Consultant
Annie Kilburg Smith
MS
Annie brings nearly two decades of experience helping people and organizations navigate conflict, strengthen communication, and work through challenging conversations with greater clarity and understanding. Through her consulting with In-Accord, Annie supports organizations, teams, and collaborative groups facing complex interpersonal, organizational, and public-facing challenges. She believes conflict is a natural part of human relationships and that with the right structure, curiosity, and authentic dialogue, people can better understand one another, rebuild trust, and move toward more constructive working relationships.
Annie’s professional path has centered on facilitation, mediation, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative problem-solving throughout the Pacific Northwest and western United States. She has designed and facilitated hundreds of meetings, workshops, and multi-party conversations involving government agencies, Tribal governments, utilities, leadership teams, community organizations, and members of the public. Annie is particularly skilled at helping groups navigate emotionally charged conversations, competing priorities, organizational change, and situations where communication has broken down, or relationships have become strained.
In one recent example, Annie supported a long-standing collaborative group experiencing deep communication challenges, personality conflicts, and mistrust among participants with very different political perspectives, lived experiences, and generations of experience. Through confidential interviews, mediation support, facilitated conversations, and an interest-based negotiation workshop, Annie helped participants improve communication, better understand one another’s perspectives, and re-engage more constructively despite ongoing disagreements. Participants shared that the process reduced tension, increased trust, and strengthened their ability to work through difficult issues together.
Annie holds a Master of Science degree in Conflict Resolution and has additional training in mediation, facilitation, conflict coaching, Tribal engagement, and project management. Before beginning her career in conflict resolution and facilitation, Annie spent nearly 25 years immersed in dance, including professional performance and competitive dance teams — experiences that continue to shape her creativity, adaptability, and facilitation style. Colleagues and clients often describe Annie as a natural, empathetic, and deeply human-centered leader who brings warmth, calm under pressure, and curiosity into difficult conversations.
Growing up in rural Eastern Oregon, later living and working professionally in Portland and Hawaiʻi, and supporting collaborative processes across diverse regions and communities has shaped Annie’s ability to connect with people from very different backgrounds, values, political perspectives, and lived experiences. She now lives outside Portland with her husband and two young children, where they enjoy life on their small farm and spending time outdoors together.
Contact Information
Email:
asmith@inaccordnw.com
Expertise:
Mediation, Conflict Resolution
