Course Chairs
Sharon Sutherland, RRM — Executive Director, Mediate BC, Vancouver
Anita Kaur Bal — Articled Student, Mediate BC, Vancouver
Darsey Meredith — CoRe Conflict Resolution Society, Delta
About the Course Chairs
Sharon Sutherland is Executive Director of Mediate BC. She is a Registered Roster Mediator (RRM) and lawyer with expertise in conflict resolution training and program design.
Since obtaining her LLM in ADR from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1997, Sharon's roles in the collaborative decision-making field have included teaching and research in dispute resolution as a full-time faculty member at UBC Faculty of Law (2000-14), Program Manager of the Court Mediation program (1998-2003), Manager of Development for the Child Protection Mediation Practicum (2005-11), and a Knowledge Engineer in the development of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Solution Explorer (2014-16).
Sharon was recognized for her contributions to the field of conflict resolution with an Honorary LLD from the Justice Institute of BC (2021) and received the Susanna Jani Prize for Excellence in Mediation (2011).
Sharon's interests include collaborative game design, performing arts, and competitive scavenger hunts. She is Chair of Sport Safeguarding BC Society.
Anita Bal is an articling student with Mediate BC Society, focusing on workplace harassment and bullying, with a particular interest in resolving such matters through collaborative dispute resolution processes. Her interest in alternative approaches to managing workplace conflict led her to complete Mediate BC's Introduction to Mediation Course and further training through JIBC, strengthening her conflict resolution skills.
Anita received her Juris Doctor from Thompson Rivers University, where she was actively involved with Pro Bono Students Canada and the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers BC. Committed to advancing access to justice, she volunteered with the Law Students' Legal Advice Program, assisting individuals with employment and other legal issues. Since law school, she has continued volunteering with the BC Human Rights Clinic, where she assists in drafting human rights complaints.
Darsey Meredith is a mediator and coach with a background in filmmaking. She has a BFA in film production from SFU and uses her videography skills to support mediation trainings to reach broad, online audiences. She has been involved in recording and livestreaming mediation training since 2011, first with CoRe Conflict Resolution Society, and later with CLEBC. She has co-chaired CLEBC's Conflict Resolution Conference with Sharon Sutherland since 2021.
In 2017, Darsey, along with several other conflict resolution professionals, successfully developed and kickstarted the collaborative card game, Zombie: Fight or Flight. The game has been used in mediations, multi-generational family bonding, non-profit board trainings, and to support collaborative learning for incarcerated people.
Faculty
Michelle Casavant — Crown Counsel, Department of Justice, Vancouver
Carmelle Dieleman — Forte Workplace Law, Surrey
Kyra L. Hudson — Kyra Hudson Law Corporation, Vancouver
Cherolyn Knapp — Knapp Resolutions, Victoria
Catalina Rodriguez — Forte Workplace Law, Surrey
Ashley Syer — Ashley Syer Law Corporation, Vancouver