Outsourced Ombuds
nnena-ombuds@mwi.org

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.

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Mediating & Arbitrating Land Court Cases
Case Manger: Josh Hoch,  617-895-4028 | jhoch@mwi.org 

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Dispute Resolution Experience

Lisa Pomerantz is an Arbitrator and Mediator with MWI’s Real Estate, Construction, and Land Use Panel. She also serves as a neutral on MWI’s workplace and employment Panel as well as on the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial,  Employment and Consumer Panels, the EDNY Mediation Panel,  and various New York State mediation panels. She is available for arbitrations and mediations in Boston, New York, and remotely.

Focus Areas

• Construction, architectural services and interior design agreements and disputes
• Real estate brokerage and management agreements
• Commercial leasing
• Property damage claims
• Family and closely held business disputes

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Member, EDNY Advisory Council (2020-2022)
• Past Co-Chair, Suffolk County Bar Association ADR Committee
• Past Board Member, New York State Dispute Resolution Association (2011-2015)
• Past Board Member, Association for Conflict Resolution (2014-2015)
• Recipient, Long Island Business News Leadership in Law Award (2011 and 2017)
• Recipient, Association for Conflict Resolution, Exemplary Leadership Award (2015)

Lectures and ADR Trainings Conducted

• Adjunct Professor, Touro Law School, (2018 to date), Courses taught include: Interviewing, Negotiation, and Counseling, Arbitration,  and Employment Law
• Visiting Instructor, University of Tartu, Estonia (2018, 2019), Negotiation and Conflict
  Resolution

Representative Speaking Engagements

• “The Value of Transparency in Mediation”, 2020 Annual Conferences of Association for Conflict Resolution and New York State Dispute Resolution Association;
• “Common Attributes and Challenges of High-Emotion Conflicts in the Workplace and Family Business Settings”, International Mediation Symposium (2019)
• “Business Partnerships: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” Stony Brook Small Business Development Center (2019)
• “Making the Most of Real Estate and Commercial ADR”, New York State Bar Association (2016

Background and Education

• Boston University (JD-1979)
• Harvard University (BA, Economics and History, cum laude-1976)

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Mediating Workplace and Franchise Matters | Outsourced Ombuds | Mediation & Negotiation Trainer
Phone: 617-895-4026  | Email: cdoran@mwi.org

Dispute Resolution Experience

Chuck Doran is an experienced mediator and outsourced ombuds specializing in the resolution of employment, franchise, and other commercial disputes. A mediator since 1992, he is a member of the CPR Dispute Resolution Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. Chuck has provided mediation and other ADR services to a variety of clients including AT&T, Bose, BMW of North America, Coca-Cola, CVS Health, General Motors, Oxfam America, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), and the USPS REDRESS I and REDRESS II Mediation Panels. Chuck is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP) and a member of the International Ombuds Association who completed ombuds training with the IOA in 1995. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. In 1994, Chuck founded MWI, a nationally recognized dispute resolution service and training organization based in Boston, MA that provides individual and corporate clients with mediation services, negotiation consulting and training, and mediation training. Chuck served as a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and was Chair of the Qualifications Subcommittee. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Advisory Group and past president of the Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Chapter. He is also a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and a past president of IAM’s Board of Governors.

Representative Clients

• General Motors:  Serves as a national mediator for disputes between Dealers and GM involving audit, incentive programs and fleet sales matters; Designed and led the GM Mediation and Arbitration Training Program which provided training to hundreds of GM Dealer and Corporate Mediators;  Responsible for oversight and design improvements of national mediation and arbitration program managed by MWI for General Motors;
• BMW of North America:  Mediator for variety of matters involving BMW Motor Cars and Motorcycles. Responsible for oversight and design improvements of national mediation and arbitration program managed by MWI for BMW of North America;
• USPS and EEOC:   Contract workplace and employment mediator with the United States Postal Service and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mediating federal discrimination, termination, and other matters relating to the workplace;

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Distinguished Fellow and Executive Committee Board Member (Past President), Board of Governors – The International Academy of Mediators (IAM) (2013 – Present);
• Appointed to serve as a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and was Chair of the Qualifications Subcommittee (1999-2003);
• President and Director of the Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Chapter (NE-ACR) (formerly the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution – SPIDR). Elected to serve as President and former President-Elect and Director of the six state regional chapter of ACR International (1997-2004);
• Chair, Massachusetts Budget Coalition. Led statewide collaborative effort with 15 mediation providers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to secure over $950,000 in legislative funding for court-connected mediation services (1997-2000);
• Advisory Board Member, Dispute Resolution Section, Massachusetts Bar Association (2018 to present).
• Arbitrator with the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Fee Arbitration Board (1996 to present).

Lectures and ADR Trainings Conducted

• Mediation Trainer. Designed and served as lead trainer for over seventy-five 20 to 40 hour basic and advanced training programs, totaling over 2250 hours since 1994. Mediation training clients include Coca-Cola, Bose Corporation, MWI, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and the Harvard Mediation Program at Harvard Law School;
• Negotiation Instructor and Presenter. Chuck has worked nationally and internationally with top sales, procurement, and delivery professionals to diagnose and resolve negotiation challenges across multiple industries including financial/consulting, healthcare, and high tech. Served as a negotiation instructor for the internationally attended “Program of Instruction for Lawyers” Negotiation Workshop at Harvard Law School as a teaching assistant to Professor Roger Fisher on multiple occasions.

Background and Education

• Graduate: Completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program On Negotiation, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA (1993);
• Undergraduate: B.A., Philosophy, Binghamton University, SUNY, Binghamton, NY; President Philosophy Club / Tenure Committee (1989).

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