About Mark Collins

Mark Collins retired as Assistant Coordinator for the New York State Unified Court System's Office of ADR Programs in 2016, after working from 1982 to 2016 to build the network of Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs) in New York. Mark was responsible for the supervision of the CDRCs, program funding and evaluation, mediation trainer certification, and the expansion of dispute resolution into family courts. Mark was also involved in helping to found and partner with NYSDRA as a professional association.

Mark wove the core values of mediation practice into his professional life. He remained true to the original strands of community mediation, both of which emerged during times of national turmoil and political activism in the 1960s. One strand flowed from the need for court reform and recognition that the judiciary was overburdened. The second strand represented a broader vision of social justice and the belief that citizens could be empowered to take control of their own lives, resolve conflict, and preserve personal and professional relationships. While providing oversight to the CDRC network to ensure quality of their processes, he supported their self-determination in terms of capacity building to meet emerging needs of their communities and stakeholders.



Mark's vision was grounded in practice; throughout his career, he was an ADR practitioner with a particular focus on victim-offender dialogues in serious crimes. He gained a national reputation, and served as board member and Board Co-Chair of the National Association for Community Mediation. Mark provided assistance to several state court systems in their design of community mediation and ADR networks. Over the years, Mark has been recognized by many organizations for his contributions to the field, including the Lawrence Cooke Peace Innovator Award from NYSDRA in 2010. Mark currently lives in Plymouth, MA.