Mediation Field Mourns Loss of Nancy Gardner

The mediation field mourns the loss of Nancy Gardner, a long-time family mediator and member of the ACR Board of Directors. After a long struggle with cancer, Nancy passed away at approximately 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 6. She was in hospice care and surrounded by loving family and friends in her final days. Expressions of sympathy may be sent to 36 Pine Street, Bristol, VT 05443. Below is a tribute to Nancy from ACR President Lou Gieszl:

Although it is with great sadness that I write on the occasion of Nancy’s passing, I feel honored to pay tribute to her on behalf of the Association for Conflict Resolution. In her four years of service on the ACR Board of Directors, Nancy has been an inspiration to so many people.

She has taken on the toughest issues in our field, always in the interest of advancing professionalism and promoting excellence. She has been a leading voice as ACR works to lead by example on mediation certification, and she’s jumped into the fray on hot issues related to confidentiality, collaborative law, and ethics. At the same time, Nancy has been a source of great humor, enthusiasm, passion, energy and creativity. She has been an inspiring role model, a fierce advocate, a gracious colleague, a deep thinker and a dear friend to all of us who had the privilege of knowing her professionally.

Undoubtedly, Nancy brought these same qualities into the room while serving as a mediator. Nancy worked from a deep place in her heart. Her commitment to quality practice was Nancy’s way of honoring her clients and celebrating the courage they displayed in working to resolve their own conflicts.

Nancy’s death is a great loss to our association and to the field of mediation. My sincere hope is that we mediators will honor Nancy by consciously holding ourselves to the high standards of personal and professional integrity that she set for herself.

I know that even in her final days, Nancy was a source of strength and comfort to those around her. She helped everyone to have a heightened awareness of her mortality and of her love of life.

We are fortunate to have known Nancy. She will be missed by so many people, and we now begin the important work of honoring her in our communities.

With sympathy and “colorful” love,

Lou Gieszl, President
Association for Conflict Resolution

More About Nancy Gardner

NANCY GARDNER, MSW (Mediator/Trainer/Coach) Founding Director and President of AMCR (Alliance for Mediation & Conflict Resolution, Inc.), began her private mediation practice in the New York Metropolitan area in 1992 and specialized in conflict management in the workplace, through coaching, mediating, consulting, training, facilitating. Her areas of specialty addressed all issues of discrimination, harassment, and interpersonal disputes among employees. Her mediation practice included Designing Early Dispute Resolution Systems (ADR System Design), involving neutral facilitation, consulting and training.

Ms. Gardner has served on the CPR Institute Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and the Board of Directors for the Association for Conflict Resolution (aka ACR). In addition, she was a contract mediator for the EEOC on discrimination cases (both private and public sectors), served on the Blue Ribbon Mediation Panel for the US Postal Service, was a certified mediator with the NY State Unified Court System, was a contract mediator for Vermont Family Court, and served on the panel for the Key Bridge Foundation for ADA cases. For 20 years prior to her mediation practice, she was an entrepreneur in the construction and real estate industries. She was an Advanced Practitioner Member of ACR (Association for Conflict Resolution – Family Section, formerly Academy of Family Mediators), member of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, Accredited Member and Former Board Member of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation, former Board Member of the Family and Divorce Mediation Council of Greater New York. Ms. Gardner was a divorce/family mediator in Westchester County since 1992, and maintaed an office in Katonah, NY and Middlebury, VT for that purpose.

                       

Lou Gieszl

Lou Gieszl is the Assistant State Court Administrator for Programs at the Maryland Judiciary where he and his staff work to support mediation and conflict resolution, juvenile and family services, problem-solving courts, access to justice, and policy research for trial and appellate courts statewide. Prior to this, Lou served for… MORE >