ACR-GNY upcoming events

ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST: The Organizational Ombuds – Guidance for the Ombuds Curious and Mediators (Thursday, June 04, 2026)

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT

ACR-GNY & CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College present:

The Organizational Ombuds – Guidance for the Ombuds Curious and Mediators

An organizational ombuds serves as an independent, impartial, informal, and confidential resource for members of an organization to help them surface and resolve concerns, while providing anonymous upward feedback to leadership. Ombuds use a variety of skills, including confidential listening, interest exploration, brainstorming, and other skills familiar to mediators.

Despite drawing on similar toolkits, how are the roles of the ombuds and the mediator both different and complementary? Join Chuck Doran, mediator and organizational ombuds, to discuss the ombuds function and what a mediator might want to know about exploring this unique role.

Registrants are encourages to read the following articles in advance of the session:

"Mediator as Ombuds" by Chuck Doran, MWI

"How to Amplify the Effectiveness of HR and Compliance with an Organizational Ombuds" by Chuck Doran, Forbes

"What an Ombuds Charter Is and Why It Matters" by Chuck Howard and Chuck Doren, Journal of the International Ombuds Association

Chuck Doran

Chuck Doran is an experienced mediator and organizational ombuds, specializing in resolving employment, franchise, and other commercial disputes. A mediator since 1992, he is a member of the CPR Dispute Resolution Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. Chuck has provided mediation and other ADR services to a variety of clients, including AT&T, Bose, BMW of North America, Coca-Cola, CVS Health, General Motors, Oxfam America, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), and the USPS REDRESS I and REDRESS II Mediation Panels. Chuck is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP) and a member of the International Ombuds Association who completed ombuds training with the IOA in 1995. Chuck has served as an outsourced organizational ombuds for companies, universities, and other organizations since 1997 and received a President's Award from the IOA in 2024. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. In 1994, Chuck founded MWI, a nationally recognized dispute resolution service and training organization based in Boston, MA, that provides individual and corporate clients with mediation services, outsourced organizational ombuds services, negotiation consulting and training, and mediation training. Chuck has served as a teaching assistant on multiple occasions with Professor Roger Fisher at Harvard Law School's Program of Instruction for Lawyers Negotiation Workshop. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation and, in 1997 and 1999, chaired two regional ADR Conferences. Chuck served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and as Chair of the Qualifications Subcommittee. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Advisory Group and is a past president of the Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Chapter. Chuck is also a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and a past president of IAM's Board of Governors.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The Roundtable Breakfasts are online meetings via Zoom. The link will change each month and will be distributed to all registrants the day before and the morning of the event. All listed times for ACR-GNY events are for Eastern Time.

8:00 am – 8:30 am | Join call to network with attendees

8:30 am – 10:00 am | Presentation and discussion

About the Roundtable Breakfasts

The Roundtable Breakfasts are organized by ACR-GNY and the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College. They take place the first Thursday of the month and are ongoing since 2001.

Views expressed in connection with any Roundtable event publicity or at sessions are those of the speakers and participants and not of the CUNY DRC or ACR-GNY.

This program is supported by ACR-GNY's 365 Sponsor:

ACR-GNY 25th Annual Conference - Ex/change: Established Practice & Emerging Ideas (Tuesday, June 09, 2026)

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

(Click "Add to my calendar" on the top right of the event page to automatically add the conference dates to your personal calendar!)

TICKET PRICING

ACR-GNY Member: $75

ACR-GNY Member - CDRC Volunteer/Staff: $35

ACR-GNY Member - Student: $25

ACR National / Other ACR Chapter Member: $75

Non-ACR-GNY Member: $190

Non-ACR-GNY Member - CDRC Volunteer/Staff: $55

Non-ACR-GNY Member - Student: $35

* Conference Ticket + ACR-GNY Membership Bundle: $175 (save $15 on your conference ticket!)

*Available only to nonmembers or lapsed members

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Now is the time to become an ACR-GNY member. Secure significant savings on your conference registration, and gain access to all the benefits of membership immediately!

Benefits of membership:

- Free or heavily discounted rates for events all year long

- Access to conference video recordings library

- Listing in ACR-GNY's public, searchable directory

- And much more!

(P.S. Almost all our programming is online, so if you're not based in New York, that's no problem!)

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY

(Or just select the membership bundle when you register for the conference, and we'll take care of the rest!)

Questions? Please contact conference@acrgny.org.

THIS CONFERENCE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY:

PRESENTING SPONSOR

SPECIAL EVENT SPONSOR

FULL-DAY SPONSOR (FRIDAY, JUNE 12)

[IN-PERSON EVENT] The Exchange: A Conversation with Damali Peterman and Maurice Q. Robinson (Thursday, June 11, 2026)

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Hosted by:

Join us at the American Arbitration Association in Midtown Manhattan for an evening with this year's conference honorees, Damali Peterman and Maurice Q. Robinson.

In this fireside chat, moderated by ACR-GNY President Nick Pozek, Damali and Maurice will share how their paths through law, mediation, education, and advocacy have shaped their practice, and what they've learned about passing knowledge on to the next generation of conflict resolvers. Expect an honest, wide-ranging conversation about what it means to build a career in this field, stay relevant as the landscape shifts, and lift others up along the way.

We hope you'll join us for the conversation and stay for the reception afterward!

The Ex/change is presented as part of ACR-GNY's 2026 Annual Conference. Ex/change: Established Practice & Emerging Ideas.

DETAILS

DATE: Thursday, June 11, 2026
TIME: 6:00–8:00pm (Doors open at 5:45pm)
LOCATION: American Arbitration Association - International Centre for Dispute Resolution
ADDRESS: 150 East 42nd St, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10017
PRICE: Free for ACR-GNY Members; $10 for nonmembers
ACCESS: Guests must present a current (non-expired) government-issued photo ID to access the building

Light bites will be served when doors open at 5:45pm. Following the program, we'll continue with a reception of drinks and light refreshments.

Please note—this event requires a separate registration from other conference sessions.

Haven't registered for the virtual conference yet? You can do so here!

DAMALI PETERMAN

Damali Peterman is a trailblazing conflict resolution expert, award-winning bestselling author, and CEO of BreakthroughADR, a global firm transforming how individuals and organizations navigate conflict and achieve workplace harmony. With over 20 years of experience as a lawyer, mediator, and educator, Damali is also a distinguished mediator, arbitrator, and ombudsman with JAMS, the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution services in the world. She handles a broad range of disputes — including business and commercial, employment and EEOC, intellectual property, entertainment, sports, and higher education and Title IX matters — and is known for her ability to forge resolution in even the most intractable conflicts.

Damali is the author of the award-winning and bestselling book Negotiating While Black: Be Who You Are to Get What You Want — recently reissued as Be Who You Are to Get What You Want — published by Penguin Random House in North America and Bonnier Books internationally, where it is available in over 72 countries. Named by Forbes as one of "10 Books That Will Make You A Better Negotiator," the book has been celebrated for its insights on overcoming bias, embracing authenticity, and excelling in negotiations, cementing its place as a transformative resource for professionals and leaders worldwide.

A passionate educator, Damali was an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Law and is a respected judge for global mediation competitions. She travels the globe leading accredited mediation trainings, workshops, online courses, and keynotes that empower individuals and organizations to turn conflict into collaboration. She has also trained hundreds of law enforcement officers in ADR-based de-escalation techniques, advancing her belief that alternative dispute resolution is critical to driving positive social change. Her thought leadership has been featured in Forbes, Essence, Fast Company, Publishers Weekly, Rolling Stone, NBC, CBS, Fox, and more.

A certified mediator and proud alumna of the Tory Burch Foundation Fellowship and Goldman Sachs 10KSB program, Damali was named Woman Legal Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2023 Women Owned Law Awards. From boardrooms to classrooms to communities, whether transforming conflict, building capacity in others, or championing access to justice, Damali is committed to building a world where empathy, fairness, and understanding thrive.

MAURICE Q. ROBINSON

Maurice Q. Robinson, Esq. is an employment attorney, EEO/DEI compliance leader, and dispute resolution professional with extensive experience at the intersection of workplace equity, civil rights compliance, and conflict resolution.

He currently serves as Assistant Director of Workforce Equity & EEO Compliance for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, where he helps lead the agency’s EEO compliance function across a complex bi-state public infrastructure system that includes airports, seaports, bus terminals, tunnels, bridges, and transit facilities. In this role, he oversees internal discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters; supports agency-wide EEO training; and advises on workplace equity and compliance issues.

Previously, Mr. Robinson served as EEO & Fair Housing Officer and Executive Agency Counsel for the New York City Housing Authority, where he worked on civil rights, fair housing, employment law, and compliance matters affecting one of the largest public housing authorities in the country.

Mr. Robinson has also been active in the dispute resolution field. He is a former Fellow of the American Arbitration Association’s A. Leon Higginbotham Program and a JAMS Diversity Fellow. His ADR experience includes mediation, workplace conflict resolution, internal investigations, and systems-level approaches to preventing and addressing workplace disputes.

In addition to his public-sector leadership, Mr. Robinson has taught for nearly two decades as an adjunct professor of law and dispute resolution, including with Seton Hall University School of Law, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, and New Jersey City University’s International Dispute Resolution Program.

He holds multiple professional credentials in DEI, human resources, workplace investigations, and inclusive leadership, including certificates from Cornell ILR School, the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, the University of South Florida, HRCI, and SHRM.

A proud alumnus of Williams College and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Mr. Robinson continues to give back as Co-Chair of Cardozo’s Alumni Leadership Committee and as Alumni Representative on the Board of Overseers.

THIS CONFERENCE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY:

PRESENTING SPONSOR

CONFERENCE SPONSOR

SPECIAL EVENT SPONSOR

FULL-DAY SPONSOR (FRIDAY, JUNE 12)

ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST: Arbitration and Mediation in the Age of AI (Thursday, July 02, 2026)

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT

ACR-GNY & CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College present:

Arbitration and Mediation in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the way businesses operate, make decisions, and resolve disputes. As AI technologies become increasingly integrated into commercial relationships, legal processes, and organizational workflows, dispute resolution professionals face new opportunities and challenges. This program explores the evolving role of arbitration and mediation in an AI-driven world, examining how emerging technologies are shaping dispute prevention, case management, evidence gathering, decision-making, and settlement negotiations.

Andrew Barton & Jeffrey T. Zaino, Esq.

Andrew Barton is Vice President of AI Business Development at the American Arbitration Association (AAA), where he helps advance the adoption of innovative dispute resolution tools. With more than 30 years at the AAA, Andrew brings broad experience across case administration, arbitrator education, regional leadership, client development, traditional arbitration services, and emerging technology. His career reflects a practical understanding of dispute resolution and a steady commitment to helping organizations use AAA services effectively.

Andrew joined the AAA in 1995 and resides in San Antonio, Texas.

Jeffrey T. Zaino, Esq. is the Vice President of the Commercial Division of the American Arbitration Association in New York. He oversees administration of the large, complex commercial caseload, user outreach, and panel of commercial neutrals in New York. He joined the Association in 1990. Mr. Zaino is dedicated to promoting ADR methods and services.

He has also written and published extensively on the topics of election reform and ADR, including several podcasts with the ABA, TalksOnLaw, and Corporate Counsel Business, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and Bloomberg to discuss national election reform efforts and the Help America Vote Act. He was deemed a 2018 Alternative Dispute Resolution Champion by the National Law Journal and received awards for his ADR work from the National Academy of Arbitrators, Region 2 and Long Island Labor and Employment Relations Association. In 2022 he received the Alocott-Leber-Younger Committee of the Year Award from the New York State Bar (NYSBA) Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, and in 2023 the Chairman’s Award, NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

8:00 am – 8:30 am | Join call to network with attendees

8:30 am – 10:00 am | Presentation and discussion

About the Roundtable Breakfasts

The Roundtable Breakfasts are organized by ACR-GNY and the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College. They take place the first Thursday of the month and are ongoing since 2001.

Views expressed in connection with any Roundtable event publicity or at sessions are those of the speakers and participants and not of the CUNY DRC or ACR-GNY.