Staff
Jody B. Miller, Executive Director
A mediator and trainer with twenty one years of experience in the alternative dispute resolution field, she has mediated for families, community groups, divorcing couples, victims and offenders, businesses and public and private organizations with a focus on helping people get clearer, make decisions and understand the other's perspective. Jody is a certified mediation trainer through the New York State Unified Court System's Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Court Improvement Programs (ADRCIP) and an appointed member of the New York State Unified Court System Mediation Ethics Advisory Committee. She is a Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation at Hofstra Law School and an advanced practitioner member of the Association for Conflict Resolution. She has presented conflict resolution workshops at conferences and programs throughout the country. She is co-founder of award winning Domestic Violence and Mediation Safety Project with Dr. Dee DePorto, and is co-author of the article, "Honoring the Victim's Voice: The Domestic Violence and Mediation Safety Project," ACResolution, Summer, 2005. She is the author of the chapter, "Choosing to Change: Transitioning to the Transformative Model: Challenges, Rewards, and Successes," in the recently released publication, Transformative Mediation: A Sourcebook: Resources for Conflict Intervention Practitioners and Programs, 2010.
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Rose Gordon, Office Manager
Rose oversees the day-to-day office operations including scheduling, confirming and greeting clients are just a few of the many things that Rose juggles.
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Bonnie Allen, Family Program Manager
Bonnie Allen is our newest staff member. She has a masters degree in psychology from Adlephi University and has worked in human services for over 20 years. She has developed and coordinated several new initiatives in Dutchess County. She implemented the Family Self Sufficiency program, which trained volunteers to work with low-income families as they faced numerous obstacles to becoming self-sufficient. Bonnie was the first Universal Response Coordinator to Domestic Violence in Dutchess County. She worked with all agencies, systems, and organizations that address issues of domestic violence. She coordinated and facilitated domestic violence trainings for judges, police officers, attorneys, and Department of Social Service employees. In conjunction with two local Episcopal Churches and volunteers, Bonnie also began a re entry program for men and women transitioning from incarceration to the community. She has worked in a shelter for battered women and has facilitated domestic violence classes for men and a women’s support group in the Dutchess County Jail. She designed and implemented a tracking system for identifying consequences for batterers who failed to comply with a court mandate to attend a batterers program. Bonnie brings a lot of experience working with individuals and families struggling with conflict and facing and overcoming obstacles and challenges.
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Susan Houston, Director of Finance and Administration
Sue is an accountant by trade and has twenty-eight years of experience working with non-profits. In addition to working for the Mediation Center since June of 2010, Sue operates her own business and has been providing a vast array of financial services to various different companies in the Hudson Valley since 1996.
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Bill Valente, Community Program Manager
Bill comes to the Mediation Center via careers in journalism, restaurant service, and teaching English in Spain. Bill graduated from Rhinebeck High School and has degrees in English, Fine Arts, and Web Design from the University at Buffalo, Marist College, and the Universitat de Barcelona, respectively. Bill helps to provide training through the youth, workplace, elder program, and community programs. Bill also provides mediation services in Spanish and received his Masters in Social Work from Adelphi University.
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