Dr. Curt Bechler currently serves as Managing Partner for Venture International LLC. Dr. Bechler assists businesses, serving as a consultant, facilitator, and trainer. He has worked with organizations of all different sizes and types, from Fortune 500 manufacturing companies, to health and human services, to small non-profit agencies. At the center of his work is the process of organizational change and effective communication, be it proactively through strategic planning and structured growth or reactively through crisis management and conflict facilitation.

Dr. Bechler has also served as a strategist in various political and public relations campaigns. He has worked with crisis situations ranging from large scale embezzlement, such as $1.3 million by a vice president of finance, to crises brought on by acts of violence and hate, to sexual impoprieties by CEOs and pastors. He has facilitated responses to labor/management disputes, failed mergers with financial service firms, and worked with community health and organizational assessments as a means of proactive intervention.

Since 1998, Dr. Bechler has also been an Associate Professor at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses ranging from interpersonal to organizational communication. He has also written and published several books and articles, focusing on two areas — listening and leadership, as well as effective response strategies for organizations faced with a crisis.

Dr. Bechler and his wife, Shari, reside in Hudsonville, Mich. They have two sons, Christian and Connor.