Heravi Peace Institute, Utah Dispute Resolution & Disagree Better Launch Mediation Partnership

LOGAN – Utah State University’s Heravi Peace Institute has announced a new partnership with Utah Dispute Resolution and Disagree Better to expand Utah’s statewide capacity for constructive conflict engagement through transformative mediation.

“This initiative brings together Utah’s academic, professional and civic communities to reimagine how we deal with conflict,” said Chad Ford, Heravi Peace Institute faculty board member and lead trainer for the certification initiative. “We want to prepare leaders in every field to help others navigate disagreement — not through avoidance or domination, but through understanding and growth.”

The collaboration will launch with a 40-hour Transformative Mediation Certification training, beginning Nov. 6-8 at the Law and Justice Center in Salt Lake City. The inaugural cohort brings together distinguished leaders from Utah’s legal, health care, academic and civic sectors — each committed to reimagining how conflict can strengthen rather than divide relationships and communities.

Participants in this first cohort include:

• Nathan D. Alder, Distinguished Fellow in the International Academy of Mediators and shareholder at Christensen & Jensen.
• Emma Petty Addams, co-executive director for Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
• Heather Brace, chief people officer for Intermountain Health.
• Carolynn Clark, adjunct mediation professor and former director of the Master of Legal Studies program at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.
• Jim Dandy, grant director for Native American Serving Nontribal Institutions at Utah State University.
• Maury Giles, CEO of Braver Angels.
• Ravi Gupta, Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies and head of the Department of History, Cultures and Ideas at Utah State University.
• Karrie Ketchum, UDR executive director and board chair of the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution.
• Stephen D. Kelson, mediator and shareholder at Christensen & Jensen.
• Gretchen Lee, executive director of Mountain Mediation and former Utah Council on Conflict Resolution board chair.
• Natalie Malovich, a licensed psychologist for over 40 years who now mediates on a full-time basis, specializing in high-conflict domestic disputes.
• Patrick Mason, Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University.
• Jen Peeples, professor of communication studies at Utah State University.
• Danya Rumore, director of the Wallace Stegner Center Environmental Dispute Resolution Program and research professor at the S.J. Quinney College of Law.
• Julie Stevens, clinical associate professor of social work at Utah State University.
• Marianne Viray, executive director of Disagree Better.

“The HPI is proud to partner with our friends and colleagues across the state to bring our expertise to bear on how to navigate conflict in a productive and healthy manner,” said Heravi Peace Institute Director Austin Knuppe. “The ability to train and support mediators statewide not only advances our core mission but also positions USU to support conflict transformation and peacebuilding in communities across the state.”

Carolynn Clark, considered one of Utah’s most experienced mediators and a participant in the inaugural training, highlighted the importance of this initiative.

“As an attorney and mediator with more than 20 years of experience, I have seen mediation become increasingly impersonal and transactional, especially in attorney-represented disputes,” Clark said. "I see a great need for mediators to be more knowledgeable and skillful at techniques that honor and preserve parties’ relationships in mediation. I’m so excited that Chad Ford is bringing this type of transformative mediation training to Utah.”

Marianne Viray, executive director of Disagree Better, emphasized the broader civic significance.

“The Transformative Mediation Certification Program will equip leaders across sectors and industries to better navigate conflict in their respective spheres,” Viray said. “This cohort will model what it means to engage conflict with courage, clarity and compassion. It’s about transforming disagreement into a generative force for civic renewal — and we all need more renewal right now.”

Karrie Ketchun, director of Utah Dispute Resolution, also focused on the importance of healing relationships in conflict.

“With experience in the legal world as a paralegal and as a mediator for eight years, I have learned that the missing piece to the work I’ve been involved in is the preservation of relationships,” Ketchum said. “Mediation is a beautiful way to open the door to understanding, empathy and kindness, and transformative techniques that Chad Ford is bringing in this necessary training are the way to build on that and create a more peaceful community and world.”

The training complements a new undergraduate course now being offered at USU, PI 3110: Transformative Mediation. The course introduces students to the same principles of empowerment, recognition and relational transformation, creating an integrated educational pathway from undergraduate study to professional certification.

This certification initiative marks the first step in a multi-year collaboration between the Heravi Peace Institute, Utah Dispute Resolution and Disagree Better. Future phases include a Train-the-Trainer program, a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation through Utah State University, and specialized courses in family, environmental, interfaith and restorative justice mediation by 2027.

“This partnership represents a statewide commitment to engaging conflict in ways that build trust, understanding and belonging,” Ford said. “Transformative mediation moves beyond merely resolving disputes. It helps people rediscover their own agency, recognize one another’s humanity and repair the relationships that make our communities strong.”

For more information or to apply for the next certification cohort, contact Ford at chad.ford@usu.edu.