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How Mediation Works |
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Welcome
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Choosing a Mediator |
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Meet our Board of Directors
MCDR's 2011 Board of
Directors
President, Ellen Kandell Ellen F. Kandell is an attorney and dispute resolution professional with over 30 years experience in the public and private sector law practice. She is the President and founder of Alternative Resolutions, which provides third party neutral services, group facilitation, training and consulting. She was trained as a mediator at Harvard Law School , has mediated nearly 400 cases, arbitrated over 100 cases and is a certified mediator in Maryland. Ms. Kandell has experience handling complex cases ranging from 2-25 parties. She has mediated cases for metropolitan area law firms, federal agencies, Marylandand D.C. Circuit Courts, and Montgomery County Government. She served as an ombudsman for Johns Hopkins University ’s Space Telescope Science Institute. Areas of mediation expertise include ADA , business, employment, environmental and public policy, estate, personal injury and workers compensation mediation. Ms. Kandell’s facilitation work includes employee engagement work retreat facilitation, team building and coaching. She has helped clients charter new teams, enhance customer service and solve complex organizational problems caused by funding restrictions and budget shortfalls. Training programs developed by Ms Kandell include communication skills, conflict management, mediation and sexual harassment awareness. Ms. Kandell also conducts neutral fact finding investigations. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and Catholic University of America and co-chair of the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. She is also a founding member of the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County. Ms.
Kandell received her JD from Temple University
School of Law and her BS from the
University
of
Maryland
and is a member of the
Maryland
,
Pennsylvania
and New Jersey Bars.
Vice President, Edie Guidice eaguidice@yahoo.com Edie established a family mediation practice drawing on her unique background and experience in providing specialized divorce support services to individuals who have encountered all facets of separation and divorce, child centered issues, post divorce and pre-union issues. She possesses considerable financial skills acquired through years of family law litigation support experience. Her knowledge and expertise contributes to a superior ability to help parties identify and explore matters to be resolved and to facilitate their efforts to investigate problem solving options. Believing that community service is an essential ingredient of a productive life, she continues to be an active volunteer with a number of community mediation organizations and pro bono programs. She maintains an enthusiastic involvement in mediation activities and continuing education programs.
Secretary, Peggy Mitchel mitchmediates@gmail.com Peggy Halpern Mitchel was a litigator with the Justice Department and other Federal agencies for several years. As a mediator, Peggy handles a wide variety of cases at the District Court level, the States' Attorney's Office of Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Commission on Common Ownership Communities, the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County and CALM, the Community Mediation and Conflict Resolution Center of Frederick County, MD. Asst. Secretary, June Davis Email: jd@davislawpartners.com
Immediate Past President, Barbara Blake-Williams Barbara
brings a broad professional and educational background to her work in mediation.
Former Program Director of the Mediation and
Treasurer, Nancy Hirshman February
2005 to present: Private mediation practice with a focus on family matters and
intra-personal disputes Standing Committees  Membership
Chair, James Sauerjimsauer@msn.com
rozzinner@gmail.com Roslyn
Zinner LCSW-C of Divorce and Family Mediation Services, has an office in Anne
Arundel County. She is an Advanced Practitioner Mediator with the Association
for Conflict Resolution, a Certified Mediator with the Maryland Council for
Dispute Resolution, and works with custody and child dependency cases for the
Circuit Courts of Maryland. She has worked with families for 30 years as a
psychotherapist and clinical social worker, with specialties in marital therapy
and geriatrics. When not mediating, Roz enjoys creating mosaic art, playing
racquetball, and spending time with her family. Marketing & Outreach Co-Chair,
Liz Ribas
mike_benefield@persuasiveinformation.com Michael Benefiel conducted diplomacy for the United States in Germany , Japan , India , and Israel until leaving the Foreign Service in 2000. His encore career as a teacher and mediator allows him to keep practicing his cross-cultural communication skills, his negotiating creativity, and his work to strengthen our connections with one another. He honors and learns from differences of race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, orientation, age, education, wealth, and other categories of identity lenses.
ramonabuck@gmail.com Ramona came to MACRO as Public Policy Director in 2001. She was the Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services for the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland for six years, and prior to that, was the Executive Director of Northern Virginia Mediation Service, in Fairfax, Virginia. She is a past president of
the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution (MCDR) and serves on its Mediator
Certification Committee. She has a Master of Science in Conflict Resolution from
George Mason University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of
Iowa. Ramona has been certified as a mediator by MCDR and by the Supreme Court
of Virginia. She has been a mediator/trainer/facilitator since 1980.
Certification and Qualifications Co-Chair, Dave Simison das@daslaw.com Dave Simison has been mediating for over 10 years. He provides mediation training for the ABA and MICPEL. He has received over 170 hours in training from MICPEL, MCDR, the Anne Arundel Circuit Court, and the District Court. He chairs the AA Bar ADR Committee and serves as Treasurer of the MSBA ADR Section.
Barbara Blake Williams Barbara
brings a broad professional and educational background to her work in mediation.
Former Program Director of the Mediation and
Members-At-Large
Ed mediates and arbitrates disputes involving public and private contracts as an independent contractor for Creative Dispute Resolutions, LLC. He mediates for the Maryland Circuit Courts in Montgomery, Frederick and Howard counties, the Maryland Commission on Human Relations, the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County (CRCMC), the Community Alternative Mediation Center of Frederick County (CALM) and the Maryland District Court day-of-trial mediation program. Ed serves as a member of the CRCMC Senior Mediation Task Group and as a Volunteer Long Term Care Ombudsman for an assisted living facility. Ed’s interests include advancing cooperative dispute resolution throughout Maryland and continuing to mediate and arbitrate contract and business disputes. His interests also include family and elder mediation and family mediation. Ed plans to continue using mediation to assist seniors and their families who are in conflict to reach common goals.
Dennis Gilbert gilbert@howardcc.edu Dennis Gilbert has a BBA in Economics and an MBA in Computer Methodology. He has over 30 years in the private and public sectors as a computer scientist, IT consultant, and team member of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program. Dennis’ professional experience includes work as a trainer of alternatives to violence, and activism in countering sexism and sex role stereotyping. In 2007, after 15 years as a volunteer mediator with the Mediation & Conflict Resolution Center (MCRC) and former MCRC board member, Dennis joined the MCRC staff in a grant position to study how best to promote MCRC’s services to the HCC campus community. In 2008, Dennis accepted his current position with MCRC, where, as Program Coordinator, he handles MCRC’s case intake and management, and coordinates its large pool of volunteer mediators. Dennis’ talents and peaceful nature also find a home in the arts where, for over the past decade and continuing, Dennis also works as a professional nature and art photographer and teacher.
John Greer patuxmediation@gmail.com John N. Greer, an attorney and mediator, owns Patuxent Mediation Services, a mediation practice committed to the meaningful resolution of disputes with dignity for all parties. He has specialized in employment and discrimination cases as a mediator the past five years for the Maryland Commission on Human Relations and for the past four years with a Federal agency. As Legislative Counsel for that agency for 12 years, John has extensive experience in multi-party public policy conflicts. He also has experience in congregational church conflicts, having served on the governing body of a local congregation that suffered a contentious division centered on the senior pastor. Special Committees Liaison to Bar, Bench, Legislature, Roger Wolf, rwolf@law.umaryland.edu
Diversity Chair,Michael Benefiel mike_benefiel@persuasiveinformation.com Michael Benefiel conducted diplomacy for the United States in Germany , Japan , India , and Israel until leaving the Foreign Service in 2000. His encore career as a teacher and mediator allows him to keep practicing his cross-cultural communication skills, his negotiating creativity, and his work to strengthen our connections with one another. He honors and learns from differences of race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, orientation, age, education, wealth, and other categories of identity lenses. Continuing Education Co-Chair, Ramona Buck
makranitz@aol.com MCDR Representative to Mediator Excellence Council of MACRO, Bert Weiner
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8288 Telegraph Road Suite A Odenton, MD 21113
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Marketing
& Outreach Co-Chair, Roslyn Zinner
Program Chair, Michael Benefiel
Certification
and Qualifications Co-Chair, Ramona Buck
Ed Ketchen
Continuing
Education Co-Chair, Martin Kranitz
MCDR Administrator, Maria Harrison
