MICHAEL JOHN ALOI, Esq. (President-Elect)

Fairmont, WV

e-mail: maloi [at] manchin-aloi [dot] com

Michael John Aloi, Esq., is a lawyer, mediator, and founding partner of the law firm of Manchin & Aloi.  He received his undergraduate degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and is a graduate of the WVU College of Law where he was the only member of his class to receive both the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barristers.

Michael is Past President of the West Virginia State Bar (2002-2003). He serves as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (AAA), has been selected for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America,” and has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in the field of ADR. He is the only lawyer in West Virginia to be a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators.

Michael is an Adjunct Professor for the WVU College of Law and the West Virginia Wesleyan College MBA program. 

Michael has served on the ACR Board of Directors (2007-2008) along with being a past co-chair of the Spirituality Section of ACR (2005-2007). He also served as a conference tri-chair for the 2007 ACR Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona.

MARILYN S. McKNIGHT, M.A. (Immediate Past President)

Minneapolis, MN

e-mail: marilynmcknight [at] ericksonmediation [dot] com

Marilyn McKnight has practiced exclusively in the field of mediation since founding Erickson Mediation Institute in 1977. A former member of the Board and former President of the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), Ms. McKnight served on the Test Design Project for the study of mediator certification. In 1996, she and Stephen Erickson were awarded AFM’s Distinguished Mediator Award for their outstanding contributions to the field of mediation.  Ms. McKnight served as the president of the Minnesota Chapter of ACR when it merged with the state mediation association, and continues to serve on the board of the merged organization, Conflict Resolution Minnesota.  She has co-authored five highly successful books on mediation and is frequently an adjunct professor at the William Mitchell College of Law.

FERNAUNDRA FERGUSON, J.D. (Vice President)

Pensacola, FL

e-mail: fferguson [at] uwf [dot] edu

Fernaundra Ferguson is an Assistant Dean, Student Success Programs, College of Arts and Sciences University of West Florida.  As assistant dean she is responsible for the university’s student success programs that aid in the retention of students of color, low income, first generation and students with disabilities. Dr. Ferguson has taught alternative dispute resolution, conflict resolution and graduate diversity and conflict resolution courses.  As a part of the conflict resolution course, Dr. Ferguson trained her students as peer mediation trainers and they in turn trained high school students as peer mediators. She was Co-Chair of ACR’s Training Section from 2002–2004 and has been a member of the ACR Diversity and Equity Committee since 2001.  She holds a B.A. in political science from Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina and a J.D. from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

PERRI MAYES (Treasurer)

Milwaukee, WI

e-mail: pem [at] igc [dot] org

Perri E. Mayes, J.D., is a dispute resolution professional in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Her practice includes mediation, facilitation, system design, training, and program administration.  Additionally she is Executive Director of the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin. She also teaches mediation as Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Perri is a former court mediation program administrator and community mediation center staff person. She is a past president of the Wisconsin Association of Mediators. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from Drake University Law School.  Perri has been an ACR member since its inception. She served on the ACR Annual Conference Committee in 2005 and 2008, as a Tri-chair of the 2006 conference, and as a conference management consultant in 2007.

Board Service: 2008 - 2011

Cindy Cook (Secretary)

Adamant, VT

e-mail: ccook [at] adamantaccord [dot] com

Cindy Cook is a nationally recognized mediator and facilitator and principal of Adamant Accord, Inc. (www.adamantaccord.com), a firm that specializes in environmental dispute resolution and the design and implementation of public involvement processes for complex public policy issues.  Ms. Cook is a graduate of Yale and is a member of the Summer Faculty and a Land Use Institute Fellow at Vermont Law School.  She is past Co-Chair of ACR’s Environment and Public Policy Section.  Cindy devotes considerable energy to supporting ACR's sections.

Washington, DC

e-mail: rbarbour17 [at] gmail [dot] com

CAROL BERZ, LCSW, JD, PhD (At-Large Member)

Chattanooga, TN

e-mail: CBB4PDRS [at] aol [dot] com

Carol Berz, LCSW, JD, PhD, is CEO of Private Dispute Resolution Services, LLC, a mediation services and training organization based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 31 Listed Civil and Family mediator, Dr. Berz teaches extensively in both the private and public sectors in the areas of mediation, mediation advocacy and mediation law and ethics.  Her specialty is strategic planning relative to costs of corporate conflict.

In addition to serving on the ACR Board of Directors’ Executive Committee, Dr. Berz chairs the Ethics Committee for the National Association of Social Workers - Tennessee Chapter and serves as a national mediator and is a member of the ADR Ethics Education Sub-Committee for the American Bar Association. She chaired the mediation component of the Hamilton County Courts’ Pilot Project relative to Tennessee’s Parenting Plan law and spent eleven years as a commissioner with the Chattanooga Human Rights/Human Relations Commission, dealing with employment and civil rights matters.

She is the current Chair of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women; is a Councilwoman for the City of Chattanooga and was honored in 2008 by the City of Chattanooga for her unique contributions toward advancing equality of opportunity among the citizens of the City.  Dr. Berz studied liberal arts at Emory University and human service administration at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. Her master’s degree in social policy was completed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; her law degree was completed at the Nashville School of Law; and her doctorate in social policy was completed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in cooperation with Bryn Mawr College.

RITA CALLAHAN, MDS (At-Large Member)

Atlanta, GA and New York City, NY

e-mail: rcallahan [at] mindspring [dot] com

Ms. Callahan is a Consultant and President of Working It Out, a national collaboration and conflict management consulting company that works with individuals, companies and organizations to improve interpersonal and organizational communication, and to develop the ability of people, groups and companies to manage conflict and to collaborate effectively. Ms. Callahan provides services including mediation, training, facilitation, conflict coaching, consulting, conflict assessment, and public speaking. Ms. Callahan is a former Co-Chair of the Workplace Section, Founder and President of the Georgia Chapter of ACR, and has served on ACR’s Conference Planning and Membership Committees, Certification Task Force, Chapter Advisory Council, and Public Education Task Force. She has a Master’s in Decision Science.

JEFFREY COHEN (At-Large Member)

Albany, NY

e-mail: jeffrey [at] jcohenmediation [dot] com

Jeffrey M. Cohen is a mediator and attorney who has concentrated in mediation since 1992 (www.jcohenmediation.com). He has extensive experience in the areas of divorce, commercial and workplace matters and employment discrimination.

For the past year, and as a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution Board, Mr. Cohen has served as a member of ACR Certification Task Force, which is developing uniform standards for the certification of mediators. In addition, Mr. Cohen is presently serving as the co-chairman of The ACR Legal Committee, as a member of The ACR Governance Committee, and on The ACR Grievance Committee. Mr. Cohen also previously served on ACR’s Insurance Committee. Mr. Cohen earned his BA in Political Science from Union College in 1980, and a JD from The John Marshall Law School in 1983 and is a member in good standing of The New York Bar Association.

Mr. Cohen is also a co-creator and lecturer for “Kids First After Divorce,” a New York State certified parent education program which, for the past 18 years, has taught parents, among other things, the use of mediation to resolve family disputes. In addition, he is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and other organizations and he has taught numerous continuing legal education courses regarding the efficacy and ethics of mediation.

Board Service: 2008 - 2011

CRISTINA FRANCO

Pine Mountain, GA

e-mail: FrancoMediation [at] aol [dot] com

Cristina is the CEO and President of International Communications Resources, a professional organization dedicated to bilingual resources in the English/Spanish language combinations. She is a Georgia State Registered Mediator & Arbitrator, and has Mediation Certification from the Department of Defense; and Qualified-Registered Interpreter for the Courts since 2001.

Cristina is the former Director of the Commission on Interpreters of the Supreme Court of Georgia. She is a member of and holds leadership position in numerous local and national organizations including being member of the Board of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the Harris County Chamber of Commerce; the U.S. Foundation for the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; a member of the Advisory Board,  Center for Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University;  member of the Hispanic Bar Association; the National Association of Community Mediation, NAFCM, and the Point-Person for ABA Diversity Equity Committee. She serves ACR in various capacities including as Board Member, Immediate Past Chair-International Section, and Chair-Georgia Chapter.

Cristina was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She attended the Universidad Pontifica Javeriana, Bogotá. She moved to the US with her family and attended Bernard M. Baruch College CUNY (BA & Marketing). She attended New York University (Political Science) graduate school.

Board Service: 2008 - 2011

NANCY L. GARDNER, LCSW

Katonah, NY and Bristol, VT

e-mail: ngardner [at] we-mediate [dot] com

Nancy Gardner is President of the Alliance for Mediation & Conflict Resolution, Inc., She is a full-time mediator, trainer and conflict management consultant. She serves on the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, the USPS REDRESS Blue Ribbon Panel, Key Bridge Foundation, and has been a contract mediator for the US EEOC. She has taught Negotiation and Conflict Management at Baruch College in New York City. She is an Advanced Practitioner member of ACR’s Workplace and Family Sections and has formerly served on the Board of Directors for the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation. Nancy also is a Vermont Family Court Mediator, working in Addison and Chittendon Counties.

As a member of the ACR Board of Directors, she worked on the ACR Professional Liability Insurance Workgroup.  She was appointed to represent ACR as an Official Observer on the Drafting Committee for the Uniform Collaborative Law Act (a committee of Nation Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws). She is serving as co-chair of the Mediator Certification Task Force and serving as co-chair for the Collaborative and Cooperative Law Work Group.

Lou Gieszl (ACR Chapters Director)

Baltimore, MD

e-mail: Lou.Gieszl [at] mdcourts [dot] gov

Lou Gieszl is Deputy Executive Director of the Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO), an office in the judiciary that works to advance appropriate dispute resolution (ADR) throughout Maryland’s courts, communities, schools, universities,  government agencies, criminal and juvenile justice programs, and businesses. A skillful mediator, facilitator, and trainer, Mr. Gieszl has been involved in conflict resolution since the early 1990s and has presented many workshops and written several articles on ADR topics. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Baltimore’s Master’s Degree Program on Negotiations and Conflict Management, where he teaches courses related to mediation, ADR and community conflict resolution. He mediates as a volunteer for the Maryland Human Relations Commission and the District Court of Maryland. Mr. Gieszl was a founding member of the Maryland ACR Chapter and has been active in ACR at the local and national level since ACR was created. He also was a founding member of the Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence, the Maryland Mediator Excellence Council, and Community Mediation Maryland, a statewide nonprofit association of community-based mediation programs. Mr. Gieszl holds undergraduate degrees in English, philosophy and political science, plus a Master’s of Public Policy, from University of Maryland Baltimore County.

MARYA KOLMAN (ACR Sections Director)

Columbus, OH

e-mail: mckolman [at] columbus [dot] rr [dot] com

Board Service: 2008 - 2011

CREVON J. TARRANCE, MSW, JD (At-Large Member)

Columbus, OH

e-mail: TarrancC [at] sconet [dot] state [dot] oh [dot] us

Crevon Tarrance has been a program manager at the Supreme Court of Ohio Dispute Resolution Section since 1997, when she was hired to oversee the creation of 12 court based mediation programs. Since that time, she has assisted numerous court programs reach self-sufficiency. Ms. Tarrance spearheaded the development of a training curriculum on domestic abuse issues for mediators that uniquely includes allied professionals as attendees. She is a founding member of the Planning Committee on Initiatives for Minority Professionals in ADR, sponsored by Capital University Law School, which has provided ADR training for the last six years. Prior to coming to Ohio, Ms. Tarrance was a consultant with a district court in Iowa, and before that, the Supreme Court of Vermont, assisting both in creating mediation programs.  She began her career in ADR in 1978, serving as a custody evaluator and later, mediator at the Friend of the Court in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While there, she was elected to four consecutive terms to serve on the contract negotiations team. Ms. Tarrance is a former board member of the Academy of Family Mediators.

PAULA J. TROUT, J.D., MPA, MBA

Las Vegas, NV

e-mail: pjtroutmlm [at] aol [dot] com

Ms. Trout is President/CEO of Alternative Dispute Resolution Forums in Las Vegas, Nevada and Inglewood, California. She has worked in the field of conflict resolution for over twenty-five years, and has served in the capacity of attorney, arbitrator, mediator and trainer in dispute resolution. Ms. Trout presently serves on ACR's Executive Committee and is board secretary. She is co-chair of ACR's Finance Committee, and also serves on ACR's Audit, Standards, Ethics and Human Resources committees. Ms. Trout is an adjunct professor at DeVry University where she teaches negotiation, ethics, critical thinking, business management and the legal, political and ethical dimensions of business. Formerly a board member, treasurer, and president-elect of the Academy of Family Mediators, Ms. Trout is also former chair of ACR’s Family Section (2002-2003), immediate past-president of the Los Angeles Chapter of ACR, and former co-chair of ACR's 2003 Annual Conference, and board liaison to ACR's 2005 Annual Conference.