A Conversation About Race by Mediators for Mediators
Friday, August 14, 2020
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual
The Austin Mediators Association invites you to join us, as psychologist and mediator Michelle Edwards, Ph.D. moderates an open conversation between two experienced mediators as they discuss the impact of the current racial and emotional upheaval on the mediation process. It is the goal of this conversation to increase mediators’ understanding of the roots of the turmoil and ways to utilize that understanding to help move clients forward toward peace and resolution.
Registration: Free to members / $15 for non-members. Registration limited to AMA Members only through July 31st, after which registration will open to non-members. Registration is limited to 100 total participants. Become a member now for as little as $35!
One (1) hour of CE is pending approval for those who attend.
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**NEW**
***One (1) hour of MCLE has been approved for this activity by the State Bar of Texas. For those attendees who wish to also receive 1 hr. of Texas CLE, there will be an additional $5 added to registration to cover the State Bar fees.***
Danette Ross Watson is a TMCA Credentialed Distinguished Mediator, trainer, and ADR Consultant at Solomon’s Way ADR Services in Big Spring. She was born and raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia with six siblings by a single Mom and is a former President of the Martinsburg/ Berkeley County, WV Branch of the NAACP (2010-2013). She is a wife of 5 years, a mother of two, and a grandmother of one.
Danette has been mediating for 25 years and has an extensive background as a mediator, negotiator, facilitator, consultant, and trainer. She holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution and business management, respectively, from Concordia College and University, and a paralegal degree from Penn Foster University.
Danette founded Solomon’s Way ADR Services, LLC in 1999 and became Executive Director of the West Texas Community Mediation Center in October 2019. She is a member of the Texas Association of Hostage Negotiators and completed training by that organization while working as a counselor with GEO Corrections in Big Spring. She has dealt with high-conflict family and domestic issues with several courts in Maryland and West Virginia, workplace and EEO complaints for USPS REDRESS and various federal agencies, and also has experience with mental health care conflict management. Danette is currently on the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Mediators and serves as its Outreach Committee Chair. She is also on the board of the YMCA in Big Spring, a FEMA ADR Advisor, and a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable.
William N. (Bill) Woodson, III, J.D. is a graduate of Stanford University and Golden Gate University Law School and a former law school professor. The youngest of four children of a US Navy war veteran, Billy grew up in the San Diego area. Life was good, the family never went without, because Dad was a "supply guy" in the Navy and knew where to get just about anything. As the youngest, Billy watched his siblings, carefully seeing what “worked” and what did not. In a family troubled by anger pride, biases, and intolerance, young Billy developed the soft skills, the ability to communicate and peacemaking.
Following his brothers’ example, Bill joined the military and served a stint with the US Air Force as an air traffic controller. Seeing career military was not what he wanted, he decided to be the first in the family to attend college, where he met his future wife. After law school Bill spent four decades practicing civil litigation in some of the busiest trial courts in the country. He also acted as a settlement conference judge in the civil courts and became certified in mediation in both California and Texas.
A few years ago Bill and his wife Sue moved to Texas to be near his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. He currently focuses his broad experience on mediation, mentoring, coaching and peacemaking in civil litigation cases and church-related disputes. He volunteers his mediation services at the Austin Dispute Resolution Center and is President of the Austin DRC Board of Directors, co-President of the Austin Mediators’ Association, and a member of the Texas Association of Mediators.
Michelle Edwards, Ph.D. is a Texas Mediator Credentialing Association Credentialed Mediator and licensed psychologist. She is the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Austin Mediators Association and has a private mediation practice. Michelle holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her mediator certification in 2004 through the University of Texas Graduate Portfolio Program in Dispute Resolution. Michelle completed her doctorate at the American Psychological Association accredited New Mexico State Counseling Psychology program in 2012. She focuses her work on family and divorce mediation, combining her counseling and mediation skills to promote collaborative communication.