Dr Monique Williams

Dr Monique Williams, CEO of Cure Violence Global, is an accomplished public health researcher and practitioner. She has worked in local government, leading the development and execution of a city’s strategic plan for addressing violence. She spent many years in academia, with research focused on improving health outcomes within marginalised populations – using community health development, equity, and violence prevention strategies. 

She led a CDC-designated centre for youth violence prevention research, where she oversaw the engagement of academic and community expertise in integrating practice, research, and teaching to advance health equity, racial justice, and build capacity for violence prevention within communities.

Prof Lola Akin Ojelabi

Professor Lola Akin Ojelabi is an Academic, Australian Lawyer and Mediator. Her ADR research focuses on access to justice, ethics, cultural appropriateness, ADR in the law curriculum and social justice.

Dr Laurence Boulle AM

Dr Laurence Boulle AM has been a DR practitioner for three decades and runs mediation and conflict management courses. 

His books on dispute resolution are on many unread shelves around the globe. He plays west African djembes on Monday evenings and conducts DR walkshops around the country. He is known globally as not being a thought leader in the field. Latest book: Mediation and Conciliation in Australia – Principles, Process, Practice (LexisNexis, 2023) Work in progress: Australia's African Australians (2025)

Stephen Dickinson

Stephen Dickinson has been an active member of several AMDRAS committees along with holding the position of AMDRAS Deputy Chair since 2022. He has served as a Director since 2019 and has played a key role supporting the recent NMAS review and working with AMDRAS (previously known as MSB) to strengthen industry connections. 

Stephen is a full-time practising mediator, Founder and Principal of dispute resolution firm, Ansr. and has been appointed to numerous South Australian and interstate mediation panels. He also brings more than 20+ years experience as a practising lawyer specialising in commercial litigation, governance and risk management. Stephen is currently recognised as one of Australia’s leading dispute resolution practitioners in both Best Lawyers and the Doyles Guide for his work in the areas of Mediation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Trusts and Estates, and Family Law. 

In addition to his role on the AMDRAS Board, Stephen contributes to various industry committees including as a member of The Law Society of South Australia ADR Committee since 2016 and Chair of that Committee since 2022. Stephen is also passionate about promoting mediation and dispute resolution, primarily to the legal profession, including by delivering presentations, contributing to publications, and in training and supervising under- and post-graduate law students and more recently trained and accredited mediators.

Joelene Nel

Joelene Nel moonlights as a dispute resolver, specifically in the family law mediation space, when she is not actively encouraging dispute resolution as a family lawyer. She is intrigued to explore how DR processes can become more human, flexible and positive, especially in a framework that can be complex and traumatic. She practises resilience, empowerment and vulnerability, not only with within the world of DR but also as part of her blended family, where she attempts to juggle life as a mum, friend, daughter and trusted advisor. 

 Joelene is the Associate Director at McLaughlins Lawyers on the Gold Coast in Queensland and committee member of the Gold Coast District Law Association

Dr Mark Seton

Dr Mark Seton is an Honorary Research Associate in Theatre and Performance Studies at The University of Sydney, Australia. He is an Educator and Consultant for Sense Connexion, which he established to teach empowering vulnerability to actors and other professionals, such as lawyers and health practitioners, whose capacity for empathy and sensitivity is crucial to their effectiveness and success. 

Alongside membership of the Editorial Board of the “Journal of Applied Arts and Health”, Mark is Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee for the Australian University off Theology and is a founding member of the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare. 

He has been an advocate for the Law Wellness Network over the past 11years and has been published in several edited publications of papers on wellness in the legal profession. He attended last year’s NMC Conference in Wellington, New Zealand, as a co-presenter of a workshop on resilience.

Assoc Prof Dorcas Quek

Associate Professor Dorcas Quek is an Associate Professor of Law at Singapore Management University’s School of Law. She holds an LL.B (First Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore and an LL.M from Harvard Law School, where she was a Singapore Legal Service scholar and Visiting Researcher under the guidance of Emeritus Professor Frank Sander and David Hoffman. Before joining SMU in 2016, Dorcas served as a Justices’ Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar in the Singapore Supreme Court, and as Assistant Director at the Singapore Mediation Centre. She was also a District Judge in the State Courts for nearly seven years, conducting mediation and early neutral evaluation in civil and criminal cases. Dorcas is internationally accredited by the International Mediation Institute, Singapore International Mediation Institute, CEDR (UK), and the Singapore Mediation Centre, and was the first Singapore mediator listed on CEDR’s Global Mediators Panel. Her research focuses on dispute resolution and its relationship with access to justice. Her work on mandatory mediation has been cited globally, including by Lord Justice Jackson. Dorcas has published in leading journals such as Civil Justice Quarterly, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Singapore Academy of Law Journal.

Mary Walker OAM

Mary Walker OAM has been a leading figure in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Australia for over 30 years. As a barrister, she has arbitrated, mediated, facilitated complex multi-party disputes, and designed dispute resolution systems across thousands of domestic and international cases. She has mediated over 4,000 matters and serves on panels including the Supreme Court of NSW, the Singapore International Mediation Centre, and the Supreme Court of the ACT. 

Mary is a certified Investor-State Mediator (CEDR, London), IMI Mediator and Advocate, and a member of several international ethics and appraisal committees. She has lectured at institutions including Harvard, Stanford, Sydney Law School, and Tilburg University. 

A prolific author, Mary wrote the ADR chapters in The Laws of Australia and No Mere Mouthpiece. She has held leadership roles in the NSW Bar Association, Law Council of Australia, and the International Bar Association. Among numerous accolades, she received the Australian Mediator of the Year Award (2016–2018), the International Mediator of the Year Award (2018–2019), and was inducted into the ADR Awards Hall of Fame (2019). Mary was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to the law in 2021.

Cherise Hairston

Cherise has 26 years of experience in community mediation and currently serves at the Dayton Mediation Center in Dayton, Ohio. She played a key role in launching the Mediation Response Unit (MRU), a program offering mediation-based responses to conflict-related 911 calls. Cherise is an “Elder” with the National Association for Community Mediation Board of Directors. She also teaches conflict coaching as part of the graduate certificate in Contemporary Dispute Resolution at George Mason University's Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter School of Peace and Conflict Resolution. She has contributed to several published works, including chapters in Beyond Equity and Inclusion in Conflict Resolution (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice (Syracuse University Press, 2008), and is a forthcoming contributor to Transformative Dialogue: Co-creating Conversations (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025)..

John Steele

A retired community lawyer and lecturer, John has had almost two decades' experience working as a community mediator.

Sarah Merritt

Proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung weaver and artist, Sarah Merritt, teaches traditional Aboriginal weaving techniques and history.

Weaving is a culturally, and socially important skill - Sarah's workshop will give you the opportunity to have a yarn while you create and learn.

Michelle Zaremba

Michelle Zaremba, MPA, is the Dayton Mediation Center Division Manager and has led the community mediation center since 2009. She co-developed and implemented the Mediation Response Unit (MRU) program, the first in the nation program where mediators respond to non-violent, non-criminal 911 calls for service in lieu of police. Michelle also developed other critical innovations in community mediation practice including creating the City of Dayton, Ohio’s police complaint program, the Bosnian Youth Leadership program, a joint partnership with the Dayton Mediation Center and United States State Department, and led the team who designed and implemented a workplace mediation program for a large public entity in the State of Ohio.

Dr Jeanne Felicity Zimmer

Jeanne Zimmer, PhD, is an adjunct professor at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, where she developed and teaches three graduate-level courses as part of the Contemporary Dispute Resolution Certificate. Jeanne completed a doctorate in evaluation studies at the University of Minnesota, with the supporting field of conflict management. Her research explores the collective impacts of community mediation programs and includes program evaluation and theory and the intersection of conflict resolution and evaluation practice. Jeanne has broad experience in the field, having served as the Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Center (DRC), the oldest community mediation program in Minnesota, for over 17 years. Jeanne is a practitioner, trainer, and consultant in program evaluation, mediation, facilitation, and restorative practices.

Dr Nav Sedaghati

Dr Nav Sedaghati brings 22 years of litigation and dispute resolution experience from different perspectives when conducting mediations, litigations, expert determinations and arbitrations. Having for a portion of his legal career worked as a Solicitor and another portion as a Barrister. As a Mediator he was awarded Mediator of the year in the 2025 Australian Alternative Dispute Resolution Awards. His skills and experience have been acquired from supporting startups through to some of the world’s largest multinational corporations, Tier 1 construction companies, top tier law and as a senior consultant to Government. His qualifications including degrees in law, building and construction, economics, finance, compliance, management, and a quantitative Doctorate in Business Administration.

Commissioner Lynda McAlary-Smith

Lynda commenced her role as the Victorian Small Business Commissioner in August 2021. Lynda is a qualified lawyer and accomplished senior executive with extensive experience working with businesses across every sector within Victoria and nationally. Lynda has two decades of experience working as regulator with 20 years of experience in multiple jurisdictions including the Commonwealth and Victoria and in workplace relations, building and construction and business regulation more generally. Lynda is also a board director of The Australian Ballet School and an Ambassador for the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation. Lynda and the team at the Victorian Small Business Commission are dedicated to providing much needed support to Victorian small businesses.

The Hon Kevin Lindgren AM KC

Dr Kevin Lindgren AM KC served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1994 until his retirement in 2010. Before his appointment, he was a Queen’s Counsel at the Sydney Bar, practising mainly in commercial law. Earlier, he was a solicitor (1962–1969), then an academic at the University of Newcastle (1969–1984), becoming Professor and Foundation Head of the Department of Law, before joining the Bar in 1984 and taking silk in 1991.

Post-retirement, Dr Lindgren has maintained an active practice in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including over 25 arbitrations (domestic and international), hundreds of mediations, and numerous expert determinations. Much of his work involves complex contractual matters across industries such as construction, energy, transport, sport, and technology.

He served as President of the Copyright Tribunal of Australia (2000–2007) and was an Acting Judge of Appeal in the NSW Court of Appeal in 2010. He is a Fellow of ACICA, sits on its NSW State Committee, and contributes to several legal journals. He is also the author of key works on arbitration and dispute resolution, including contributions to Business Law of Australia and The Future of Dispute Resolution (LexisNexis).