GSA: GS10F-0182L, an 8a Firm HOME  |  ABOUT US  |  SERVICES  |  TRAINING  |  PRODUCTS  |  CONFLICT MANAGEMENT GUIDEBOOK  |  PUBLICATIONS  |  SATISFIED CLIENTS  |  GUEST BOOK  |  EMAIL US

The staff of Mediation USA, Inc. is unique among workplace conflict resolution programs in that it requires all staff members and associates to have a minimum of 750 hours of training in mediation, conflict resolution, and communication and to have conducted a minimum of 50 mediations. For a full list of our associates, please email Sheila.
Sheila Somberg, MBA Honorable Gary Gilbert - Jeffrey J. Goodfriend - D. Breckenridge Grover, J.D. Jacqueline Moorhead, Ph.D. - Cherie P. Shanteau, Esq. - Tamara P. Trussell, BA, BS
	Sheila Anne Somberg, M.B.A, holds a Master of Business Administration with emphasis on workplace communication and negotiation from the University of Denver, and is a graduate of the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Ms. Somberg is the founder and president of Mediation USA, Inc®. Ms. Somberg has trained over 4,750 participants in the last four years and has conducted several thousand employment/labor mediation cases. Ms. Somberg is currently an ADR technical expert for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and has been for the last six years.
As a nationally recognized expert on workplace conflict, negotiations, and communication, Ms. Somberg is a frequently requested keynote speaker in the field of conflict resolution and communications within organizations, and is a featured expert on sales and negotiations on the nationally syndicated television program, You, Inc. She is a requested presenter for National EEOC Technical Assistance Program Skills Training (TAPS) seminars for the last four years and a former trainer  and mediation panel member for the American Arbitration Association. Ms. Somberg is one of a select few approved mediators nationwide for the EEOC in more than one region. She has provided, on a national level, training and mediation services to a wide variety of local, state, and federal governmental units and agencies, as well as many organizations and individuals in the private sector. Ms. Somberg has managed Human Resource Departments in Fortune 100 companies with emphasis on employee relations, executive leadership training, systems design process, and communication skills for both senior executives and staff. Sheila Somberg was the consultant to both the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau and the EEOC, Region VIII in the design and implementation of their ADR programs. She is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Denver where she teaches graduate level courses in mediation and workplace alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Ms. Somberg is president of the Colorado Chapter of SPIDR (Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution), past vice president of CCMO (Colorado Council of Mediators and Mediation Organizations), and former senior legislative lobbyist on behalf of CCMO. Ms. Somberg was the start-up chair for the certification committee that will establish the process and criteria for mediators and training in the field of mediation in the state of Colorado and has since passed that baton on. She has chaired the ADR Education Committee of the Colorado Bar Association and served on the executive board for CCMO. Ms. Somberg’s book, Flexible Benefits: The New Acts and How They Will Effect You, was published by John Wiley and Sons in 1997. Most recently Ms. Somberg was elected to the Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau. You can contact Sheila directly at sheila@mediation-usa.com
Honorable Gary Gilbert was the Chief Administrative Judge in the Baltimore District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In that position he supervised the conduct of administrative hearings held pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Judge Gilbert is a member of the Labor and Employment Section Council of the Maryland Bar Association. He has spoken and written extensively on various aspects of employment discrimination law and has been active in Commission's training for Administrative Judges in the federal sector and in training on the AMericans with Disabilities Act for investigators and attorneys in the private sector. Recently he served on the Commission's inter-office workgroup responsible for coordinating the implementation of the proposed revisions to the Commission's regulations. His most recent publication, titled "Compensatory Damages and Other Remedies in the Federal Sector Employment Discrimination Cases" is an exhaustive review of the damages available to victims of employment discrimination.
Jeffrey Goodfriend, Esq. is an instructor, arbitrator, mediator and a former Administrative Judge. He graduated from the University of Santa Clara School of Law in 1977 and has been a member of the Bar of the State of California since 1977. Mr. Goodfriend has extensive expertise as an Administrative Judge for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in San Francisco, California, where he conducted formal administrative hearings and issued decisions on federal sector discrimination complaints and as an Administrative Judge for the Merit Systems Protection Board in San Francisco. Previously, he was the Acting Federal Sector Hearings Manager for the EEOC in San Francisco, and a Trial Attorney for the EEOC in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has been an arbitrator and mediator for municipal rent boards in California since 1985. Mr. Goodfriend in a noted national expert who trains numerous federal, state and private sector employees in such areas as: The Role of Supervisors and Managers in EEO; Latest Developments in EEO Law and Procedure; Basic and Advanced EEO Counseling; Effective Advocacy at EEOC Administrative Hearings; Sexual Harassment Prevention; Alternative Dispute Resolution; and EEO for Employees.
D. Breckenridge Grover, J.D., received his Juris Doctor degree from The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, and did post-graduate work at Exeter University, Devonshire, United Kingdom. Mr. Grover has over thirty years leadership experience in public affairs, and business and marketing functions within financial, natural resource and non-profit organizations emphasizing project management, public relations, conflict resolution, government relations and risk management. Mr. Grover is the former Secretary for the North American Registry of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and past Regional Vice President for the American Arbitration Association in Denver, Colorado.
Jacqueline Moorhead, Ph.D., holds a Doctorate in Human Communication Studies from the University of Denver. Her areas of specialization are interpersonal communication, organization communication, and alternative dispute resolution. Dr. Moorhead has taught courses in human communication and conflict at the University of Denver, the University of Colorado at Denver, Regis University, Arapahoe Community College, and Massey University in New Zealand. Dr. Moorhead's current activities include public and private mediations, organizational consulting, and adjunct teaching at the University of Denver. She is also a mediator/facilitator with the Denver Mediation Center, which focuses on community problems and disputes. She recently co-authored a text book titled, Interpersonal Communication in Organizational Settings. Dr. Moorhead is a member of the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution, the National Institute for Dispute Resolution, the International Association for Conflict Management, the National Communication Association, the Western States Communication Association, and the Colorado Speech Communication Association. She is the president of the Colorado Council of Mediators and Mediation Organizations (CCMO), and past president of the Colorado Speech Communication Association.
Cherie P. Shanteau, Esq. is an attorney, mediator/facilitator in private practice in Moab, Utah. She is on the mediation panels of the American Arbitration Association, U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Utah, and Utah State Courts Mediation Program. Ms. Shanteau has taught mediation, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills to individuals, corporations, and organizations in the United States and Europe. She spent 11 years in private practice as a partner in the Salt Lake City firm of Suitter Axland. Before returning to private practice, for nearly 3 years, she acted as the in-house Dispute Resolution Manager for American Stores Properties, a Fortune 500 corporation owning grocery and drug stores though out the U.S. Ms. Shanteau has successfully mediated numerous cases, represented clients in mediation, and facilitated several large public disputes. Admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1984, she received her law degree from the University of San Francisco. Ms. Shanteau is a member of the Utah State Bar's Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, is the Alternative Dispute Resolution Editor for the Utah Bar Journal, is a member of the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution and the Academy of Family Mediators. She is qualified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®.
Tamara P. Trussell, BA, BS from Willamette University and Utah State University. Additional training includes interpersonal, multi- party and designing dispute resolution systems from the Center for Dispute Resolutions (CDR). Ms. Trussell is President of Midwest Mediation & Facilitation, Inc., located in South Dakota, which she founded in 1987. Her area of employment expertise is in discrimination, worker's compensation, insurance and regulatory disputes. She is a noted national trainer on mediation, and facilitation processes. Ms. Trussell serves on a variety of key mediation organizations which include American Arbitration Association Mediation Advisory Council, Society for Professional in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) and the South Dakota Mediation Association (Past President). She has authored several manuals for different agencies on the subject of mediation and facilitation.
Interns Each year Mediation USA, Inc. hand picks a select few promising new mediators from diverse backgrounds to serve as interns with experienced Mediation USA associates. Each intern is closely monitored and given feedback and training to further their mediation skills and training. For further information about the Mediation USA intern program, please contact Mediation USA directly via email, fax, or letter.

Copyright ©1999-2003  Mediation USA, Inc.