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 cutting-edge research with some of its leading thinkers. By studying their well-established methods, Erdman developed new tools for coaxing elected officials to hammer out sensible agreements on contentious issues.

To disseminate this new approach, Erdman founded the Center for Collaborative Democracy. CCD is currently focused on providing city and state governments with the tools to develop creative, cost-effective solutions to long-festering problems. In January of 2011, the National Civic Review will publish Erdman’s article on that subject.

Erdman’s articles have also appeared in State Government News, Roll Call, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.