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
Board of Directors
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Jenna Kay Board President
Jenna is a land use planner for Clark county. She was initially introduced to mediation through work in the education and juvenile justice sectors and was immediately a fan of mediation’s collaborative and practical approach to resolving disputes. Jenna has also worked as a mediator in the policy and planning fields.
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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.
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Leslie Chapman Vice Chair
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!
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VICKY RIDGE-COONEY, PH.D. Board Former 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.
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Rick Barrier Board Member
Rick Barrier has had the pleasure of mediating disputes for over 20 years, most of which has been in Alaska, and now in the Vancouver, Washington/Portland area. In Alaska he was instrumental in establishing a small claims mediation project at the Anchorage District Court, and active in victim/offender and parent/adolescent mediations. Rick has successfully mediated cases involving large construction contracts; labor/management; divorce and custody; general commercial issues. He is experienced in “interest-based” as well as “transformative” mediation processes. He has recently been active in mediating under the Washington State foreclosure act and the Postal Service EEO program. He welcomes every opportunity to mediate, and sincerely believes that most disputes can best be resolved through the mediation process. Rick has a B.S from Yale University, an MBA from Stanford University, and forty years experience in business and government management
Interested in becoming a board member?
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.