Divorce Mediation

Mediating Family and Divorce Cases
617-895-4027 | vlinsey@mwi.org

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Vanessa Linsey is a family mediator with MWI. Vanessa mediates a variety of cases for Massachusetts District, Municipal, and Probate and Family Courts, including: divorce, parenting plans, never-married parents, staying married, small claims, and harassment prevention orders.

Vanessa is also a certified mindfulness teacher with a decade of experience teaching insight practices and mindful communication. In 2019, she published a prescriptive memoir on mindful parenting in a modern family. Vanessa earned her Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication with honors from Bridgewater State University. She trained in Professional Mediation at Cornell University.

Vanessa has been a stepmother for 20 years. With three children and four stepchildren ages eight to 28, she has been through it all. She understands the power of productive conversation and sees family mediation as an opportunity for growth and transformation through reimagined relationships.

Focus Areas

• Mediation to Stay Married
• Parent / Teen Mediation
• Stepfamily Mediation
• Divorce Mediation
• COVID 19 Parenting Plan changes / requests for changes
• Adult Sibling Disputes
• Child Support
• Never Married Parents Mediation
• Same-sex Divorce Mediation
• Harassment Prevention Orders

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Author, Metta Mom, A Mindful Guide to Managing Your Mood & Your Brood
• Mediator, MWI Divorce and Family Mediation Panel
• Mediator, Massachusetts District & Municipal Courts
• Founder, Chrysalis Meditation Center
• Speaker, Well Summit
• Certified Lifeboat Commander, Holland America Line

Background and Education

• BA in Speech Communications, with honors, Bridgewater State University, 1999
• Professional Mediation Program, Cornell University
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Tools Practicum, University of Massachusetts
• Meditation Teacher Training, Boston Buddha

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Mediating Divorce & Family Cases via Zoom
617-895-4028 | divorce@mwi.org

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Dispute Resolution Experience

Ben Stich is a family and divorce mediator with MWI. He mediates conflicts of all kinds, specializing in family disputes. He mediates divorce, co-parenting conflict, and marital issues. Ben also mediates all types of family disputes such as conflict between parents and their adult children; adult siblings; and parents and their teenage children. Ben also helps families improve their co-parenting as an instructor for the state’s only High Conflict Parent Education program at William James College.

In addition to mediating, Ben is certified in the Think:Kids Collaborate Problem Solving© model and works with Think:Kids at MGH’s Department of Psychiatry to help families, educators, and clinicians work effectively with children and teens who exhibit challenging behaviors .

Ben is a licensed independent clinical social worker and an active member of the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation and the Massachusetts’ chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Focus Areas

• Divorce for short-term and long-term marriages
• Co-Parenting plans
• Custody disputes
• Parent-Teen Conflict
• Marriage Problems
• Interim separation agreements
• Asset and liability division
• Property division
• High conflict divorce matters
• Elder and estate disputes

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Member, Massachusetts Council for Family Mediation (MCFM)
• Licensed Independent Social Worker (LICSW)
• School Adjustment Counselor License
• Member, National Association of Social Workers
• Collaborative Problem Solving Certification from Mass General’s Department of Psychiatry’s Think:Kids program
• Member, AFCC

Lectures and ADR Trainings Conducted & Publications

• “Better Parent” Parent Education Program, June 2016 – August 2021
• Parenting Apart Instructor for the Divorce Center, 2014 – 2016
• Communication and Conflict Blogger, 2013 – present
• Communication Workshop for the Parent/Professional Advocacy League, 2014
• High Conflict Divorce Mediation Training, 2013
• Collaborative Problem Solving for:
  – Canton School District, Central Cabinet, 2011-2012
  – MENTOR Network – Therapeutic Foster Care Program, 2011
  – Massachusetts School Counselors Association – Guidance Administrators Forum, 2011
• More Than Words, Workplace Communication Workshop, 2010
• Germaine Lawrence, Family Communication Workshop, Co-Facilitator, (2001 – 2005)
• Residential Treatment for Adolescent Girls for:
  – National Child Welfare League of America Conference (2005)
  – MASOC Annual Conference (2005-2009)
  – Tenth National Workshop on Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders (2003)

Background and Education

• M.Ed in Organizational Development, Endicott College
• MSW, Boston College, 2001
• BA, Trinity College, 1996

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Mediating Divorce Cases via Zoom
617-895-4028 | divorce@mwi.org

Dispute Resolution Experience

Daniele Ozeri has been a divorce and family mediator with MWI since the summer of 2017. She has a Master’s degree in conflict management and resolution from Bar-Ilan University, Israel. She is the editor of a book entitled “Re-Envisioning Conflict Resolution: Vision, Action and Evaluation in Creative Conflict Engagement” published in 2017 by Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution. Daniele has extensive experience mediating a variety of cases ranging from mediations in the labor courts in Tel-Aviv, identity-based conflicts in Jerusalem, and consumer disputes and divorce cases in Boston.

Representative Matters

• Divorce Mediation
• Parenting Plans
• Child Support
• Property Division
• Identity-based disputes
• South Boston Municipal Court cases
• Dorchester District Court cases

Professional Affiliations

• Herbert C. Kelman Institute for Interactive Conflict Transformation
• ARIA Group for Conflict Engagement
• Forward Thinking, Frontline Mediation
• Bar-Ilan University
• Israel Democracy Institute

Background and Education

• Smith College (B.A., 2012)
• Bar-Ilan University, Israel (M.A. in Conflict Management & Resolution, 2017)
• Mediation Training Program, Certificate of Completion, MWI, 2017
• Advanced Divorce Mediation Training Program, Certificate of Completion, October 2017

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Serving as an Ombuds & Mediating Divorce, Family, Housing and Employment Matters with MWI
Case Manager: Josh Hoch: 617-895-4028 | jhoch@mwi.org

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Dispute Resolution Experience

Nnena Odim is a mediator, ombuds, attorney, trainer, and consultant. She has been mediating since 1997, and has mediated disputes involving issues such as employment, housing, business, consumer, academic/higher education, and the full range of family/domestic relations (divorce, unmarried parents, elder care, adoption, etc.). Nnena has also designed and/or led conflict management trainings for several local and national businesses and agencies, including the Boston Public Schools, Massachusetts Housing Authority, Neighborhood Works, Coca-Cola, and Netflix. In addition to her mediation and conflict resolution training background, Nnena is trained by the International Ombuds Association and has served as an ombuds for CVS, American Planning Association, and several local construction companies. After 25 years, Nnena has recently retired from Harvard Law School, where she was the Director and Senior Clinical Instructor of the Family/Domestic Violence Law Clinic at Harvard’s Legal Services Center. In addition to being an active practicing attorney in Massachusetts Family and Probate Courts, she provided experiential training to law students and taught them how to become effective and ethical attorneys.

Nnena has worked with the Harvard Mediation Program (HMP) and Harvard Program on Negotiation to provide trainings for students and community members, and to supervise Harvard Law School students in their mediation and negotiation studies. She served as a faculty and coach of mediation skills for trainings at Suffolk and Boston College Law Schools, MIT, and New England School of Law. Nnena has also served on numerous panels and speaking rosters for a variety of topics, including those on self-care and mental health for students and faculty, establishing boundaries in a professional setting, race and gender, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Nnena is a member of the HMP Advisory Board. In 2019, Nnena was honored by the Harvard Women’s Law Association International Committee. In 2015, she received the Harvard Law School Dean’s Award for Excellence, and in 2013, Nnena was a Top Women in the Law award recipient from Mass. Lawyers Weekly.

Focus Areas

• Outsourced Organizational Ombuds
• Conference Ombuds
• Workplace and Employment Mediation
• Worked with over 100 same-sex couples in both mediation and litigation, on a variety of legal scenarios, such as 2nd parent adoptions, divorce (with and without children), paternity, business dissolution, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and donor agreements for sperm donation
• Drafted over 100 post-mediation Settlement Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding
• Guardian ad Litem, appointed by Suffolk and Middlesex County Family and Probate Courts

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Top Women in the Law award recipient, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2013
• Member, Association for Conflict Resolution
• Member, American Bar Association
• Licensed Real Estate Broker

Lectures and ADR Trainings Conducted

• Training faculty for MWI’s annual Advanced Divorce Training
• Guest lecturer for Suffolk and Boston College Law Schools’ mediation courses

Background and Education

• J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (1997)
• M.S., University of Massachusetts/Amherst (1991)
• B.S., University of Pittsburgh (1985)

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