Our instructors have a wealth of experience in the fields of conflict, conflict resolution, peace building, mediation, law, education, human resources, management, and organizational development. Their expertise is based upon advanced academic study and practice as consultants, trainers, facilitators, and mediators. Our instructors are recognized for their subject matter and process expertise. They facilitate the learning process by approaching their work with integrity, humility, and a sense of humor. Many of our instructors serve the community through their work with the Northern Virginia Mediation Service and with other area non-profit organizations.
Elisabeth Bissell, J.D.
Elisabeth Bissell is a mediator certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia in both family and civil mediation. She has provided her mediation or arbitration service for a variety of organizations including the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution program for D.C. Superior Court, the Better Business Bureau Autoline Programe, SquareTrade (the mediation provider for eBay), NASA, and has successfully mediated hundreds of cases. Ms. Bissell is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Illinois State Bar, the Virginia Mediation Network, the American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution, and the Association for Conflict Resolution. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois.
Marjorie L. Bleiweis, M.Ed.
Marge Bleiweis is certified by the Virginia Supreme Court as a General District Court Mediator, Circuit Court-Family Mediator and a Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court Mediator. She served as the Conflict Resolution Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools where she provided mediation training for peer mediation and school programs. For the past thirteen years she has helped to organize the Northern Virginia Student Mediation Conference, one of the largest such conferences in the world with over 2,000 students. She holds an undergraduate degree in education and a Masters Degree in Counseling from the University of Maryland. She has additional graduate work related to counseling and mediation from George Mason University, The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. She has been mediating with Northern Virginia Mediation Service since 1990 and is a senior mentor mediator.
Tracey Pilkerton Cairnie, M.A.
Tracey Pilkerton Cairnie is a certified mediator/mentor, facilitator, coach, trainer, and public participation specialist. Tracey has over twenty years experience in developing and implementing a variety of communication and alternative dispute resolution programs, workshops and seminars. She provides services and training to a variety of government agencies (federal, state and local), businesses (profit and non-profit), universities, communities, families, and individuals.
Tracey is also an adjunct-professor at George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution teaching mediation, collaborative communication, and negotiation skills. She holds a MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and a BS in Public Administration from George Mason University. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University Executive Leadership Coaching Program.
Ami Carpenter, M.A.
Ami Carpenter is a certified mediator and instructor. Her expertise includes dialogue facilitation, international mediation and negotiation, and cross-cultural mediation.
She has designed and conducted trainings for Northern Virginia Mediation Service, the National Youth Leadership Conference, National Taurida Vernatsky University in Crimea, Ukraine and at New Mexico State University. Ami has also worked closely with the Community Resilience Dialogue Project, which brings together diverse segments of the community to discuss a broad range of topics in a context shaped by the events of September 11, 2001. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) at George Mason University.
Patrick Chapman, J.D.
Patrick Chapman serves as a Dispute Resolution Specialist and Attorney Advisor at the Departmental Appeals Board, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). He mediates federal cases involving workplace disputes, grievances, EEO complaints, and civil enforcement actions. Patrick also facilitates meetings and organizational disputes in the federal sector. Patrick has provided over 1,000 federal employees with mediation skills training through a variety of HHS alternative dispute resolution courses. Patrick has conducted training for NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and Optimus Corporation. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and visiting lecturer at the Catholic University School of Law and Howard University School of Law. Formerly. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University and Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Patrick is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, a former Board member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, District of Columbia Chapter (DCACR), and a current member of DCACR.
Richard Cocozza, Ph.D.
Dick Cocozza has been mediating, training and facilitating with the Northern Virginia Mediation Service since 1998. Dick held senior level management positions in the Executive Branch and directed a non-profit organization that facilitated communication, coordination, and problem solving on environmental and natural resources issues for 31 western U. S. Senators. He is currently an independent organization problem-solving consultant who specializes in organizations with workforce diversity, a workplace and family mediator, a trainer and a facilitator. Recent clients have included several interventions with congressional support organizations, the State of Virginia, SAIC, Smithsonian Institution, Farm Credit Administration, Hogar Hispano and Catholic Charities of Northern Virginia. In addition to his doctorate in Conflict Resolution through ICAR at George Mason, Dr. Cocozza has also earned the M.A. in Public Administration at George Washington University and has attended many advanced professional programs including the Senior Management Program at Harvard University.
Stanley B Corey, Jr
Stanley Corey is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional (CFP®), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Managing Partner of c5 Wealth Management, LLC. He has over twenty-eight years of experience in the financial services industry. He co-teaches divorce mediation classes at Northern Virginia Mediation Services. Mr. Corey has been a guest speaker at a number of industry conferences; has taught college business courses at UMUC and currently; has been a speaker on the financial aspects of divorce at the Women’s Center in Vienna, Virginia; has been featured in national publications such as USA Today, Working Women Magazine, MONEY and Good Housekeeping. Upon graduation from American International College in Springfield, MA in 1971, he served in the US Navy for just over four years.