Annual Meeting & Elections

Rohan Zhou-Lee
Guest Speaker

Dr. Nick Pozek

ACR-GNY President

Craig Coldstream

Director of Finance

ACR-GNY Board Candidates

Sherlly Alceus

Ati Alipour

Ulyana Bardyn

Elizabeth Grossman

Denise Pasi

Ulyana Bardyn

Ulyana Bardyn is an independent arbitrator and strategic legal advisor based in the New York area.

Trained in both civil and common law traditions, Ulyana is qualified in New York and Ukraine. She has lived and worked across multiple jurisdictions in Europe and the United States. Ulyana's international background lends her the cultural fluency that is highly valued in international dispute resolution. Ulyana is fully trilingual (Ukrainian, English, and Russian).

She holds an LL.M. (Hons.) in dispute resolution from Georgetown University Law Center and a Post-Graduate Diploma (Merit) in International Arbitration from Queen Mary, University of London. She is a Fulbright Scholar.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), Ulyana serves on several prominent arbitrator rosters.

Her expertise has been recognized by leading directories in the arbitration field, including Who’s Who Legal / Lexology (2025–2026) and The Legal 500 (2021–2025).

Ulyana is an active member of the international legal community. She currently serves as Vice-Chair and Secretary of the Energy, Oil, and Gas Alliance of the CPR Institute and is the immediate past Co-Chair of the CPR Institute’s Steering Committee of Young Leaders in Dispute Resolution (CPR Y-ADR). She is the Secretary for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, New York Branch. Ulyana is also a member of the International Commercial Disputes Committee of the New York City Bar Association and the immediate past Chair of the Bar Association’s International Law Committee. In 2025, Ulyana served as Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee of New York Arbitration Week.

Ulyana has lectured on international arbitration at Georgetown University Law Center, Brooklyn Law School, the International Law Institute, Practising Law Institute, and the Arbitration School of the Ukrainian Arbitration Association.

Elizabeth Grossman

Elizabeth Grossman is a consultant specializing in employment, housing, and disability discrimination, with a focus on dispute resolution. Her thirty years of litigation experience and twenty-five years of managing teams enable her to creatively assist parties in resolving conflicts stemming from a wide variety of discrimination allegations. Her clients include non-profit organizations, small businesses, corporations, law firms, and individuals. In addition to consulting work, Elizabeth has served as Executive Director/General Counsel, Fair Housing Justice Center; Interim Chief Legal Officer, Southern Poverty Law Center; Legal Director, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House; Regional Attorney, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New York District Office, and Program Director, Disability Rights New York.

Elizabeth first trained as a community mediator in 1996 with the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution and currently conducts mediations for the New York Peace Institute. For twenty years at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she oversaw countless settlement and conciliation conferences, many which used a mediation model. In conjunction with her consulting practice, Elizabeth has mediated private employment discrimination cases since 2020. She regularly volunteers as an arbitrator in New York State Small Claims Court.

Through serving ten years in roles as non-profit Executive Director, General Counsel, and Legal Director, Elizabeth has developed robust knowledge and skills relating to organizational governance, strategic planning, financial oversight, working with and growing partnership networks, training, and outreach. In addition to programmatic accomplishments, she has achieved significant success in obtaining funding from foundations and government agencies, reduced operating costs while growing programs, and improved the visibility of services.

Elizabeth has dramatically revised and improved administrative policies and procedures in each position she has held. As a result of her participation in diverse transitions in small, medium, and large organizations, Elizabeth has navigated complex institutional challenges, facilitated collaborative decision-making, engaged in consensus building, and promoted cultural awareness.

Elizabeth graduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School.

Denise Pasi

Denise Pasi is a litigation attorney from Zambia in Sub-Saharan Africa and an alumna of the Dispute Resolution and Advocacy LL.M. program at Cardozo School of Law, where she received the 2025 Distinguished Performance in the LL.M. Program Award. Her legal practice experience includes commercial, labor, and employment litigation in the mining and energy sector, as well as representing clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings.

In New York, Denise has focused her work on dispute resolution practice, education, and community engagement. She completed the New York State Unified Court System’s 40-hour Part 146 mediation training and served as a field clinic extern with the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, Pre-Argument Conference Program, where she observed court-connected mediations across a wide range of matters, including commercial, landlord–tenant, personal injury, and matrimonial disputes.

At Cardozo, Denise has played an active role in advancing ADR education and student engagement. She currently serves as a Part-time Fellow with the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, supporting programming, events, and professional development opportunities for LL.M. and J.D. students. She has also worked as a Research Assistant to Professor Andrea Schneider, contributing to scholarship and initiatives in negotiation, mediation, and conflict systems design. In addition, Denise has held leadership and representative roles with the New York City Bar and student organizations, helping to connect international students with the broader ADR and legal community in New York.

Denise spent over a decade working in the nonprofit and community development sector in Zambia, supporting programs focused on women, youth, and vulnerable communities. She also previously served as an Investigations Officer with the Human Rights Commission of Zambia, addressing human rights violations and supporting community-based advocacy.

Denise is deeply committed to inclusive dispute resolution, mentorship of emerging and international practitioners, and strengthening professional networks across jurisdictions.