Co-Parenting Mediation Mediators
The Co-Parenting Mediation Program maintains a small closed roster of expert mediators in the field of divorce, child custody and parent-time. Participation is by invitation only. Mediators are only added to the roster when a vacancy occurs, and are chosen based upon experience.
Below is a complete listing of the mediators working with our program. If you are scheduled to participate in mediation through our program, we ask that you please not contact your mediator ahead of time. Please direct all calls to the Co-Parenting Mediation Program.
Vivia Baldwin
Vivia Baldwin is a certified master mediator with extensive workplace mediation experience. A graduate of the University of Utah, Magna cum laude, she has been mediating in Utah since 1994. Currently Ms. Baldwin is on the mediation roster of the United States Postal Service REDRESS, the Utah State Anti-Discrimination and Labor Division, the AOC Restorative Justice Program and the AOC Co-Parent Program. Ms. Baldwin's expertise is in facilitative and transformative mediation. She is available as a mentor/coach for participants in a mediation conference.
Joyce Barnes
Joyce Barnes is a certified master mediator with expertise in education, special education, divorce, child custody, parent time, children and adults with disabilities, youth in custody and multicultural issues. Her mediation practice has expanded over the past 11 years into public and private schools and higher education. Weekend and evening meetings can be arranged. Her classes on legal issues at the Salt Lake Community College have been very popular with students working on an associate degree. Joyce is a court-adjudicated mediator and also volunteers with the Juvenile Court.
Sue Click
Sue Click is a certified master mediator with expertise in family mediation. Sue has worked with blended families, divorced co-parents, elder care and estate issues, parent/child estrangement, and domestic violence. Sue has practiced mediation for 20 years and family group conferencing for 10 years. Sue assists families in their efforts to achieve mutually inclusive, balanced decision-making.
Bill Downes
Bill Downes is an experienced mediator and collaborative attorney. Since 1990, he has maintained an active mediation practice, mediating over 2,000 cases. Bill regularly mediates divorce and family conflicts, probate disputes, personal injury claims and employment cases. Although he maintains an office in Salt Lake City, Bill is willing to travel throughout the State of Utah to mediate disputes. Since 1994, Bill has trained mediators in basic mediation skills and family mediation skills. He has trained over 500 commercial and family mediators. In 2000, Bill was awarded the Peter W. Billings, Sr. Outstanding Dispute Resolution Service Award by the American Arbitration Association.
Shari Faulkner
Shari Faulkner is a master mediator having mediated cases since 1994. She specializes in divorce, co-parenting, probate, and guardianship matters. Ms. Faulkner has also been a paralegal for many years. She has been on the roster of mediators for the Utah Court-Annexed Alternative Dispute Resolution Program since 1996 and been a mediator for the Co-Parenting Mediation Program of the Court since its inception in 1997. She is a member of the Family Mediation Section of Utah Council on Conflict Resolution. Shari believes many family-related issues can be settled by the parties themselves--easier, cheaper, faster and better than going to court.
Daryl George
Daryl George is certified and licensed as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider specializing in divorce and family mediation including child support, parenting-time, domestic disputes and custody/co-parenting. He has completed specialized mediation training focusing on family, divorce, and victim/offender issues. Daryl helps divorcing parents develop parenting plans and developmentally appropriate time-sharing arrangements for their children. His professional background includes over twenty years combined experience in assessment/behavioral intervention with individuals and families, securities/insurance as a Registered Principal, and employment and human resource law, including workplace mediation, as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. Daryl mediates employment/labor disputes and discrimination cases along with securities and insurance claims. His Spanish translation background gives him the skill to conduct mediation fluently in either Spanish or English.
Siobhan Locke
Siobhan has been a mediator since 2002, mediating cases involving divorce, parenting plans, domestic disputes and small claims issues. Her educational background includes a BA in Interpersonal Communication from Canisius College and a Master's Degree in Conflict Resolution from Antioch University where her specific research interests included conflict resolution systems design and mandated mediation. Siobhan has worked with the Co-Parenting Mediation Program in the Third District Court as well as with Utah Dispute Resolution. She is a member of the Utah Council for Conflict Resolution, The New York State Dispute Resolution Association and the Association for Conflict Resolution.
Nancy McGahey
Nancy mediates disputes with a wide range of issues, including family, divorce, co-parenting, relationship, workplace, victim-offender, small claims, and civil matters. Currently, she mediates with the Co-Parenting Mediation Program in Third District Court and the Family Mediation Program with Utah Dispute Resolution, where she serves as Executive Director. She also maintains a private practice. Nancy's professional background includes thirty years combined experience in education, training, instructional design, and human services. She holds Master's degrees in Interpersonal Communication and Learning Technologies from the University of New Mexico, and a certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University of Utah. In addition, she has completed specialized mediation training on family, divorce, and victim/offender issues.
Allan Pedersen
Allan's professional background is in the motion picture industry primarily as a television producer and production manager. His twenty-nine year film background also encompasses film distribution; public relations; marketing; business affairs; and real estate. He has completed the Utah Dispute Resolution Basic Mediation course; the Divorce and Child Custody Mediator Training course; and the interest based negotiation course, Navigating the Emerging Paradigm. He has extensive mediation experience in UDR's Utah Legal Services and Utah Legal Aid community mediation; Divorce and Child Custody mediation; Small Claims Court mediation; Horizonte Conflict Resolution Training; and TNT Associates mediation instruction. A native Utahn, he holds a B.S. degree in Management from the University of Utah.
Susan Petty
Susan Petty is Director of Training for Utah Dispute Resolution, a community mediation service. She mediates and teaches conflict resolution skills on a daily basis. She is a volunteer mediator for the Juvenile Court Mediation Program and is also a mediator for the Visitation Program. She has experience mediating a variety of disputes including neighborhood, visitation, custody, and divorce issues. Her education and training includes a degree in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Utah, a post-graduate certificate from the University of Utah in Alternative Dispute Resolution, divorce mediation, and she participates in current ongoing advanced training.
Velvet Rodriguez-Poston
Velvet Rodriguez-Poston specializes in divorce and co-parenting disputes. She has a JD from BYU Law School where she was a cofounder of the Community Mediation Center. Velvet is a master mediator and a primary trainer in mediation and regularly trains others in basic mediation, advanced mediation, divorce mediation, and other conflict resolution trainings. Velvet also is a member of the co-parenting mediation roster where she is a specialist in domestic violence and high conflict divorces. She is bilingual and bicultural, and she deals effectively with multicultural dynamics. Velvet's new favorite hobby is presenting at national mediation conferences. Other Language spoken: French.
Jill Sheinberg
Jill Sheinberg is an attorney (admitted in New York) who specializes in mediation in Utah. She received her basic mediation training in New York City where she worked for five years as a community mediator to resolve disputes between family members, neighbors, employees, and landlord/tenants. She has completed the Utah Court-Annexed ADR Program and a Business Mediation course at the Cape Cod Institute. Ms. Sheinberg has trained teachers, law students, community-based organization staff and community residents in conflict resolution and communication skills. Ms. Sheinberg serves as a volunteer Mediator with the Utah Juvenile Court Mediation Program. She is a member of the Academy of Family Mediators, the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution and the National Association for Community Mediation.
Meggan McLean Stein
Meggan McLean Stein has been mediating disputes in Utah and Washington since 1998. She has a JD from BYU Law School and a Master's Degree of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine Law School's Strauss Institute. At Utah Dispute Resolution, Meggan coordinated a Peer Mediation Program in collaboration with Horizonte Learning and Training Center. As the acting Executive Director, Volunteer Coordinator and Trainer at the King County Dispute Resolution Center in Seattle Washington, Meggan trained, oriented and mentored aspiring mediators. Meggan also developed and coordinated an Agricultural Employment Mediation Program for the state of Washington. Meggan mediates domestic, workplace, victim/offender, and community disputes. Second language spoken: Spanish.
Mary Jane Whisenant
Mary Jane Whisenant is an attorney with a private practice focusing on family law. She is a mediator in the Court's Co-parenting Mediation Program, and is experienced in mediating in the areas of divorce, custody and co-parenting, victim/offender, and issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She received her undergraduate and J.D. degrees from B.Y.U., with additional training in mediation from Pepperdine University and the Key Bridge Foundation in New York.