Oakley Hill – The Making of a Conflict Coach

Oakley is a PhD candidate at the Carter School, which is where he first discovered Root Narrative Theory (RNT). Born and raised in Utah, Hill attended Utah Valley University (UVU) where he majored in Integrated Studies, focusing on Peace and Justice and Moral Philosophy, supplemented with research and critical thinking courses.

When the time came to apply to graduate school, Hill applied to a single program: the Master’s in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. “From my studies in Peace and Justice, I knew I wanted to study Peace and Conflict Resolution and I wanted to be in the D.C. area. I wanted a program that taught practical skills and would help me find a career where I could have a positive, social impact. And the multidisciplinary nature of the program was very appealing,” he noted.

Hill went on to apply for his PhD at the Carter School after discovering Dr. Solon Simmon’s Root Narrative Theory (RNT) during his graduate studies. Hill explained that RNT “helps us understand how people perceive political situations… the specific story they believe themselves to be experiencing.” He knew he wanted to build his career as a researcher around this theory.

For Hill, Root Narrative Theory was more than an abstract, academic tool. “[RNT] helped me understand my own paradigm shifts, such as moving from Mormon to ex-Mormon and from the political right to the left” he explained. “I used to think I have ideas, but now I know the ideas have me,” he joked.

In 2024, Hill partnered with Dr. Solon Simmons and the Narrative Transformation Lab at the Carter School to employ the first national Justice Languages of America Survey. Distributed a week before the Presidential election, the survey captured how Americans were thinking about politics just before they voted. It found that, on average, liberals, moderates, and conservatives tended to perceive a distinct political situation. Conservatives tended to perceive a situation where criminals and foreigners threatened the innocent, and the masses coerced citizens, while the state cheated the people. Liberals tended to perceive a situation where the elite divided society, cheated the people, and excluded minorities while the state coerced citizens. Moderates appeared to be self-aware—they scored between conservatives and liberals on almost all JLAS measurements. Hill also paired the survey with a root narrative analysis of campaign speeches from both Presidential candidates. He found that who the candidates are and what they communicated were strongly correlated with how Americans perceive the political situation, and that how they perceived the political situation was strongly correlated with their preferred candidate.

Dr. Solon Simmons had nothing but praise for his former student. “It has been a pleasure to work with Oakley in the development and application of root narrative theory, an approach that allows us to measure commitments to elementary antagonisms, the philosophical foundations of disagreement,” he said. “His systematic survey of the moral commitments of the great ideologists over the course of modern history is both pathbreaking and eye-opening.”

While working toward his degree, Hill has been a lab manager for the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation and the Facilitation Coordinator at the Carter School’s Point of View International Retreat and Conference Center, where he has worked since 2021.

Point of View offers many services, including mediation. As the Facilitation Coordinator, Hill assesses the needs of every client who reaches out to the center in need of mediation. A mediator himself, Hill conducts informal intake interviews to identify the client’s goals and issues, before matching them with an appropriate, experienced mediator. Hill explained, “Some clients are looking for conflict resolution in a general sense, such as inter- or intra-departmental issues, interpersonal conflict training or restorative justice practices. Other clients are more interested in strategic planning, and require a mediator with a relevant background to engage critical thinking.”

"Mr. Hill has proven to be an invaluable asset to Point of View throughout his time at the Carter School,” noted Jessica Avila-Franco, Event and Operations Manager at Point of View. She explained, “Point of View offers in-house facilitation services, providing clients with a seamless, full-service experience in our professionally equipped, neutral waterfront setting. Through his work with the Facilitation and Mediation program here at POV, we have been able to help numerous public and private sector clients reach amicable resolutions to their most pressing challenges. Mr. Hill's ability to thoughtfully match clients with the right mediator ensures that each engagement is tailored to the client's unique goals and objectives — and that meaningful resolutions are achieved.”

In the past, Hill coordinated with Point of View to provide service to organizations such as Bowie State University, Loudoun County, and NOVA Community College with their facilitation needs. Privately, Hill has worked as a conflict coach for Latter-day Saint and ex-Mormon families, and mediated dialogues between D.C. Police and GMU students.

Looking forward, Hill admitted that, while he enjoys teaching, his true passion is research, although he may be interested in continuing to work as a mediator or conflict coach in the short-term.