In 2001, Miriam L. Zimmerman co-founded Divorce Mediation Group, a team mediation practice in the San Francisco Bay area with offices in San Mateo and Sunnyvale, CA. Communication degrees from Northwestern University (BS), San Francisco State University (MA), and a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco (EdD) prepared her to teach a variety of communication courses including interpersonal communication, public speaking, and persuasion, on the university level.
Miriam became a full-time mediator after retiring as chair of the Communication Department at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA and is now Professor Emerita at that institution. Her extensive experience in conflict/anger management and communication coaching helps couples express their perspectives in a non-combative manner.
Her co-founding partner and husband, Richard, is an attorney and a CPA. Together, they offer gender-balanced team mediation for divorcing couples. By working as a team, Richard and Miriam facilitate a business-like atmosphere even during those moments when emotionality threatens to derail the process. In recent years, Richard and Miriam have expanded their practice to include family and estate mediation.
Miriam and Richard have made presentations regarding the divorce mediation process to groups of therapists, financial planners, Kiwanis, and religious organizations. She writes a column for the National Jewish Post and Opinion and has published about the spirituality of mediation.
