FACILITATORS’ NAMES AND OCCUPATIONS
Clymer Bardsley, Esquire
Clymer Bardsley, Esquire, President and Founder of The Bardsley Group, has more than 20 years of experience as a lawyer, mediator, trainer and coach. Throughout his career he has helped thousands of individuals to increase their productivity by reducing the conflict in their personal and professional lives. Inspired by assisting people through difficult situations and training them to prevent conflicts from escalating, Clymer established The Bardsley Group in January 2016. Prior to that, Clymer served three prominent conflict resolution organizations: The Good Shepherd Mediation Program in Philadelphia, The Kukin Program for Dispute Resolution at Cardozo School of Law in New York City, and The Moritz College of Law’s Program on Dispute Resolution at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. During this time, he has taught hundreds of people how to skillfully mediate conflicts, and has mediated over 500 disputes for organizations, the courts, communities, and families.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Clymer was a school teacher for eleven years. Recently, he received CLE training in the IDEA for both professional and personal reasons: his stepson has an IEP.
Clymer is the Editor-in-Chief of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Newsletter. He serves as both a mediator and a settlement official for the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and facilitates abuse and neglect matters in Philadelphia Family Court. Clymer is also on the faculty at both Temple University’s School of Education and at the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College.
Jean Biesecker, Esquire
Jean M. Biesecker, a solo practitioner, has been a family law attorney for over 25 years, graduating from the T.C. Williams School of Law and obtaining her Master in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. In addition to representing families in a range of matters related to separation and divorce, Jean has served as an advocate for children, parents and foster parents in the child welfare system. Since 1997, she has incorporated mediation as a key component of services in her family law practice and has been a Mediator for the Montgomery and Chester County court-connected custody mediation programs since May 2002. In addition to her family law mediation practice, Jean has also mediated pre-EEO complaints for the U.S. Postal Service REDRESS Program and has training in elder mediation matters. Jean is also a collaborative family Law attorney and Parent Coordinator, facilitating resolution of parenting disputes as a Parent Coordinator for high conflict families in the Denver District Court from 2000- 2001. As an educator, Jean is a former co-instructor for Denver-based Dispute Resolution Professionals, teaching a court-mandated parenting education class; trainer for Pennsylvania Child Welfare Competency-Based Training and Certification Program as well as the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services; former adjunct faculty at James Beasley School of Law, co-teaching a clinical custody mediation program. Jean continued to provide supervision for law students in the clinical program from the Fall 2008 through Spring 2011.
Cheryl Cutrona, Esquire
Adjunct Professor at Temple University, Beasley School of Law Executive Director of Good Shepherd Mediation Program
Ellen DeBendetti, M.Ed.
Mediator, trainer and conflict coach in private practice
Barry P. Fell
Barry’s career in special education spans more than 35 years and has been primarily focused upon educational services to the deaf and hard-of-hearing population, infants through adults, and to students who are blind with other severe disabilities. Barry began his career at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, where he first worked as a dormitory supervisor and later as a vocational counselor, parent/infant administrator, and assistant superintendent. At the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, he served in administrative capacities involving personnel, operations, and supervision of student transportation and other related services. From the University of Pittsburgh, Barry holds a bachelor’s degree, certification in deaf education, and a master’s degree in public administration with a certificate in personnel and labor relations. From Cornell University, Barry holds a certificate in collective bargaining. Barry received his mediation training from the Good Shepard Mediation Center in Philadelphia.
Barbara Foxman
Barbara Foxman is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist and mediator. She specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents with special needs including learning differences, issues of bereavement and loss and the impact on divorce on children and adults. She has worked with schools for educational planning of the children that she sees. Ms. Foxman has also worked as a therapist with children and their families at Southern Home for Children in Philadelphia, The Devereux Foundation and Bryn Mawr Hospital, Youth and Family Psychotherapy Program. Ms. Foxman mediates elder mediation, family, divorce, EEOC matters and mediation in school settings. Ms. Foxman has presented workshops on Values and Ethics for Social Workers ethics in health care, ethical standards for mediators practicing elder mediation, and conflict resolution for addiction counselors. She has been a trainer for Elder Mediation, and use of conflict resolution in health care settings. She has also spoken on areas of loss, bereavement and emotions for court custody mediation programs and in health care settings. Ms. Foxman has a MSW from Wayne State University, and is a Board Certified Diplomat in Social Work.
Thomas Frost
Served as a Special Education Mediator in the State of New Jersey for fifteen years Served as a Director of Special Education in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Lou Ann Gray, M.ED., NCPC,
Lou Ann has 39 years of experience as a mental health counselor and supervisor and 7 years experience as a mediator. She has served as a faculty member in higher education and motivational speaker and is a certified guidance counselor K-12 with 18 years of public education experience concentrating in Special and Alternative Education Services. In addition to her private counseling and mediation practice, Lou Ann is a mediator and IEP facilitator for the Office of Dispute Resolution in Harrisburg, U.S.District Court of Western Pennsylvania, a Neutral Third Party Mediator for UPMC’s Intermediation Program and is a Nationally Certified Parenting Coordinator. Ms. Gray is a member of The Association for Conflict Resolution, Pennsylvania Counsel of Mediators, Mediation Counsel of Western Pennsylvania, and Professional Academy of Custody Evaluators. Currently, Ms. Gray is the Coordinator of Crisis Intervention Services at The Open Door In Indiana PA for Armstrong and Indiana Counties.
Nancy Geist Giacomini, Ed.D.
Dr. Giacomini is a private educator, mediator and author based in Chester County, PA. Her longtime national advocacy for integrating inclusive conflict management practices in education culminated in her co-edited journal Reframing Campus Conflict: Student Conduct Practice through a Social Justice Lens (Stylus 2009). She has enjoyed national speaking engagements, webinar series, and system review consultations based on the ideas collaboratively advanced in this groundbreaking publication. Dr. Giacomini returned to the University of Delaware in 2011 as the graduate practicum instructor for Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education (College of Education and Human Development). She is certified to administer the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP) and teach Becoming Conflict Competent curriculum developed by Eckerd College and is presently investigating opportunities to develop the instrument and curriculum for undergraduate and graduate coursework. Nancy earned her Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Delaware while a Conflict Resolution Program (CRP) Associate in the Institute for Public Administration. She taught in the master’s program, mediated special education disputes for the Delaware Department of Education, and facilitated statewide dialogue. Doctoral research, “Enhancing the Collaborative Capacity of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in Delaware Schools”, helped shape statewide IEP facilitation and training. Nancy holds additional degrees in Counseling and Psychology. Dr. Giacomini held national leadership positions in the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) including roles as annual faculty member, planning team member and co-chair of the association’s annual summer training institute for student conduct professionals in higher education. Under her leadership, ASCA integrated marginalized conflict resolution themes across traditional adjudication training tracks, organized the first nationally offered restorative justice training for student conduct administrators, and updated the annual mediation curriculum to include social and restorative justice theories and the Spectrum of Resolution Options Model (Schrage & Thompson, 2008) to help evolve student conduct practice beyond an adjudication model. Nancy was national program chair for two annual conferences and was elected to a three year-board position as president. In 2004, she was honored with the Gehring Award, the association’s top honor. Dr. Giacomini’s interest in conflict resolution began at the University of Delaware while Assistant Dean of Students for Judicial Affairs. Over a decade of on campus leadership included roles as mediation trainer and advisor to the student government as students worked to develop a town/gown mediation program. She chaired the Appellate Judicial Board, Council for Student Judicial Affairs, and Sexual Assault Awareness Weeks and was awarded the prestigious Institutional Award for Women’s Equity for her campus advocacy. Nancy’s career has bridged conduct and conflict management practice in higher education, special education, K-12, government, business and non-profits. Today she enjoys a diverse educationally-based training, mediation, and consulting practice; teaches K-12 curriculum-based programs at Longwood Gardens in Kennett, PA and volunteers in local schools, girl scouts and for animal rescue.
Jean M. Lupariello, Esquire
Attorney/Mediator in Private Practice
Dr. Constance Fox Lyttle, Esquire
Associate Clinical Professor, Drexel University
Attorney in Private Practice (PA)
Academic/Inclusion Consultant/Coach (NY/NJ)
Former Tenured Associate Professor of Special Education (10 years) Duquesne University
Associate in Law Firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart
PA Special Education Hearing Officer and Appeals Panel Member
Dr. Vicki McGinley
Dr. Vicki McGinley is the hearing officer assigned to due process cases where CSIU or an LEA within CSIU is a party. In addition, Dr. McGinley is the hearing officer assigned to gifted due process matters. Dr. Vicki McGinley has extensive hearing officer experience, serving in this capacity in the State of Delaware since 1992, and previously serving as a part-time hearing officer for ODR for seven years. Dr. McGinley has worked as a professional in the education field since 1985, and in a variety of positions supporting the conflict resolution process, including hearing officer, mediator, and IEP facilitator. Dr. McGinley has a Secondary Education/English degree from the University of Pittsburgh; a M.Ed. in Special Education from Temple University; and a Ph.D. in Special Education from Temple University (with a focus on communication disorders). She is a Professor of Special Education at West Chester University, where she also serves as a mediator and fact finder for the Office of Social Equity. Dr. McGinley periodically serves as a state special education monitor, as well as a PDE monitor for accreditation for IHE teacher training programs. Dr. McGinley has taught gifted English as well as being a Parent of a previously-identified gifted child.
Gerald Powers, Ed.D.
Mediator in Private Practice
Retired Professor of Education from Bloomsburg University of PA
Jane Rigler, Esquire
Jane Rigler has nearly thirty years of experience as an arbitrator and mediator. She spent twenty-seven years associated with an educational institution and currently resides in Carlisle.
James Salem
Former assistant superintendent
Janice Seidenfeld
Mediator in Private Practice
Mediator for the Key Bridge Foundation
Marty Thomas-Brumme
Development Officer for Elizabethtown College
Previous Director of the Rose Mediation Center
Judy Tobe
Mediator in Private Practice
Speech Pathology Consultant, M.A., C.C.C.
Max Wald, Ed.D.
Retired Public School Principal
Supervisor of Special Education
Director of Approved Private School
Ed.D., M.Ed., and B.S. in Education Adjunct Professor, Temple University
Former PA Special Education Hearing Officer
January 2017