About Lisa Hicks (Yackel)

Lisa served as the Executive Director of The New York State Dispute Resolution Association from 1994 to her retirement in 2009. Prior to that, she served as a Program Coordinator for The Center for Dispute Settlement in Rochester, NY, running an office in Wayne County and then moving to the Rochester office serving in the areas of Youth Mediation, Victim-Offender Mediation, and coordination of volunteer mediators for the Center. She is a trained mediator and arbitrator.

When Lisa accepted the directorship of NYSDRA, it was an association struggling to survive on a meager budget, two contracts, and a membership and board composed solely of CDRCs and their directors.

Her leadership of the Association spurred tremendous growth, specifically in securing and promoting innovative contract programs with numerous state agencies to provide mediation services through the statewide network of community dispute resolution organizations. Along with the existing Special Education Mediation Program and the Manufactured Housing Mediation Program, she worked with the Attorney General's office to develop the Lemon Law Arbitration Program and with the NYS Education Department to develop contracts for Vocational Education Services for individuals with disabilities and Early Intervention mediation. She collaborated with the State ADR Office and other agricultural organizations in New York State to develop the Agricultural Mediation Program.

Recognizing the importance of legislative support, judicial support, and collaboration at the local level with agencies, businesses, and local governments, Lisa worked to expand public knowledge of dispute resolution and services provided by NYSDRA through its members. She collaborated with other ADR programs, associations, and state committees to expand the use of dispute resolution processes in areas such as land use through the Legislative Land Use Committee, environmental mediation with the DEC, and public policy mediation with the Albany Law School Bar Association.



Her goal was for NYSDRA to continue building its influence by providing education about what dispute resolution professionals do, promoting legislative and judicial support for the profession, and most importantly, collaborating and learning from one another to continue improving and expanding dispute resolution services throughout New York State.