RI Mediators Association

Advancing Quality Mediation in Rhode Island

MEET THE BOARD

RHODE ISLAND MEDIATORS ASSOCIATION BOARD

The RI Mediators Association Board is currently comprised of four members: Members are elected to the Board for overlapping terms of up to three years. Officers are elected for two year terms. All Board Members are unpaid volunteers.

OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

President
Director
Frank P. Geremia

Vice-President (20014-2020)
Treasurer (2008-2014)
*Founding Director (2008)

Frank is an Advanced RI Mediator and Executive Consultant. Co-mediating with his wife Michele, his mediation practice focuses on helping Divorcing Couples work peacefully through the process and additionally extends into Workplace Mediation. Over the last 30 years, he has coached and mentored Managers, Executives, Professionals and Technicians. With a background as a Civil Engineer and Professional Planner, he has served as a Policy Advisor to Executives, Legislators, and Government Officials and has facilitated agreements on a wide range of issues including environmental and public policy. He is qualified as a trained mediator in Rhode Island (RIGL 9-19-44) and Massachusetts (MGL 233 Sec 23C) and has mediated Divorce and Family Cases in Boston Family and Probate Court and serves on the Mediation Panel for Mediation Works Inc. Frank has served on the Boards of Directors of the Fort Adams Trust, Senior Citizens Transportation Inc. and is a member of the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (NE-ACR), the Human Resource Management Association of Rhode Island (HRM-RI), and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC).

Vice-President:
Director
Michele Gousie Geremia, MS /SPHR

Past-President (2018-2020)
Board Secretary (2008-2016)
*Founding Director (2008)

Michele is an Advanced RI Mediator and Human Resources Consultant. She has a Masters Degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Rhode Island with a specialization in Alternative Dispute Resolution, and a Bachelors Degree in Social Work from Rhode Island College. She received her mediation training at Mediation Works Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. She formerly served as a mediator in small claims courts. Her Human Resource and Management experience of over 20 years includes coaching and training on a wide range of workplace issues, including employee morale, team building skills and employee/management relations. She has experience in a range of environments, including financial, manufacturing and health care and government. Michele holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification and she is a member of the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (NE-ACR), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).

Director

Andrea L. Trottier, MSW, LICSW

Andrea is a Licensed Social Worker who has worked with children, youth and parents for 25 years in education, government, and non-profit environments.

Roger Williams Univ. Law Professor Emeritus

Bruce I. Kogan, Esq.

Director of Training & Education
(2016- )
President (2014-2016)
Vice-President (2008-2014)
*Founding Director (2008)

Professor Kogan serves as one of the co-founders of the Rhode Island Mediators Association and an Advanced RI Mediator. He is the Director of Roger Williams University’s Mediation Clinic, a law professor, and an instructor of Dispute Resolution. He also serves as an advisory board member at the Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island and is active with the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution. Professor Kogan served as an appellate attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and then practiced law for almost ten years in Pennsylvania with the law firm Kogan & Smigel. His practice concentrated on taxation, business and estate planning, for-profit and non-profit corporations, and real estate. He is a founding member of Roger Williams Law faculty, and has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Interim Dean. In addition to Dispute Resolution, Professor Kogan teaches Negotiation, Property and Trusts and Estates.

PAST DIRECTORS

Jeremy W. Howe, Esq. (2009-2018) (Past-President)

Bryna B. Bettigole, LICSW 2009-2018

Margie Caranci Director 2012-2018

Erica Janton, Esq. 2014-2018

Andy Wunsch 2014-2018

Madeleine Butterfield Bass, Esq. 2012-2015

Steven J. Hirsch, Esq., 2011-2012

Stephen M. Brusini, Esq., 2008-2011

Abigail Jones-Herriott, Esq., 2008-2011

The RI Mediators Association is a non-profit association dedicated to serving and supporting Rhode Island Mediators. The Association has no paid staff. All work, including that of our trainers, is performed by professionals who voluntarily contribute their time and money to support the organization and to contribute to the advancement of Quality Mediation in Rhode Island.

OUR VISION

An ongoing conversation within the community of Mediators in the State of Rhode Island.
A growing awareness of Mediation as a powerful and satisfying approach that has the potential for resolving any conflict.
An ever expanding use of Mediation to resolve conflicts in all areas of life.

OUR MISSION*

to promote mediation as a profession and as a form of dispute resolution in Rhode Island;
to advance the field of mediation towards clearer and higher standards of ethics and accountability;
to promote education and training in mediation;
to increase public awareness of mediation and bring it further into the mainstream of public consciousness;
to expose to and involve in mediation as many people as possible;
to create a network of mediation professionals and allied professionals;
to foster networking and marketing in the field of mediation;
to promote professional development and peer support and review in mediation;
to create high standards of training and qualification for mediators in Rhode Island;
to raise funds to support these purposes.

*Approved by RI Mediators Association Executive Board
June 23, 2009

We are committed to providing a forum for Mediators to share experiences, learn from each other, and work together to promote the advancement of Mediation in Rhode Island.
We do this by providing Workshops, Roundtable Discussions and Informational Meetings on various Mediation and Practice related topics throughout the year, as well as providing speakers for outside groups.
Through our website, we provide an opportunity for interested parties to find and identify dedicated professionals practicing Mediation in Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island Mediators Association has adopted the "Standards of Conduct for Mediators"

These standards were also adopted and promulgated by the

AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION (AAA)
the
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (ABA)
and the
ASSOCIATION FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION (ACR)

Since mediation is used to resolve a broad range of conflicts within a variety of settings, these Standards are designed to serve as fundamental ethical guidelines for persons mediating in all practice contexts.
They serve three important goals:

to guide the conduct of mediators;
to inform the mediating parties;
promote public confidence in mediation as a process for resolving disputes

and, as such, are intended to be adhered to in all contexts, by all mediators, unless superseded by Statute.