dispute resolution provider in the U.S., offering mediation, arbitration, and facilitation services — a broader incumbent in the same dispute resolution and ADR space in which CDR operates.
• American Arbitration Association: AAA administers dispute resolution services including mediation and arbitration across a wide range of matters, and is a long-established incumbent in the same alternative dispute resolution category where CDR's mediation and conflict resolution services compete.
• International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR): CPR is a non-profit that advances conflict prevention and resolution through training, guidelines, and policy work — a broader incumbent adjacent to CDR's mediation, training, and dispute resolution services.

Others

• Concur Solutions: Concur (formerly Consensus Solutions) was a public engagement and dispute resolution firm working on environmental and natural resource conflicts — historically a direct peer to CDR that has wound down operations, illustrating the fragility of small facilitation consultancies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cdr-associates-collaborative-decision-resources

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CDR Associates