Laura Jeffords, Executive Director, The Mediation Center

Laura Jeffords, MPA, is the Executive Director of the Mediation Center in Asheville, NC, a nonprofit community mediation center founded in 1984. Laura has over 19 years of experience as a professional mediator and mediation trainer. She has trained hundreds of community members to in conflict resolution and mediation skills for criminal courts, workplaces, community organizations, families, prison re-entry, and neighborhood conflict. Laura has a particular interest in working with organizational conflict and mediating conflict. She collaborates with community mediation colleagues from around the country to lead seminars that encourage mediators to think more deeply about issues in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is certified in the Inclusive Mediation model, which is a radically nonjudgmental approach to mediation that prioritizes self-determination and puts relationships first.