JD's professional background spans three distinct but interconnected chapters — each one informing and deepening the work he does today.
He began his career in international banking and trade finance, spending seventeen years at CoBank where he rose to lead the Latin America Division, managing a loan portfolio spanning fifteen countries and overseeing teams in Denver, Mexico City and Buenos Aires. He subsequently joined Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) to establish and manage their trade finance operations, leading a global team across five countries. That career gave him an intimate understanding of organizational dynamics, cross-cultural negotiation, and the complex human relationships that underlie even the most sophisticated financial transactions — experience that translates directly into his work as a mediator, particularly in workplace and commercial settings.
The transition away from corporate life began not with a career plan but with a calling. After returning to Colorado's Upper Arkansas Valley, JD became involved with Full Circle Restorative Justice, a Salida-based nonprofit working primarily with youth in the community. It was there — sitting in circles with young people navigating conflict, consequence and the possibility of repair — that he discovered a passion for facilitated dialogue and the transformative potential of bringing people into honest conversation with one another. That experience led him to formal mediation training in 2015 and ultimately to recognition as a professional mediator with the Mediation Association of Colorado. He subsequently served for over a decade as a contract mediator with the Colorado Office of Dispute Resolution across three judicial districts, mediating over 900 cases involving workplace conflicts, civil disputes, divorce, parenting plans, construction disputes and HOA matters.
Alongside his mediation practice, JD has pursued an equally deep investment in coaching and inner work. Certified as a Professional Coach through Integral Coaching Canada — whose approach draws on the developmental frameworks of Ken Wilber and Robert Kegan — he brings a sophisticated understanding of how people grow and change to his work with clients. More recently he has completed certified training in psychedelic integration coaching through the Psychedelic Coaching Institute, adding a specialized capacity to support individuals preparing for or integrating transformative experiences with plant medicines. That work is grounded in something beyond professional training — fifty years of personal contemplative practice, his own transformative inner work, and a long engagement with men's personal development through the Mankind Project and Men's Leadership Alliance.
These three chapters — corporate leader, mediator, coach and integration guide — aren't as unrelated as they might appear. Looking back, there's a clear thread running through all of it: a lifelong interest in helping people navigate complexity, find common ground, and move through difficult passages with greater clarity and purpose.