Our Board of Directors

Prior to his legal career, Stephen had a successful engineering consulting practice.  Known for being reliable, his attention to detail and applying creative approaches to the dispute resolution process, Stephen has appeared before all levels of court in Alberta, including the British Columbia Supreme Court and the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench. He has also been involved in several mediations and arbitrations and has completed the ADRIC-RICS Certificate in Adjudication.

My goal in being a director of ADRIA is four fold:  assisting ADRIA in becoming a Nominating Authority for the adjudication process contemplated by the new Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act; participation and providing equity, diversification and inclusion within ADRIA and the ADR space; innovation; and business development.  If elected, during my term on the board I am looking forward to working with the current and new board members as well as the ADRIA staff to advance these goals.  The success of my term would be measured by the amount these goals are accomplished, all well hopefully meeting many ADRIA members in person at future events while we depart the virtual meeting world.

JB has watched ADRIA grow from the Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society into the professional organization it is today, representing the ambitious standards we all share and support in practicing ADR.

As a director it is my wish to continue to support and assist the organization in representing the members while pursuing a self-regulating profession of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Alberta and Canada.

My areas of experience include but are not limited to: workforce planning, talent management, classification, organizational effectiveness, grievance management, training and development, disability management, collective agreement bargaining, negotiations, dispute resolution, mediation, investigations, and employee relations.

I completed my Bachelor of Management with a focus in Human Resources and Industrial Relations at the University of Lethbridge. Early in my career I learned conflict is a natural part of workplace relationships and most of these “hiccups” are able to be resolved by supporting open communication between the impacted parties. It has therefore been my honor to date to facilitate and coach employees to have these important tools to communicate, and to navigate their own conversations. 

My interest in furthering ADR practices is that it become a part of proactive workplace initiatives that are both restorative where needed and preventative where possible and yes, both are possible.

Another significant aspect of my life is volunteering. I have served on non-profit Boards since 2007.  My experience here has been to support policy development, governance processes,  strategic planning,  Board recruitment, evaluation and ad hoc committee work. At this time, I would like would like to shift my focus and contribution to support Human Resources and ADR, two professional areas that I have and continue to grow in.

If elected to serve with ADRIA as a Board of Director, my goal is to contribute by serving on working groups committed to actioning strategic objectives that move ADR forward.

For over thirty years, she’s helped people find resolution for their tough problems. Barbara was a hearing commissioner with the Alberta Energy Regulator from 2013 – 2017, adjudicating and mediating oil and gas issues. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a Masters in Public Administration.

Barbara’s work takes her throughout Alberta, where she meets wonderful people and gets to see our province’s beautiful landscapes. With more enthusiasm than talent she enjoys skiing, tennis, golf, sailing and competitive bridge.

Dora has over twenty-five years of experience working with the public, corporations, professional associations, not-for-profit, and government (police agencies, correctional agencies, educators and medica health professions).

Dora acquired the skills and experience required to obtain her Chartered Mediator (C. Med.), Chartered Arbitrator (C. Arb.), and Chartered Mediator-Arbitrator (C. Med.-Arb.) designations. 

Dora is the founder and owner of her own firm helping clients reduce the anxiety and stress often experienced during the divorce and separation process.  Dora believes that ADR provides the parties with the opportunity to develop insight into their own dispute resolution style and possible contribution to unproductive interactions.  To-this end, Dora collaborates and negotiates bi-lateral, and tri-lateral agreements with people in conflict.  She assists parties in handling issues with others, and practises conflict-coaching techniques and skills with them including self-reflection and conflict skill building exercises. 

Dora strives to empower couples going through divorce to make decisions and form agreements outside the courtroom through arbitration and or mediation.  Dora has dedicated her life’s work to create a safer community and enhance access to justice and dispute resolution.

Dora is a proud Calgarian and in her leisure time, you might find Dora chilling with family and friends or nurturing her inner “foodie” at a Calgary restaurant.

She assists parties primarily in occupational health and safety, commercial, contract, real estate, construction, municipal, indigenous, employment and environmental matters.

As an arbitrator and member of the ADR Institutes of Alberta and Canada, Sharon enjoys working with parties to ensure fair, transparent processes and procedures yielding a final result that will enable them to bring closure to conflict. Sharon is also a Certified Psychological Health and Safety Advisor and an occupational health and safety legal practice, in which she advises and represents clients in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

Sharon volunteers as the Board Chair of the Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society (Assist) and limps along as Board Secretary to her young sons’ community hockey league. She is a heart-led mentor, passionate animal rescuer, disability and mental health champion, runner and writer. Sharon is schooled in humility, is fiercely compassionate and suffers from periodic misanthropy. She tries her best, eats nut butters by the spoonful and loves her kids to bits.

Jill continues to mediate regularly with the provincial court  civil claims program. She also holds the position of Chair with the Alberta Horse Race Appeal Tribunal.

Lauren’s advanced understanding and focus on strong facilitation, engagement, and communication enable successful and collaborative projects for her clients. With her valuable experience mediating at the Alberta Provincial Courts and being on the Municipal Affairs Conflict Resolution Roster, Lauren tends to be involved with projects that involve multiple stakeholder groups or that have the potential to become highly contentious.    

Municipal governance is Lauren’s area of focus and passion, and she remains current in the field by preparing course work and teaching elected officials in the Elected Official’s Education Program, project managing unique planning projects such as the Black Diamond and Turner Valley amalgamation and working at the provincial level to offer conflict resolution services as mandated through the IDP and ICF processes.    

Her experience is varied and includes negotiations/mediation/arbitration, human resource management, strategic planning, operations management, policy design and administration, budgets and forecasting, financial analysis, risk management, project management, and change leadership.

Educational achievements include an MBA in Project Management and Graduate Diploma in Management from Athabasca University, Conflict Management Certificate from the University of Calgary, Human Resource Management Certificate from the University of Calgary, Bachelor of Management Degree from the University of Lethbridge, and a Diploma in Business Administration from Lethbridge College. She also holds three professional designations – Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR), Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA-CMA), and a Qualified Arbitrator (Q. Arb.).

Leda was born and raised in Monterrey, a cosmopolitan Mexican city located in the north known as “the city of mountains” because it is nested in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range. Before joining Mount Royal University, she spent over 25 years in the private, public, and non-profit sectors leading strategic projects locally and internationally.

Dr. Stawnychko has held ADR QMed and Practicing Mediator designations (ADRIC/ADRIA) and as a Family Mediator from the Alberta Family Mediation Society. Giving back to the community is one of her deeply held values. She uses her abilities as a private mediator to support members of the community undergoing difficult family transitions. She has also volunteered with the Community Mediation Calgary Society and the Canadian Immigrant Women’s Association and supported the Institute for Public Administration of Canada as a board member.

Larissa is a member of the ADR institute of Alberta and Canada, is an accredited mediator under the Australian national mediator standards system, is certified in EQ-I 2.0 and is actively developing an EQ leadership practice. She is passionate about advancing the cause of ADR regulation and her belief is that dispute resolution competencies can be, and should be, elevated and standardized – set by ADR practitioners, advocates, and academics directly.

In her spare time Larissa enjoys travel, family, gardening and a love of small critters.