VIRGINIA STATE BAR
YOUNG LAWYERS CONFERENCE PRESENTS:

Northern Virginia Mediation Conference
MEDIATION BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL
November 23, 2004
George Mason University

The VSB-YLC Peer Mediation Committee presented two panels on "Mediatoin Beyond High School". Peer Mediation Committee Chair Gina Marine, Sona Rewari, and Kellye Curtis Clarke were moderators. About 40 students attended each session.

Panelists included:

Ja Ques K. Anderson is the Senior ADR Specialist for the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Washington Field Office where she mediates federal sector and private sector discrimination charges. She also is a member of the EEOC's ADR Training Team which is responsible for training all internal EEOC mediators nationwide in basic and advanced mediation skills. She has presented several ADR presentations for private sector companies, representatives of federal Agencies, and ADR professionals. She provides technical assistance for private sector companies and federal Agencies regarding the design of a conflict management system and training for internal ADR services.

In addition to mediating workplace disputes, Ms. Anderson has also conducted mediations for the DC Office of Citizen Complaints between DC police officers and citizens and for the Court Services and Offenders Supervision Agency between victims and first-time offenders (through the Community Dispute Resolution Center). She has mediated cases for the DC Office of Human Rights, community disputes through the Prince William County Office of Dispute Resolution, and federal sector EEO complaints through the Federal Shared Neutrals Program. She also is a certified mediator by the Supreme Court of Virginia. Ms. Anderson is a graduate of Illinois State University (ISU) where she majored in political science and public relations. She also holds a Master's in Public Administration from ISU. She has earned several post-graduate credits from George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Lewis Dabney was recently elected Co-Chair of the International Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution and is a Program Manager at the Key Bridge Foundation. He built on his undergraduate and graduate level studies in anthropology and religious studies at the University of Virginia by pursuing a M.Sc. in ethnic and religious conflict at George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He has researched and lectured at universities in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Austria and the U.S., and has been trained in advanced human rights monitoring, mediation, work-place mediation and mediating disability disputes. At the Key Bridge Foundation he has helped manage the US Department of Justice's ADA mediation program for nearly five years, has helped train KBF clients in basic and advanced mediation practices, and served as an international consultant on access to justice projects for the World Bank and Latin American clients.

Mr. Dabney has presented on radio shows, inter-faith panels, and conferences on ADA mediation, mediating in a civil rights context, mediation as a judicial reform mechanism, and interfaith processes. He is a co-author of "From Determining Capacity to Facilitating Competencies: A new Mediation Framework," Conflict Resolution Quarterly 20:4 (2003).

Scott M. Deyo has served as the program administrator of the Collaborative Resolution Program for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) since 2001. As the agency's first Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Specialist, Mr. Deyo provides ADR services to over 5,000 military and civilian personnel. Throughout his career, Mr. Deyo has mediated over 100 cases, most of which dealt with issues of cultural diversity and communication.

Mr. Deyo's interest in mediation was first peaked in high school, where he served as a peer mediator in Buena Vista, Virginia. He carried on this interest to James Madison University (JMU) and helped revitalize the Madison Mediators. After graduating from JMU cum laude in three years with a degree in psychology, Mr. Deyo became a Certified Mediator and Mentor through the Supreme Court of Virginia. He then earned a Master of Science degree from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. He has specific Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Americans with Disabilities Act mediation training through Northern Virginia Mediation Service and Key Bridge Foundation, respectively. Mr. Deyo accomplished his educational and professional endeavors despite having a learning disability, and was recognized as OSD's 2003 Outstanding Employee with a Disability. His interests include tennis, drawing portraits (www.deyo.us/portraits), playing the trumpet, and spending time with his wife.

Ernie DuBester is a Professor of Law at George Mason University Law School, where he has taught a variety of dispute resolutions courses including negotiation, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. He is the former chairman of the National Mediation Board (NMB), an independent federal agency that governs labor relations in the airline and railroad industries. A presidential appointee, he was first appointed in November 1993 and subsequently unanimously reconfirmed by the U.S. Senate for a third term in November 1999. His responsibilities as chair (and board member) of the NMB included the mediation of many national collective bargaining disputes in the airline and railroad industries. He worked individually and jointly with fellow board members to introduce and promote innovative approaches to dispute resolution, including the creation of an alternative dispute resolution program that includes specialized bargaining training, facilitation, grievance mediation, and interest-based bargaining.

A certified mediator in Virginia, Professor DuBester serves on the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Mediation Service and the Board of Directors of the Virginia Mediation Network. He is also a member of the Association of Conflict Resolution (Workplace Committee) and the American Bar Association's Sections of Dispute Resolution and Labor and Employment Law. Professor DuBester is a graduate of Boston College and the Catholic University of America Law School. He also holds an LL.M. degree in Labor Law from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Dotty S. Larson has been the Director of the Prince William County, Virginia Office of Dispute Resolution since it was started as a pilot program by the Supreme Court of Virginia on September 21, 1992. She developed and implemented this program, which diverts cases out of the court system at all three levels (JDR, General District and Circuit Court), evaluates and refers clients to alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice, when appropriate. Ms. Larson serves on the Supreme Court of Virginia's Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee, Ethics Committee, Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, Legislative Committee and Ethics Panel. She has conducted workshops at Judges', Clerks' and guardian ad litem Conferences as well as many seminars and workshops for mediators, Offender Aid and Restoration groups, attorneys, homeless shelters, Adult and Juvenile Detention Centers, churches, police departments and many more. Ms. Larson was also a Board member of the Virginia Mediation Network for five years, serving as Secretary, Vice-President, President and Immediate Past President.

In 2000, Ms. Larson received a Prince William County Executive's Award and, in 2001, she received an award from the Supreme Court of Virginia at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Department of Dispute Resolution Services for "Distinguished Service to the Prince William County Court in Their Efforts to Promote Court-Annexed Mediation in Virginia." Ms. Larson is an Executive Board Member of the Restorative Justice Association of Virginia, serving as Treasurer and as Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee.

D. Kinsey Miller graduated from George Mason University in 2003 with a B.A. in Government and Spanish. She minored in conflict resolution where her interest for mediation began. She joined the Northern Virginia Mediation Service in the spring of 2002 as a court program intern and subsequently became the NVMS Court Program Coordinator in 2003. Ms. Miller manages General District and Small Claims Court cases in four different courts in Northern Virginia. She also serves as the intern supervisor as well as the Spanish Program Coordinator.

Ms. Miller is a certified mediator by the Supreme Court of Virginia and regularly mediates at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Spanish and English. Ms. Miller has helped develop dialogues and role-plays for various peer mediator programs and she is currently attending George Mason University for her Masters in Counseling and Development.