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About

Our History

In 1990, a group of graduate students from the George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution (GMU S-CAR) came together to put into practice the dispute resolution skills acquired through their educational and experiential journeys. Beginning as a mediation clinic, this laboratory experiment grew to become an affiliate of GMU as its own non-profit 501(c)(3), known as the Northern Virginia Mediation Service.

Honorary Founders

  • Susan Shearouse
  • Robert A. Reed

Past Board Chair/Presidents

  • Hon. James Dillard
  • Jeannette Twomey
  • James Popes
  • Bruce Englebert
  • Alma Jadallah
  • Yasmin Mrabet
  • Stanley Corey
  • Randy Jones Toll
  • Geoff Drucker
  • Marialuisa Gallozzi

Past Executive Directors

  • Robert Reed
  • Ramona Buck
  • Robert Scott
  • Bruce Englebert
  • David Michael
  • John Settle
  • Megan Johnson
  • Ariel Gordon
  • Arleen Ramirez Borysiewicz
Learn About Our Strategic Direction

Cultivating Vibrant, Connected Futures

Build a culture of peace through community outreach.
Offer innovative and accessible services so all in the community may thrive.
Align NVMS capacity to deliver strategic impacts and outcomes.
What We Do
Support Our Mission
Staff Members

Meet Our Experts in Conflict Resolution

Arleen Ramirez Borysiewicz

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Amy Dawson

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Andrew H. Friedman

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Abrar Omeish

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Eugenia Blackstone

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Jeannie M. Adams

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Laurina Spolidoro

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Laura Trask

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Marialuisa S. Gallozzi

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Michael D. Solomon

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Patrick Cleary

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Members

Advisory Council

Sonia Aranza

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John Bleiweis

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Geoff Drucker

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Linda W. Hall

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Renee Kostick Reynolds

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Randy Jones Toll

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Hon. Paul Krizek

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James R. Meditz

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Dr. Regine Talleyrand

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Jeannette Twomey

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Empowering individuals and communities through effective conflict resolution and mediation.
  • Services
  • Mediation
  • Facilitation and Training
  • Restorative Justice
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Arleen Ramirez Borysiewicz

serves as Executive Director and is an ex officio member of the Board of Directors. Arleen has 30+ years of experience in the nonprofit sector, both in volunteer and paid positions.. She has robust experience in board stewardship, strategic planning, fundraising, communications, and program and administrative management.

Amy Dawson

is Secretary of the Board. She launched d’nitiatives® in 2010 to help nonprofit leaders and organizations become more visionary and effective. The name d’nitiatives® highlights the importance of designing initiatives that convert vision to action, investable opportunities, and impact.

Andrew H. Friedman

is vice president of the Board. He retired as senior partner with Covington & Burling where he focused on corporate tax matters and transactions, with substantive industry experience in professional sports, e-commerce, and insurance companies and products.

Abrar Omeish

is a legal fellow with the National Center for Youth Law and serves on its legal advocacy team. She works on litigation involving policies that have wide ranging impact on youth. From 2020 to 2023, Abrar was an at-large member of the Fairfax County School Board, representing 1.2 million constituents in nine school districts.

Eugenia Blackstone

is a marketing professional with corporate, brand, product, and field marketing experience. Her primary focus includes developing and coaching effective operational marketing teams, aligning marketing goals to company objectives, and finding creative ways to navigate change and deliver results. She is co-chair of the Partnerships and Revenue Committee of the Board.

Jeannie M. Adams

Former director of the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division of the Superior Courts of the District of Columbia where she oversaw the development and implementation of Court ADR Programs for the District of Columbia Courts, Jeannie developed and designed ADR programs for a variety of local, state, and federal agencies.

Laurina Spolidoro

is the Chair of the Governance Committee of the Board. She is an accomplished attorney with remarkable careers in the judiciary branch of government and the U.S. Coast Guard. Laurina is currently assistant general counsel at the Office of General Counsel at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts where she is counsel to the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Committee on Financial Disclosure.

Laura Trask

is a nonprofit certified fundraising professional with 10+ years of experience in individual and corporate giving, major gifts, direct mail, event planning, and marketing communications. Laura holds a certification in effective management, outreach, and marketing, and a graduate certification on human rights and public policy from the Henry Dunant Foundation in Chile. She is Co-Chair of the Partnerships and Revenue Committee of the Board.

Marialuisa S. Gallozzi

is president of the Board. She is Partner at Covington where she helps for-profit and nonprofit policyholders develop and execute efficient and practical insurance recovery strategies. As lead counsel, she has helped secure over half a billion dollars for high-value first-party losses and third-party liabilities.

Michael D. Solomon

is Treasurer of the Board. He brings three decades of experience as a senior advisor, counsel, policymaker, and manager in the supervision of federal financial institutions, including extensive regulatory and legislative expertise and negotiation of complex disputes. While at the Federal Reserve Board, Michael led development of regulation and policy regarding “living wills” to address “too big to fail” financial companies.

Patrick Cleary

Is a former federal mediator with nearly two decades of hands-on dispute resolution and negotiation experience and served as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies. Beginning as an arbitrator of consumer disputes in 1978 and continuing through the handling of the national rail negotiations in l992, he has been involved in every kind of negotiation and mediation scenario.

Sonia Aranza

is an accomplished global diversity, equity, and inclusion strategist with 25 years of experience serving top organizations including the Central Intelligence Agency, NASA, U.S. Department of Labor, Coca-Cola Company, McDonalds Corporation, Oshkosh Corporation, to name a few. She mentors emerging leaders worldwide.

John Bleiweis

is a friend and supporter of NVMS CRC, continuing the legacy of his late wife Marge Bleiweis, for whom NVMS established the Bleiweis Community Education Fund. John volunteers with Fairfax County Public Schools doing mentoring and supporting STEM programs in elementary schools. He also volunteers at Fairfax County Senior Centers providing information technology assistance to residents.

Geoff Drucker

is senior director of the American Health Lawyers Association’s Dispute Resolution Service and teaches mediation at the George Washington University School of Law. As former Board President, Geoff presided over the hiring of a new executive director and the 2022 strategic planning process, and also helped shape a new fundraising strategy.

Linda W. Hall

is a lead mediator in the Federal Shared Neutrals Program and a mediator for the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division of the District of Columbia Superior Court. Linda is a retired member of the Federal Senior Executive Service. She is a member of the Virginia Mediation Network. She is an associate member of the American Bar Association and Dispute Resolution Section.

Renee Kostick Reynolds

is a licensed attorney in Washington, DC and specializes in family law cases. She has experience as a mediator in family, workplace, small claims and elder care cases. She served as an attorney for the National District Attorney’s Association in Alexandria, Virginia and The Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington, DC.

Randy Jones Toll

is a past president of NVMS’s Board of Directors. She established the Randy Jones Toll Restorative Justice Fellowship Program in 2025. For over 20 years, Randy held leadership positions in sales strategy and high-profile projects with Marriott international and others.

Hon. Paul Krizek

has dedicated his life and career to community service and progressive values here in Mt. Vernon and in Virginia as a Virginia State Delegate. Paul’s work as a nonprofit executive has demonstrated his passion for helping people and advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves. As delegate, he is an effective and progressive leader: a ‘work horse,’ not a ‘show horse,’ who makes a real difference for Northern Virginia.

James R. Meditz

is a Virginia-certified mentor, mediator, and instructor of several NVMS mediation classes. Jim is a past president and current member of the Virginia Mediation Network. He retired from his civilian federal career as a senior executive and from the US Navy as a Captain.

Dr. Regine Talleyrand

is an Associate Professor for the Counseling Program in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. Dr. Talleyrand has spent the past twenty five years studying mental and physical health disparities among minorities and developing culturally relevant counseling interventions for communities that have been underrepresented and underserved.

Jeannette Twomey

is a mediator, facilitator, and conflict resolution trainer in private practice, who has contributed enormously to the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution services in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She has been certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia since 1993 to mediate court referred cases and to teach courses that are part of the statewide certification program