About Us

Our History

Mediation services were initiated by the city of Vancouver, Washington in 1992. In 1995 Clark County opened the Dispute Resolution Center serving all of Clark County. In 1997 the two programs merged and Community Mediation Services (CMS) was born.

In 2010, the recession forced budget cuts and the city of Vancouver made the difficult decision to cut the program. However, due to the determination of local volunteers, CMS was restructured as a non-profit and has grown into a thriving dispute resolution center serving residents, organizations, schools, and businesses county-wide.

Our Services

  • reduce the burden on the courts
  • save taxpayers money
  • support peaceful communities
  • increase access to justice for underserved populations

Our Staff

  • Savenia Falquist
    Savenia Falquist Executive Director

    Savenia has over 20 years of dedicated service to addressing and preventing violence in both urban and rural communities. Her expertise is in working for organizations to provide healthy work environments that support high standard services to communities. She has been honored with numerous awards for her community leadership and innovative program development and implementation. In 2007, she was honored with the FBI Director’s Community Award.

    Washington Mediation Association Board Member

  • Michelle Jackson
    Michelle Jackson Mediator & Outreach Coordinator

    Michelle is working for CMS as a Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) through AmeriCorp.  Her year commitment of service focuses on capacity building through volunteer management, outreach and partnership building.  Michelle is a certified mediator.

Board of Directors

  • VICKY RIDGE-COONEY, PH.D.
    VICKY RIDGE-COONEY, PH.D. BOARD PRESIDENT

    Vicky Ridge-Cooney, Ph.D. facilitates collaborative decision making in public policy development, natural resources management, environmental protection, foreclosure, and neighborhood, work place, and family relationships. She has taught at graduate, undergraduate, secondary, and informal education organizations and trained agency and non-profit employees. Many of the trainings provided by Vicky have been in communication, team processes, conflict resolution, and decision making. Vicky focuses on the needs of the participants, building on their knowledge and skills and provides many opportunities for their participation. Vicky is a mediator, facilitator, and trainer for Community Mediation Services.

  • Enrico Tadeo, J.D.
    Enrico Tadeo, J.D. Board Treasurer

    Enrico is a mediator and a general practice attorney. He works with immigration cases, wills, trusts, probate and small business concerns. Enrico is a certified mediator and mentor with CMS.

  • Steven Kang
    Steven Kang Board Member

    Steven owns and operates a small business consulting company that serves Clark County.  He has been a volunteer mediator for over 10 years with Community Mediation Services.

  • Leslie Chapman
    Leslie Chapman Board Member

    Leslie is currently the Human Resource Manager at Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency.  Has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science with a Certificate in Human Resource Management from Washington State University. Alumni of Leadership Clark County 2017.  I am excited to be part of the Board for Community Mediation Services!

  • Jenna Kay
    Jenna Kay Board Secretary

    Environmental Planner & Mediator.

  • Rick Barrier
    Rick Barrier Board Member

    Professional Mediator for 20 years and long time volunteer for Community Mediation Services.

  • Katy Myers
    Katy Myers Board Member
  • Amanda Jordan-Brainard
    Amanda Jordan-Brainard Board Member

Interested in becoming a board member?

Apply Today

Our Mission

Empowering people to find positive solutions to conflict.

Our Vision

We envision a thriving community that uses mediation and civil dialogue to resolve disputes.