Streaming Media

Images

Maya Townsend, Ph.D. is a 2026 graduate of the PhD Program in Leadership and Change at Antioch University.

maya townsend committee

Maya Townsend at her Dissertation Defense.

From L-R: Dr. Aqeel Tirmizi, Committee Chair, Dr. Amy Lesen, Committee Member, Dr. Sjoerd Georges Romme, Committee Member.

Dissertation Committee

  • Aqeel Tirmizi, PhD, Committee Chair
  • Amy Lesen, PhD, Committee Member
  • Sjoerd Georges Romme, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

conflict, generative conflict, conflict culture, organizational culture, organizational change, turbulence, defensiveness, organizational defensive routines, leadership, fear, voice, receptivity, system dynamics, community action agencies, nonprofit, non-profit, action research, systemic action research, facilitative action research, case study

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Countries around the world face unprecedented levels of polarization and discontent, creating conditions that encourage organizational conflict as employees replicate patterns present within the environment. Organizational conflict can be a source of anxiety, a distraction from work, and an impediment to innovation, sound decision making, and quality outcomes. However, conflict need not be destructive. With that background, this dissertation is guided by the following primary research question: How can an organization develop a generative conflict culture that strengthens relationships and contributes to positive outcomes? The single-case study follows one community action agency as it seeks to develop and implement more generative conflict practices. Using a systemic action research approach, the study engages a cohort of organizational leaders to learn and apply practices designed to encourage generative conflict. Surveys, focus groups, and interviews produce data on conflict culture, triggers, and behaviors as well as employee voice, receptivity to ideas, organizational satisfaction, and retention. The study yields nuanced insights into the shift towards generative conflict, highlighting the effects of national turbulence on change and the challenge of conducting action research with an organization facing external threats. This study highlights system-level domain patterns, common throughout a sector, that influence the shift to a generative conflict culture. The research contributes to the conflict culture research by identifying productive conflict behaviors and behavioral roadblocks, as well as four prerequisites and three introductory practices that lay the foundation for generative conflict. Researchers and practitioners can use the results to inform future research on generative conflict and to guide practical projects seeking to shift conflict cultures. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

This dissertation is embargoed until March 2027

Comments

maya townsend

Maya Townsend, Ph.D.

ORCID id:  #0009-0004-6230-4795

Maya Townsend, PhD, is founder and principal consultant of The Human Organization. For 25+ years, she has helped organizations move through their most complex challenges: bringing diverse groups together to develop adaptive strategies, strengthen collaboration, and navigate change and conflict.

Maya is one of only three certified Lewis Method of Deep Democracy trainers in the United States — a rare credential in a field that leans heavily on conventional conflict resolution models. She teaches graduate-level conflict resolution and negotiation at Tufts University. She has been a keynote presenter at Gartner and a mainstage presenter at Inc. 500|5000; her sessions at the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association and Society for Human Resource Management conferences were voted "best in conference" by attendees.

Her expertise is reflected in her writing. Maya is co-editor of Handbook for Strategic HR: Best Practices in Organization Development from the OD Network (AMACOM, 2012) and wrote the chapter on "Organization Network Dynamics and Analysis" for The NTL Handbook of Organization Development and Change. In 2024, she co-authored the first article proposing an integrated model for human-centered organizations (with Dr. Georges "Sjoerd" Romme, Humanistic Management). Her work has also appeared in strategy+business, People & Strategy, Nonprofit Quarterly, and other outlets, and she serves on the Editorial Review Board for OD Review, the leading organization development practitioner journal in the U.S.

Maya earned her PhD from Antioch University, with a dissertation on the development of generative conflict cultures in organizations. She also holds a Master of Science with distinction from the American University/NTL Institute Organization Development program and a Master of Arts in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. She is active in the Organization Development Network, Mid-Atlantic Facilitators Network, and Massachusetts Bay LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the board of ZUMIX Firehouse, Inc.

Outside of work, Maya treasures time with her partner of 31 years, indulges in chocolate tasting, and wanders the forests with her dog, Saga. She counts replicating the famed Frida cupcake from Austin's Sugar Mama's Bakeshop in her home kitchen as one of her proudest achievements.

Download

Share

COinS