I just wanted to thank you again for running an outstanding workshop for the Teen, Ink summer writing program. Your first night program was very special for all the girls. They were all strangers to us and to each other, but the power of your presence and personality, together with your smart, creative and writing-centered activities, certainly brought everyone together in a very special way. Your warmth, your presentation and professionalism were very special and you certainly made us all feel extremely comfortable right from the start. You definitely have a unique gift for getting people together. In short, it was indeed very inspiring for every one of us and I don't know how we would have done this without you.
John Meyers
Founder, Teen Ink

Amy Beth, your two sessions were extraordinary. You connected with people across all ages and experience levels and managed to make serious skills building playful and fun. How did you do this? You spoke passionately and clearly, exuded confidence and compassion, and engaged each workshop participant while yourself remaining thoroughly involved. You tapped into every single person, every single time. Everyone felt heard. Everyone participated. Everyone left your workshops feeling more connected, more alive and more skilled. Amazing.
Cristin Rose
Guidance Counselor, Burr & Burton Academy

Amy Beth's vision and leadership made all the difference with our Excel summer program for high school students at Williams College. In one short week of staff orientation, she forged a 25-person staff of multi-talented individuals coming from a diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, into a unified team whose commitment to their students was absolute and who had the tools, resources, and professional support to "dream big". After the program, the most common student and parent feedback was that participants had "pushed their own personal limits" and "gotten outside the bubble" of their life during the school year, experiencing a degree of personal emotional and intellectual growth they didn't think possible before the program. They were frank and direct in attributing a large part of this positive transformation to Amy Beth, and her caring, insightful, and empathetic leadership, both on a program level and one-on-one. Amy Beth is superlatively skilled at creating a mission-driven, collaborative community which cuts across boundaries and unites teachers and students!
Patrick Noyes
Director, Putney Student Travel

Anyone who is lucky enough to work with Amy Beth will quickly discover her truly remarkable ability to connect with students. Her humor, wit and compassion mean that students love the time they spend with her. Never condescending or judgmental, Amy Beth's focus is on understanding and supporting kids in authentic ways as they work to discover who they really are and what matters to them -- among the most crucial skills that anyone can develop for success beyond school.
Dana Bettinger
Teacher, University Preparatory Academy, Seattle, WA

Amy Beth is exactly what she seems and students pick up on this right away. Teenagers have a special talent for detecting the manipulative and insincere. The students with whom Amy Beth works unfailingly respect her. They know she is the real thing.
Salvatore Scibona
Writing Coordinator, The Fine Arts Work Center

Kids adore Amy Beth because she is an animated group facilitator who conveys health, openness, straight-forwardness, and enthusiasm. She is active, sincere and creative and young people who work with her feel empowered to take risks and actually do things they want to do. We’ve observed Amy Beth time and again establish bonds with young people who lack trust and help connect those who struggle socially.
Scott and Lisa Carrino
Founders and Directors of Pompanuck Farm Institute

I want to say a HUGE thank you for the work you did with our group today. I heard great feedback after the meeting and I think everyone really got something out of the session. I feel like we were scratching the surface of a well of knowledge. It's all so fascinating and I feel so incredibly lucky to meet people like you who bring even more to the work we do. Thank you for the background research you did and taking the time to learn about what we do and adapting your material for us. I'm really looking forward to working together again.
Lynn Gilbert
Senior Regional Program Manager
Au Pair in America

Having previously experienced Amy Beth’s style and work, I was very enthusiastic about spending a pre-conference afternoon with her in "Got Games". I wasn't disappointed! Amy Beth's style is engaging, high-energy, adaptable and generous. The structure Amy Beth offers to her courses again allowed me to stretch into right-brain areas - not only for the time of the workshop but also with take-aways that I can use over and over to make my ADR practice and teaching more effective.
Michael Rawlings
Senior Faculty, Federal Executive Institute

Your ability to council and truly mediate a conflict situation is like observing the work of a master. And your greatest strength, in my opinion, is your energy. I see it as your charisma and it dominates the room with enthusiasm and warmth. Those who are present feel your passion and your joy of teaching and are immediately mesmerized into a transition from passive to active learner.
Danielle Crosier
Co-director, Bridges Summer Program

Simply put, you cannot go wrong by hiring Amy Beth. She presents a great package: competent, creative, thoughtful and fun—and students of all ages, academic backgrounds and life experiences thrive in her classes. Amy Beth is passionate about her work and celebrates the richness that comes with teaching an interdisciplinary curriculum to a diverse student body. Her positive outlook and belief in others helps people believe in themselves. And she sets high expectations and holds students accountable while providing the support and encouragement necessary to help each and every student build real-life critical thinking and communication skills.
Joyce Judy
President, The Community College of Vermont

I paid extra to attend Amy Beth’s workshop, hoping it wouldn’t be another rehash of the same old training techniques. Her personality was open and upbeat from the start and I got more out of her training than any other in a long time! I walked away with fresh, innovative ideas that I could actually implement immediately in my work… When colleagues ask me which workshop was the most valuable, I repeatedly tell them Amy Beth Kessinger’s. She ‘Changed My Frame!’” Finally, ACR has offered an advanced course on training that is relevant for students and adults.
Tara Fishler
Customized Training Solutions
New Rochelle, New York

Amy Beth is enthusiastic about what she does. She [has] a sense of humor. And her workshop was informative and interactive.
Eliza Mathews
Assistant Director of Admissions, Trinity College

Of the many qualities that Amy Beth possess, three immediately come to mind: her versatility in being able to connect to—and have a positive affect on—a wide range of students; her excellent interpersonal skills; and her unending energy and commitment to the maximizing the potential of our students. Amy Beth works well with all. She communicates well and quickly develops relationships of mutual trust and respect. She has an honest and sincere approach that people appreciate.
Sue Maguire
Principal, Mt. Anthony Union High School , VT

Amy Beth is a master... Not only does she draw in the participants to create a community feeling within minutes, but she also provides the kinds of structures that allow people of all learning styles to come away with immediate "take aways" that greatly expand their options for creating effective experiential learning exercises. Her confidence, enthusiasm and play engender trust, ease and creativity. I enjoyed her session immensely and had a significant "AHA" about my own learning and teaching style that I will be able to put to good use as I put together my next classes and workshops.
Rebecca M. Picard
Mediator, conflict resolution coach, and collaborative family lawyer, Mediated Solutions

Amy Beth’s workshop was a real treat. She has a great gift for creating a fun experience, at the same time modeling the potential of games in a training or conflict resolution setting. Of special note, is her warm invitation, permission-giving, and encouragement to use games in creative problem solving. I was left with many ideas to build upon.
Dennis Gilbert
Program Coordinator, Mediation & Conflict Resolution Center
Howard Community College, Columbia, MD

Amy Beth is a knowledgeable, motivating speaker. She knows how to get to the heart of the conversation and give a worthwhile presentation. I’d recommend her to anyone!
Allison Sherlock
Admissions Counselor, Assumption College

I thought this training was…great and extremely helpful. At many different points I was able to understand more deeply how I can come at a situation from a variety of honest and helpful answers. I think using our own situations helped focus the discussion. What I didn’t like? Not enough time with you!
Teacher, Teddy McArdle School, New Jersey

Discussions with you are useful in that you hear the edges of the conversation—the body language or tentative pieces, not just the most straightforward portions of the conversations. Your ability to connect ideas and information across disciplines is useful both as a teaching tool and as a way of providing frames of reference that connect for people. You have the ability to empathize with others while acknowledging the need for a task to be completed, goal to be met, etc. One could phrase this the other way around but my experience is that holding on to one’s ability to be empathetic is more difficult to master than to be a task-master.
Jeannie Jenkins
Academic Coordinator, The Community College of Vermont

Amy Beth is passionate, well informed, engaging—she put me at ease!
Ann Laurion, Independent College Admissions Counselor

Your training style is very engaging and your enthusiasm is contagious. Your energy made everyone in the session more engaged and excited about the thought of developing more creative and fun learning experiences for the groups that we train. You made the session very comfortable and again set the stage for a fun few days at the conference.
Mary Williams
Community Relations Specialist
Charlotte, NC

In the field of conflict resolution, things are often very random and unpredictable and having a new (fun!) approach will help me teach others how to learn conflict resolution techniques while still having fun. This was probably one of the best [ACR] “institutes” I’ve been to. I hope to see you again.
Adriana DeJong
Bridgepoint Education
San Diego, CA

Amy Beth's one of the most creative, resourceful and innovative mediator and educators I know. If you're a dispute resolution trainer looking to add spark and substance to your repertoire, I urge you to connect with Amy Beth -- yesterday!
Dr. Tammy Lenski
Mediator, Author, Executive Coach

As an educator, trainer and practitioner in the conflict resolution field, I was intrigued by the title of Amy Beth’s session, Got Games?: Simple Strategies for Creating High Impact Training Activities. The exercises I use are getting redundant and I want to revive my excitement for trainings by creating new exercises. There are also subjects I mostly lecture on, but did not have any exercises of my own to bring the learning home for the participants. When the time for the session came up I became worried that the session may not meet my high expectations and simply provide a basic template for activities I already use. Minutes within the session I was assured that the session would be constructive. Amy Beth brought forward the elements of an interactive exercise and explained the structure of a learning activities well. She provided multiple opportunities to work with fellow colleagues in the development of actual games to use and I believe the two that I created with a small group will be very effective in my future workshops. I can’t wait to try them out. I also look forward to sharing what I learned with my colleagues at Creighton University to build up our training exercises as a group.
Bryan J. Hanson
Assistant Director, Werner Institute for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
Creighton University - School of Law

Amy Beth is animated and knowledgeable. She helped me develop skills to work with conflict [and] these tools are quite useful to me in my work.
Kate Winslow
Director of College Counseling, Bridgton Academy

Amy Beth has been a joy to work with! Her coaching and training support have helped me recognize and build on my teaching strengths -- and to amp up that skill-base to the next level. I’ve become even more engaged with the spirit of play in my classroom, which animates and inspires my students to learn more and gain skill with less effort. I highly recommend Amy Beth to any trainer or teacher – whether beginner or experienced – seeking to gain new skills or reinvigorate an existing curriculum.
Kathleen Moore
Communications Consultant, Trainer, Educator and Coach