CADRE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Program Administrator for ADR
- Program Administrator, Alternative Dispute Resolution / San Francisco Unified School
Adriana Aro is the Program Administrator for ADR in San Francisco Unified School District. She has over 10 years experience as an education specialist in public schools in California, and has developed and improved inclusive practices and co-teaching programming at various schools. She considers herself an advocate for students, first and foremost. Managing the ADR program for SFUSD is an extension of her student advocacy, facilitating a dispute resolution program that is accessible to all families, regardless of means or experience.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Licensed Independent Social Worker of Clinical Practice
Amy Holbert is a Licensed Independent Social Worker of Clinical Practice (LISW-CP), with over twenty years of experience working in the maternal, child health field. Currently, Ms. Holbert is the Chief Executive Officer of Family Connection of SC, South Carolina's Parent Training and Information Center. Ms. Holbert has brought the use of evidence-based, action-oriented process methods to improve service systems and resources for women, infants, and families to her work. It is however, the life lessons of being a parent to two children with special medical and behavioral health needs that have shaped her career path and choices. She approaches her work through the lens of a parent that has navigated the healthcare and educational systems for her own children.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor at Hood College
Amy Kilpatrick is an Assistant Professor at Hood College. She has over 25 years of experience in public education. She has worked in urban and rural school districts in general education, special education, and district administration. Amy previously served in a leadership position at the Texas Education Agency to support school districts in their implementation of special education programs and with complaint resolution. Amy also has an adult son with autism, so she has sat in nearly every seat at the IEP team table.
Job Titles:
- Director for School Services of California
- Director, Management Consulting Services / School Services of California, Inc.
Anjanette Pelletier is a Director for School Services of California, focusing on Special Education finance and program. Prior to this role she was an Associate Superintendent for Sonoma County SELPA, where she worked to integrate Trauma Informed System thinking into conflict prevention and resolution activities. Integration of TIS principles have shifted the ADR activities used in this San Francisco-Bay Area SELPA from reactive to proactive and responsive in a way that prevents conflict and resolves challenges quickly and with shared desired outcomes. Anjanette has previously served as a psychologist, program coordinator and special education director, and has a long history in engaging in ADR activities throughout the state of California
Job Titles:
- Director of Student, Family, and District Support / Tehama County Department of Education
Aubrie Fulk is the Director of Student, Family, and District Support for the Tehama County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). She oversees the SELPA's model school based mental health program for students with disabilities. She recently embarked on a new role supporting the alternative dispute resolution processes for families and districts. She is currently creating a continuum of these supports for our county and is part of a statewide community of practice to increase this work and prevent disputes in our systems, preserving relationships. Her origin in education was as a school psychologist for our preschool students and an early start intervention specialist for infants with disabilities.
Carlo Rossi has been involved in Special Education advocacy for over thirty-five years. He has spent the last fifteen years as the Independent Child Advocate for Social Advocates for Youth and the Sonoma County (CA) Special Education Local Plan Area. As a seventeen year adjunct faculty member in the Department of Special Education at San Francisco State University, he has previously worked for the California Department of Education, United Cerebral Palsy Association, and Community Alliance for Special Education. He has been a frequent presenter for the State of California Statewide Dispute Resolution Conference, CADRE and Legal Resources Publications annual conferences. He is passionate about parents and districts working collaboratively and cooperatively together while meeting the needs of student's with unique learning challenges.
Job Titles:
- Special Education Hearing Officer
Cathy Skidmore, Esquire, has been a full-time hearing officer in Pennsylvania for 11 years. She has been active in the field of special education dispute resolution in Pennsylvania for over 25 years, currently as a hearing officer and previously as an appellate officer. She has also had training in basic and special education mediation and had served as a mediator in Pennsylvania. Hearing Officer Skidmore has degrees and experience in special and elementary education, was formerly engaged in private law practice, and taught as an adjunct university professor in special education.
Job Titles:
- Hearing Officer / Vermont Agency of Education and Texas Education Agency
Ms. Rushing has worked as a special education hearing officer for the Vermont Agency of Education since 2019. She is also a new hearing officer for the state of Texas. She has worked in the field of education law and special education dispute resolution since 2011. Prior to her legal career, Ms. Rushing worked as a reading specialist, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher, and as a general and special education teacher in Texas, France, and Maryland. She also worked extensively with gifted and talented children with Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth. Ms. Rushing worked as a Legal Specialist and Dispute Resolution Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Education from 2011-2015. She worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights from 2015-2021. In addition to working as a hearing officer, Ms. Rushing also works with state agencies for IDEA mediation and investigation, through her consulting company, Education Resolutions, LLC.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Consultant
- Co - Founder and Consultant With Ed21 Consulting Services
David Carrales is a co-founder and consultant with Ed21 Consulting Services. David spent more than seventeen years with the Texas Education Agency, with responsibilities for statewide data collection and analysis for the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report as the IDEA-B Data Manager. David has a passion for the transformational power of data - making information actionable to reach a positive outcome. He is a firm believer in Mark Friedman's "Results Accountability" approach to making measurable improvements in our communities. One of his current consulting projects is the design and management of a data collection process to measure the fidelity of implementation of a Facilitated IEP (FIEP) process and the impact of the implementation of FIEP across multiple districts in a Special Education Local Planning Area (SELPA) in California.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics / University of Maryland
Deborah Badawi, M.D. is a Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician associated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Her clinical work includes evaluation and management of children with a variety of developmental disabilities as well as consultation on multidisciplinary teams in the school system and in health care settings. Her policy work focuses on improving the system of care for children with special health care needs, and consequently for all children, their caregivers and their health care providers. She has overseen numerous federal and state projects. Dr. Badawi is the current president of the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Diana Autin directs the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, and co-directs the Region A Parent TA Center, NE-PACT. Autin co-directs the FV Leadership in Family Professional Partnerships center funded by the US Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and directs National PLACE, advocating to enhance the impact of families and family-led organizations at decision-making tables. Autin has directed SPAN for over 27 years, and has 35 years of Parent Center management experience. She served for 5 years as a consultant for the National Center for Systemic Improvement on data use and EI Family Outcomes. She worked with the IDEA Partnership in development of Leading by Convening and Creating Agreement collections. She is on advisory committees for the National Center for Cultural Competence and the Region 1 Equity Assistance Center. Recent awards include Lifetime Achievement Advocacy (NJCDD 2022), Champion for Health Equity (Family Voices 2022), and Reclaiming Children (National Federation of Families 2018).
Job Titles:
- Education Program Specialist
Diana serves as an Education Program Specialist in the Office of Enhancing Student Opportunities in the Oregon Department of Education. She has worked in special education for over 15 years, and held roles supporting students, families and educators at the school, district, state and national level.
After building her career in South Florida, Diana moved to Oregon in 2016 when she joined CADRE, the National Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Education. She served as the Data Analyst and Dispute Resolution Training Specialist for five years, providing training and technical assistance to state agencies, lead agencies, parent centers and other stakeholders nationwide.
Diana received both her bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Miami in elementary education and exceptional student education. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado.
Job Titles:
- President - Elect / Indiana Council for Administrators
- President - Elect of the Indiana Council for Administrators of Special Education
Dr. Angie Balsley is the President-Elect of the Indiana Council for Administrators of Special Education and the Executive Director of Earlywood Education Services, a special education cooperative serving six school districts in central Indiana. Angie's dissertation through Indiana University focused on special education dispute resolution; she is currently working on publishing her research findings. Angie was a member of Indiana's legislated Education Dispute Resolution Workgroup and continues to lead ICASE's Dispute Resolution Committee. She has presented locally and national about special education dispute resolution. Angie taught students with significant disabilities for nine years and has been a director of special education for thirteen years. She is the family member of an individual with disabilities, worked in group home settings, and worked seven summers at a camp for individuals with disabilities. Angie is passionate about both the interactive and collaborative processes intended in IDEA and in alternative dispute resolution.
Dr. Darlene Sampson lives by her late parent's mantra: "Giving back to others is in your DNA-you must respect and honor the shoulders you have stood on." With that thinking in mind, Dr. Sampson has maintained a space of social justice and cultural humility as she works across the education and social work fields as an administrator, leader, equity specialist, and counselor. Dr. Sampson recently left the Equity Assistance Centers after working as a Clinical Field Faculty in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her previous work in schools as a Director of Culturally Responsive Education, coupled with teaching and social work in schools rounds out her professional experiences. Her lived experiences as a Black woman assist her in infusing empathy for others particularly around the intersectional spaces of gender and race. Dr. Sampson's professional goals are to infuse culturally responsive consciousness, promote inclusive pedagogy, integrate equity infusions, and promote systemic change for all. She has been a social worker, program manager, consultant, and educator for 30+ years. Her call to teaching, consulting, and community-based practice occurred as a result of the many mentors in her life who demonstrated excellence in regard to communities of color. In addition to many professional mentors, Dr. Sampson was influenced by her nine siblings, and the spiritual foundation instilled by her parents as a young child. Dr. Sampson has a Bachelor's Degree in Rehabilitation and Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado, a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Denver, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and published work is focused in the areas of academic performance specifically relating to Children of Color. Specialties include parent engagement, program review, trauma-informed care, racial bullying, culturally responsive social work and mental wellness, authentic engagement in schools, disproportionality and equity reviews, equity trajectories, consultation, and culturally responsive curricular augmentation. Currently Dr. Sampson works as a consultant for the State of Colorado's newly developed Division of Early Childhood.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor at Indiana University School of Education
Dr. Janet R. Decker is an associate professor at Indiana University School of Education. She primarily researches legal and policy issues in special education, but also studies the legal literacy of educators and administrators. Her publications include two books: The Legal Rights of School Leaders, Teachers, and Students, 8th ed. (Pearson, 2018) and How to Prevent Special Education Litigation: Eight Legal Lesson Plans (Columbia University Teachers College Press, 2015) and two edited books: The Principal's Legal Handbook and A Guide to Special Education Law (both published by Education Law Association, 2017). Her research has also appeared in several education and law journals.
Dr. Decker became interested in special education policy when she taught students with autism. She currently teaches school law courses to undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and law students. Dr. Decker holds a law degree and Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies.
Dr. Melanie Reese joined CADRE as Director in October 2017. Prior to that, she was the Idaho Department of Education's Dispute Resolution Coordinator for Special Education since 2010. In that time, she helped grow Idaho's facilitation program into a thriving and valuable option for Idaho's districts and parents. Additionally, she oversaw the state's mediation, state complaint and due process hearing processes. In this role she worked closely with Idaho's Parent Training and Information Center and Local Educational Agencies to build relationships to serve children with disabilities.
As professor emeritus (Boise State University, 2009), Melanie remains active in the academic community. The co-author of two successful textbooks (Personal Conflict Management: Theory and Practice and Mediation Theory and Practice), Melanie was a founding member of the Boise State University's Dispute Resolution Graduate Advisory Board and is a member of Boise State graduate teaching faculty.
Melanie served on the Executive Board of the Idaho Mediation Association, was a college ombudsman, and has been a professional mediator since 1990. She is regularly called to present on dispute resolution issues in special education, conflict management, alternative dispute resolution processes, and hot topics in special education. Additionally, Melanie has consulted for numerous organizations to improve their communication effectiveness.
Job Titles:
- Program Coordinator / Oklahoma Special Education Resolution Center
Dr. Robert Keiter is an Oklahoma court-approved family and civil mediator. He is a member of the Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM), the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), and the Oklahoma Academy of Mediators and Arbitrators (OAMA). Dr. Keiter serves as Program Coordinator for the Oklahoma Special Education Resolution Center (SERC).
Job Titles:
- Professor of Conflict Management and Former University Ombudsman at Kennesaw State University
Dr. Timothy Hedeen is a Professor of Conflict Management and former University Ombudsman at Kennesaw State University. He provides mediation services through court and private programs, delivers trainings in the areas of conflict resolution and communication, facilitates group and public policy decision making and planning, and conducts research and evaluation on dispute resolution and justice policy.
He serves as a senior consultant to CADRE and on the editorial board of Conflict Resolution Quarterly. He has served on the Commission on Dispute Resolution of the Georgia Supreme Court. the Section Council of the American Bar Association's Section of Dispute Resolution, and on the editorial board of Family Court Review. He is a past chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Community Mediation.
Job Titles:
- CEO and Owner of Conflict Coaching Matters
- Professor and CEO / Owner / Temple University
Dr. Tricia S. Jones is the CEO and Owner of Conflict Coaching Matters, LLC. She is a leader in the field of dispute resolution and is acknowledged as a leading conflict scholar and conflict practitioner.
Dr. Jones is a Full Professor at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) teaching and researching in conflict processes, conflict resolution education, negotiation and mediation, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication (with emphasis on organizational dispute system design). An esteemed member of the Temple University faculty since 1990, she currently serves as elected President of the Faculty Senate, representing the 2,500 full-time faculty members of this Research I University.
She serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for Conflict Resolution, and is a member of the Peace Education Reference Group for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). Dr. Jones is past-president of the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM) and a member of the IACM Advisory Board.
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant and Early Intervention Specialist
Edward Feinberg, Ph.D. is a CADRE senior consultant. Dr. Feinberg has been the psychologist and coordinator of birth to five services [Part C and 619} in a large Maryland county since the inception of EHA and IDEA. Co-author of several CADRE technical assistance papers, he has written and presented extensively on family-centered, community-based intervention for children with disabilities and their families. He has been a member of the State Interagency Council for Part C, the Governor's Commission for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and was the President of the Board of Directors of The Coordinating Center, a nonprofit that provides service coordination for children transitioning from long-term hospitalization to home and community settings.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director for the Sonoma County SELPA
- Executive Director, SELPA
Elizabeth Engelken is the Executive Director for The Sonoma County SELPA and Sonoma County Charter SELPA. Prior to serving as a SELPA Administrator, she held numerous positions in special education and educational leadership. Elizabeth is passionate about serving students, empowering families, and providing access and excellence in supporting educators working directly with children and young adults. Elizabeth was one of the first special education directors to create a best practice model for the delivery of mental health services for students with disabilities, following the passage of AB 114. Her early professional experience is as a school psychologist, and she brings this foundation to her advocacy for students with disabilities and access to mental health and wellness. Her knowledge and passion for integrating all of her skills and passions into ADR is evidenced across her decades long success in the profession with her partnerships between LEAs and families.
Fran Goldfarb, MA, MCHES, CSPS is excited to be joining Purchin Consulting. Fran recently retired as the Director of Community Education at the USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, Education and Service at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (USC UCEDD CHLA). She served as the Family Support Discipline Director in LEND, their advanced level interdisciplinary training program. Ms. Goldfarb has a bachelor's degree in Human Development and a master's degree in Social Science. She is credentialed as a Master Certified Health Education Specialist. She was also the first person in California credentialed as a Certified Family Peer Specialist. Together with her husband, she founded and facilitates the Los Angeles Asperger Syndrome Parent Support Group. Most importantly, she is the parent of an adult son with a developmental disability and other psychiatric disabilities.
Jennifer Wolfsheimer, Esq., specializes in building the capacity of State educational agencies to implement general supervision and accountability systems and dispute resolution systems under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) through WestEd's National Center for Systemic Improvement and contract work. Wolfsheimer joined WestEd after working at the U.S. Department of Education in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for over a decade, where she facilitated the team which carries out activities related to State Performance Plans/Annual Performance Reports and Determinations. Previously, Wolfsheimer was OSEP's Dispute Resolution Lead. She has led monitoring activities focused on states' dispute resolution policies and procedures and general supervision responsibilities under the IDEA. An expert in policy analysis and its impact on people with disabilities, Wolfsheimer has advocated on behalf of people with disabilities across the legal and regulatory spectrum. Wolfsheimer has advised on disability issues related to mental health and healthcare, technology, employment discrimination, and domestic violence while serving as Commissioner, Montgomery County, MD Commission on People with Disabilities; Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy; independent healthcare policy consultant; and Legal Intern/Extern/Clerk at The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and Protection and Advocacy organizations in New York and California.
Job Titles:
- President / International Storytelling Center
- President of the International Storytelling Center
Kiran Singh Sirah is President of the International Storytelling Center (ISC), an educational and cultural institution dedicated to enriching lives around the world through storytelling. ISC organizes the world's premiere storytelling event, the National Storytelling Festival, and supports applied storytelling initiatives across a variety of industries. Prior to his ISC appointment, Kiran developed a number of award-winning peace-building programs in cultural centers across the UK. As an artist, folklorist, educator, and social justice advocate, he uses the power of human creativity to establish dialogue. An advisory member to UNESCO and a Rotary Peace Fellow, he has developed programs, publications, talks and conference papers on interdisciplinary approaches to relationship building around the globe. In 2017, Kiran was awarded the "Champion of Peace" recognition at the Rotary International ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva. Kiran firmly believes storytelling not only enriches lives, but also holds the key to building a better world.