Mediation

Carter School alumna finds harmony between music and mediation

Katarina Benson — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 19:08:06 +0000

Carter School alumna finds harmony between music and mediation Katarina Benson Tue, 08/04/2026 - 15:08

When Avery Cotham, MS Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’26, enrolled at 911��’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, she was ready for a new challenge. For 15 years, Cotham worked as a vocalist and choral director in Colorado before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to rethink her career and search for a new way to serve her community.

Cotham at the Department of the Interior.
Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“I did some soul-searching and decided I wanted to make a career change,” Cotham said. “I wanted to do something of service to the community.”

That search led her to conflict resolution — and ultimately to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband relocated so she could fully immerse herself in the 911�� experience. “I didn’t want to study online,” she said. “I wanted to dive into the community and make connections here.”

At 911��, Cotham quickly discovered that the skills she developed as a musician translated naturally into mediation and coaching. Active listening, collaboration, and understanding group dynamics became valuable tools in her new field.

She also took full advantage of internship and professional development opportunities available through the Carter School. After hearing a guest speaker from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service discuss mediation and coaching, Cotham pursued specialized training that would shape her career path.

In 2024, she completed a semester-long internship with the Northern Virginia Mediation Services Conflict Resolution Center, where she earned her mediation certification. The following year, she completed coaching certification coursework through Georgetown School of Continuing Studies.

Those experiences helped prepare her for a yearlong experience, what she calls a “unicorn of an internship,” with the Department of the Interior’s Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution (CADR).

Because of her certifications, Cotham was able to contribute immediately during the yearlong internship. She worked alongside experienced mediators supporting employees across agencies including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Over time, she advanced from co-mediating cases with mentors to independently facilitating workplace mediations, conflict coaching sessions, trainings, and group discussions.

One of the highlights of the experience came when she was selected to travel and co-facilitate a bureau meeting focused on change management and values alignment — a rare opportunity for an intern.

“The internship was focused on mentorship and hands-on experience,” Cotham said. “Working with different mediators, I was exposed to several different styles and received a lot of valuable feedback. It was a highly enriching experience.”

Now, just months after graduating, Cotham has built a multifaceted career as a mediation contractor, private coach, and community mediator. She also volunteers with the Sustained Dialogue Institute and continues to blend her musical background with her coaching work.

“As a choir director, one of my strengths was seeing potential in people and knowing when to push and challenge them, and when to back off,” she said. “Those skills are so applicable in coaching.”

Cotham’s journey reflects the kind of hands-on, career-connected learning opportunities that help 911�� students turn classroom experiences into meaningful professional impact — a hallmark of the university’s All Together Different approach to education and community engagement.

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D.G. Mawn

Paul Snodgrass — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 18:12:30 +0000

D.G. Mawn Paul Snodgrass Mon, 08/08/2022 - 14:12

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School

President, National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM)

Biography

D.G. Mawn, M.A., J.D., is the current President of the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM. As President Mr. Mawn supports the efforts of NAFCM’s members to amplify the voice, aggregate the wisdom and advance the work of community mediation across the continent. Since 2014, he has guided the NAFCM Learning Community, which is funded through the JAMS Foundation. The areas of focus have included: veterans, law enforcement, immigrants, foster care, the older adult, housing insecurity, formerly incarcerated adults, young adults and community cohesion and security. He also serves for the Foundation as the Grants Manager with the Association for Conflict Resolution. He also currently serves as co-convenor of the TRUST Network, designed to develop a braided forum for the strengthening and expanding the possibility for community cohesion and security infrastructure. Mr. Mawn has worked with the Carter School to co-design the certificate program Contemporary Dispute Resolution.

Mr. Mawn serves, as well, as senior consultant through Intuitive Synergies LLC in Louisville, Kentucky. He co-developed the Cultural Intuitiveness™ process. Currently, he works at the state level with the State of Indiana’s Division of Mental Health and Addictions to embed these tools and processes into their comprehensive system redesign and program implementation, in order to strengthen their ability to create connected and healthy communities.. He received his law degree from DePaul University School of Law, masters from Spalding University and bachelor’s from The Catholic University of America.

Recent Publications

Zimmer, J.F., Mawn, D.G., Dieckman, L., Burrell, M. (2022). Connecting Communities Virtually Through Community Mediation,Contemporary Trends in Conflict and Communication, Water de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.

Recent Award

Community Peacemaker Award, Community Dispute Settlement Center, October 2021

Recent Presentations

Creating Community Connections: The role and responsibility of community systems to support community actors: Division of Mental Health and Addictions | May 2022

Link Conflict Early Warming Early Action, Columbia University, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, On-line| April, 2022

The TRUST Network: Creating opportunities for peace-creators and social justice advocates to meet the moment, The Association for Conflict Resolution National Conference, Orlando, Florida, On-line| September 2021

The role and responsibility of the mediators within the judicial system, Nashville, Tennessee, On-line| August 2021

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Field of Conflict Resolution, The Center for ADR's 2021 Virtual Conference, Bowie, Maryland | June 2021

The 1964 Civil Rights Act, Section 10- Creating Local Partnerships for Peacemaking, Social Justice and Democracy, The Alliance For Peacemaking Wednesday Series, On-line | March 2021

The Community Mediation Movement, The TRUST Network, On-line | January 2021

Melinda Burrell

Paul Snodgrass — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 15:35:28 +0000

Melinda Burrell Paul Snodgrass Mon, 07/11/2022 - 11:35

Biography

Melinda Burrell is a democracy and peacebuilding specialist who has spent 25 years living and working in conflict zones, from helping oversee the first post-war elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina to leading a humanitarian mission into Lebanon during the 2006 Israel/Hezbollah war. Her recent research explores how Americans experience talking across political divides. She now speaks and trains on the neuroscience of communication and conflict, and is a syndicated writer for PeaceVoice. As a board member of the National Association for Community Mediation, she helped early stages of the Trust Network, a group of American organizations that came together in October 2020 to prevent election-related violence and now is supporting community-led processes to address social cohesion and justice across the country.

Degrees

BA, cum laude, Amherst College
Master's of Arts of Law and Diplomacy (MALD), The Fletcher School
PhD, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Nova Southeastern Florida University

Publications and Awards

What Can They Be Thinking? Fostering Dialogue Across Divides”, chapter in Peacebuilding in America, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020

“Quick Neuroscience Tips for Navigating Uncertain Times”, March 30, 2022, op-ed in OR, FL, IL, MD, LA

“Lessons from a War-torn Garden: SCARF and the Magic Ratio”, Jan 20, 2022 op-ed via PeaceVoice in papers in VA, DE, CA and elsewhere

Mason’s Carter School helps bring Restorative Justice to Arlington County

Mariam Aburdeineh — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Mason’s Carter School helps bring Restorative Justice to Arlington County Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 10/13/2020 - 01:00

There are times when studying peace and conflict resolution is theoretical. But at 911��’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, students also put their knowledge into action to benefit the local community.

Susan Hirsch. Photo provided

Since January, the school has partnered with Restorative Arlington, a new initiative aimed at incorporating restorative justice practices into Arlington County’s public schools, legal system and community. The partnership was formalized in July when Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem and Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz signed a joint Letter of Intent.

“It really is an opportunity for students to be on the ground floor of how a major community-driven initiative is built,” said Carter School professor Susan Hirsch, who will teach a conflict course next semester where students can directly support the initiative. “It’s the best of experiential learning.”

Restorative justice is an alternative approach to punitive discipline. At its center is community building and repairing not only the harm done, but also relationships.

“The Carter School partnership offers engagement on multiple levels,” said Liane Rozzell, Restorative Arlington’s project coordinator. “We have students who help us grow the initiative while they’re learning themselves; there are faculty who are knowledgeable and excited, who can contribute their expertise to this process.”

Liane Rozzell. Photo provided

The support from Mason is multifaceted, Rozzell said. Some of those ways the school is and will continue to be involved include evaluating how the initiative is going, training teachers and community members on how to facilitate restorative justice practices, developing curriculum, organizing dialogues and conducting research.

“All of this is very needed and it gives us a tremendous boost that we couldn’t do on our own,” Rozzell said.

What would incorporating restorative justice look like in action?

“We would have way fewer, if any, students suspended,” Rozzell said. “We’d have way more connection and folks thriving in schools.”

Kimiko Lighty. Photo provided

“My hope is that a number of different cases that might have gone to the criminal legal system might find their way to be handled outside that system,” Hirsch said. “I would also hope that community members would [develop] a restorative ethic and feel empowered to resolve other conflicts using approaches that are restorative and not punitive.”

Kimiko Lighty, MA Interdisciplinary Studies ’10, is interim co-coordinator for Restorative Arlington. She is one of several Mason alumni contributing to the initiative. Most recently she helped create Restorative Arlington’s strategic plan and facilitated VCircles, virtual groups held over Zoom that focused on community building.

“The first time I heard about restorative justice was in a peace studies class at Mason,” said Lighty, who works as a restorative justice practitioner for Northern Virginia Mediation Services.

“I think we have a disposability crisis in our civilization, where we have so much disposable stuff that it leads us to start thinking about people as disposable,” she said. “Restorative justice honors the fact that we’re all connected—it gives us a way to see people as whole people that we live in relation with, and that does work in preventing harm before it even happens.”

David Smith

admin_alpha — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 23:30:01 +0000

David Smith admin_alpha Tue, 10/20/2015 - 19:30

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School

President, Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education (humanitarian education and training)

Principal, David J. Smith Consulting LLC (career coaching)

Personal Websites

David J. Smith Consulting, LLC

Forage Center

Biography

David J. Smith is an educator, consultant, and career coach focusing on the fields of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and humanitarian action. He is also the president of the Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education, Inc., a 501c3 not-for-profit that offers experiential learning opportunities for students and professionals. He was formerly a senior program officer and manager of national outreach at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has taught at Harford Community College, Goucher College, Towson University, Georgetown University, Drexel University, the School of International Service at American University, and at the Carter School at 911��. He serves on the board of advisors for the master’s in humanitarian action program at the Joan B. Kroc School for Peace Studies at the University of San Diego. He served as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar at the University of Tartu (Estonia) where he taught peace studies and alternative dispute resolution. David is past president of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Fulbright Association. David is a recipient of the William Kreidler Award for Distinguished Service to the field of Conflict Resolution given by the Association for Conflict Resolution. He has published Peace Jobs: A Student’s Guide to Starting a Career Working for Peace (Information Age Publishing 2016), Legal Research and Writing (Cengage 1995) and Peacebuilding in Community Colleges: A Teaching Resource (USIP Press 2013). David has completed course work with Coach Training Alliance and is an official member of Forbes Coaches Council. David is a graduate of American University (BA), 911�� (MS, conflict resolution), University of Missouri (graduate certificate, positive psychology), and the University of Baltimore (JD). He is a member of the Maryland bar.

Degrees

J.D., University of Baltimore
M.S., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, 911��
B.A., Political Science and Urban Affairs, American University
Graduate Certificate, Positive Psychology, University of Missouri (Columbia, MO)

Media Appearances

The Today Show, August 24, 2020
TEDxFulbright, June 2017
Just Asking, Washington Post, April 10, 2018

Stephen Kotev

admin_alpha — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 23:24:01 +0000

Stephen Kotev admin_alpha Tue, 10/20/2015 - 19:24

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School

Personal Websites

StephenKotev.com

Biography

Stephen Kotev is a Washington D.C.-based conflict resolution consultant offering mediation, negotiation and facilitation services, conflict and leadership coaching, training, and somatic education to private and government clients (including TSA and over 15 other Federal Agencies) since 2009. For the past 13 years, he has served as adjunct faculty at 911��’s Carter School in Arlington, Virginia.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Over 1,400 hours of mediation and conflict resolution training, encompassing EEO and workplace disputes, cross-cultural communication and advanced facilitation skills
Certified conflict coach, specializing in workplace disputes
Successfully mediated cases involving, age, disability, harassment, retaliation, equal pay/compensation, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual harassment, promotion/lack of promotion, fee disputes, management/employee disputes, cross-cultural conflicts, discrimination, performance reviews and other general workplace conflicts
Adjunct professor with 911��’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution since 2007
Lead facilitator for the HR&A Business Transformation Team of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Conducted trainings for international and national audiences including the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, Germany, Northern Ireland the Transportation Security Agency, the Harvard Negotiation Insight Initiative, the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution, Kennesaw State University and numerous community mediation centers

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Chair of the Association for Conflict Resolution Taskforce on Safety in ADR
One of only two individuals to have been employed by both of the nation’s two largest ADR membership organizations – the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution and the Association for Conflict Resolution
Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution

Education and Certification

M.S., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, 911��, 2006
B.A., History and Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Waterloo, 1997
International Exchange, Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, 1995-1996
Mediation Skills Training Institute, LMPC, 1991
Certified Conflict Coach, Conflict Coaching Matters LLC, 2013
Mediating EEO and Workplace Disputes, Northern Virginia Mediation Service, 2010
Advanced Facilitation Skills, Northern Virginia Mediation Service, 2005
Certified in Embodied Peacemaking, Dr. Paul Linden of Being in Movement
Black Belt in the Japanese Martial Art of Aikido and Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu‐Jitsu

Mediation

Carter School alumna finds harmony between music and mediation

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D.G. Mawn

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Melinda Burrell

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Mason’s Carter School helps bring Restorative Justice to Arlington County

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David Smith

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Biography

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Stephen Kotev

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Biography