Celebration XVII’s Presenters

Coming soon!

Click on a presenter’s name below to expand their biographies.

Jarrett Green
Jarrett Green

Jarrett Green, Esq., M.A. (Psychology), is a former Skadden Arps commercial litigator who left the practice of law years ago so he could live his passion of helping lawyers, legal professionals, and other high-stress individuals experience less stress, more happiness, greater focus, improved productivity, optimized cognition, and enhanced overall success in their work, and lives. He has a Masters in Psychology and is the co-founder of USC Gould School of Law’s nationally-recognized Mindfulness, Stress Management, & Peak Performance Program. Jarrett consults to and leads programs at nearly half of the AmLaw 100 law firms, as well as many Fortune 500 companies, such as NBC-Universal, US Bank, Hyundai Motors, Salesforce, and Allstate Insurance Company. He has a forthcoming boo to be published by West Academic, “Happiness and Peak Performance in the Law.” Learn more at Jarrett-Green.com.

Ellen Bruno
Ellen Bruno

Ellen Bruno is an award winning documentary filmmaker based in San Francisco. With a background in international relief work, Ellen’s films have focused on issues at the forefront of human rights. She began her relief efforts in remote Mayan villages in Tabasco, Mexico. She has worked in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border with the International Rescue Committee, in Vietnamese boat camps with The Refugee Section of the American Embassy in Thailand, and as director of the Cambodian Women’s Project for the American Friends Service Committee. She has also been a hospice worker for the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco.

Ellen completed a masters degree in documentary film at Stanford University. She is a recipient of Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellowships, a Goldie Award for Outstanding Artist, an Alpert Award for the Arts,an Anonymous Was A Woman Award for the Arts, a Shenkin Fellowship from Yale University School of Art, and was an Artist-in- Residence at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Ellen serves on the Board of the Buddhist Film Festival, the Pacific Pioneer Fund, and Ethical Traveler.Org. She is a strategic planning consultant with the Creative Capital Foundation’s Professional Development Workshops, working throughout the country to provide artists a cohesive structure to organize, plan and sustain creative careers.

Jacinta Gallant, BA, JD

Jacinta Gallant is a respected collaborative lawyer, conflict trainer and innovator. She is recognized internationally for her insightful and experiential approach to teaching and managing conflict, and has been welcomed as a trainer throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. Her law practice Waterstone Law Group focuses exclusively on mediation, collaborative practice and out-of-court resolution. 

 

Jacinta’s innovative resources, Our Family in Two Homes, help clients prepare to engage deeply, and productively, in Family Mediation and Collaborative Practice. Her mediation training focuses on the Insight Approach to Conflict and her goal as a trainer is to help conflict professionals meaningfully engage with clients, manage conflict more effectively, and get more enjoyment out of this important work. 

Mary Lyn Miller
Mary Lyn Miller

Mary Lyn Miller is the founder and CEO of Fired Up for Success, a coaching/consulting company focused on managing personal and career transitions. Over the past 30 years her 5-Step process has successfully navigated clients from difficult endings through to new beginnings. Following a terminal cancer prognosis that upended her world, she began coaching other cancer survivors – and eventually professionals – how to overcome life’s changes. A graduate of the University of Illinois and member of their President’s Council, she is also a keynote speaker for National Cancer Survivors Day, and her story is published in the bestselling “Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul.’’

David Fink, Esq.

David Fink is a consensual dispute resolution attorney and private neutral in the Bay Area. Certified as a Family Law Specialist by the California State Board of Legal Specialization (1993), David is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (2000) and served as President of the Northern California Chapter in 2008. First trained in Collaborative in 2001, he is a founding member and Past President of Collaborative Practice San Francisco and previously served on the Board of CP Cal from its inception in 2006 until 2015 and again from 2018-2019. David was CP Cal Board President in 2012-13.

Stephen H. Sulmeyer, J.D., Ph. D

STEPHEN H. SULMEYER, J.D., Ph.D. is a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS in San Francisco. He is also a clinical psychologist and collaborative divorce coach. He specializes in complex and high-conflict disputes in a wide range of subject areas, including family and divorce, probate and elder, family businesses, business/commercial, intellectual property, employment, discrimination, partnerships, personal injury, and community matters, and has a special affinity for cases involving personal and professional relationships. Dr. Sulmeyer is also a trainer both in psychology and in various modalities of dispute resolution.

Shawn Weber

As the founder of Weber Dispute Resolution, Shawn Weber is a San Diego divorce attorney who understands the human side of family law. Shawn’s efforts in dispute resolution are recognized throughout the state. He served as President of CP Cal from 2015 to 2016. Additionally, Shawn was honored to receive the prestigious Eureka Award in 2015 for making “significant contributions and demonstrating an abiding dedication to establishing and sustaining Collaborative Practice in California.” Shawn continues his contribution to the Mediation and Collaborative Practice fields through speaking and training.

Shawn Skillin

Shawn Skillin is an attorney practicing exclusively in mediation and Collaborative Divorce. Shawn is a founding partner of the Family Resolution Institute, offering mediation training and coaching with the objective of changing family law one professional at a time. She speaks frequently on issues related to mediation, high conflict divorce and family law. Shawn was an intensive care and trauma nurse in her early professional life, earning her BSN from San Diego State University and her J.D. from the University of San Diego.

Beth Proudfoot, LMFT
Beth Proudfoot, LMFT

Beth Proudfoot, LMFT has been an evangelist for Collaborative Practice since her own Collaborative divorce in 2007. She’s worked on over 50 cases as a Child Specialist or Coach, and has served as President of CPSV, and in many roles at CPCal. She won the Eureka Award in 2017.

Nancy Ross
Nancy Ross

As a co-founder of the Collaborative interdisciplinary team approach, Nancy J. Ross LCSW, BCD has worked for over 30 years with families and couples to guide them through the challenges of divorce. She now takes these concepts to a new frontier—Collaborative Trusts and Estates. Author of Divorce: A Problem to be Solved; Not a Battle to be Fought and numerous articles on Collaborative Practice, recipient of the California Collaborative Practice Eureka Award, co-founder of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and a Collaborative Practice trainer, she frequently presents on the subjects of Collaborative Divorce and Collaborative Trusts and Estates.

Alan Nobler
Alan Nobler

Alan became involved in the Collaborative Practice movement in the early 1990’s, limiting his casework to Mediation and Collaboration in 1999. He retired from active practice in 2017 and has since worked primarily as a trainer.  He also authored a novel chronicling a case through the litigation process, “The Girl in the Halo.”

His Mediation and Collaborative training includes classes with Gary Friedman, the State Bar of California, IACP, CPCal, CPSV, and the Dispute Resolution Project of the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations where he took training in community, parent-teen and victim-offender disputes.

Alan has trained attorneys, judges, therapists and financial professionals in Mediation and Collaborative Practice, has presented for the Santa Clara County Bar Association, the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists, the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Idaho as well as Collaborative organizations throughout California.

 Alan was the recipient of the “Eureka Award” for his contributions in founding Collaborative Practice in California.  He became a Certified Family Law Specialist in 1980 and has been named to Super Lawyers (Northern California). 

Christina Gorokhovsky

Christina Gorokhovsky, J.D., Bachelor of Accountancy, is an attorney and native Californian whose practice is devoted entirely to trusts, estates and related matters. She began her career at a tech company but turned to estate planning after noticing a lack of support and guidance from professionals during a family crisis. In law school, she focused almost exclusively on estate planning and taxation. In law school, she passed all sections of the CPA exam. She focuses on improving the client experience and building long term relationships with each client. You can find Christina at www.GoroLaw.com

Tim Crouch

Tim Crouch and The Crouch Group work with Collaborative organizations and professionals through the United States, in Canada and in London. Tim is married to Collaborative Attorney Camille Milner and together they have written a book on growing the Collaborative brand. Tim worked closely with CPCAL on Divorce With Respect Week in 2021.

Camille Milner

I am Board Certified in Family Law and have been practicing almost 38 years in Denton, Texas. I hold the Master Credential Designation from Collaborative Divorce Texas. I served as the Collaborative Divorce Texas President from 2016-2017. Together with my husband, Tim Crouch, we have been developing techniquest that help Collaborative Professionals around the U.S., Canada and the U.K. educate the public and promote the Collaborative Divorce brand. We authored the book, “Build the Brand and Get More Collaborative Cases.”

Charles Crouch

Charles is the Chief Financial Officer and an Account Representative for The Crouch Group. His duties include Video Production, Social Media Management, Google Ads Management, Podcast Producer, interacting directly with clients, and long term financial planning and management. He is also a personal trainer and an author.

Dawn Strachan

Dawn Strachan is a CDFA and has been working with divorcing families since 2001. She has been working on collaborative cases since 2002. She was on the Board of LACFLA for 12 years and on the CP Cal Board for 8 years. She was the President of CP Cal in 2018-2019. Dawn has been a trainer for many years for the LACFLA Introductory Collaborative training. Dawn received her B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the California State University – Long Beach. She has also been working as a financial advisor and financial planner since 2001

Rebecca Fischer, Esq.
Rebecca Fischer, Esq.

Rebecca Fischer practices law with the partnership of Fischer & Feldman, P.A. in Hollywood, Florida. She is An Accredited Collaborative attorney in family law matters, is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator, and specializes in estate planning, probate, and guardianship. Ms. Fischer has presented on families and clients with children with special needs in the Collaborative Divorce Process and trauma, domestic and interpersonal violence. Ms. Fischer is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, was included in 2020 by Top Lawyers in South Florida, 2015 through 2018 included among Miami Herald’s Top Attorneys in Florida, named once again in 2022 by Florida Super Lawyers, and is a Lawyer of Distinction. Rebecca graduated from the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP), was among the first 24 professionals in Florida to become an accredited Collaborative Professional, and currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors of FACP. She serves on the Practice Group Committee, Uniform Collaborative Law Act Advisory Task Force, Co-Chairs the Planned Giving Sub-Committee of the Fundraising Committee, and previously served on the Standards and Ethics Committees of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. Rebecca is Co-President of the Collaborative Family Law Institute, on the Collaborative Family Law Professionals Board of South Florida, and is a member of two other Practice Groups. She owns Family Law Cooperative, a mediation practice dedicated to mediating pro se family law cases in high conflict situations, particularly families with children with special needs. She is also a founding member and Chair of the Board of My Collaborative Team. She graduated Dean’s List from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 and received certification from Loyola Law School in its Negotiating for Success program. Rebecca is admitted to practice law in California and Florida. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology in 1979, With Distinction, from the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. Ms. Fischer has had more than 20 Collaborative cases.

Edward Sachs
Edward Sachs

Edward Sachs is a Certified Public Accountant and Accredited Collaborative Professional. After 25 years of representing spouses in litigated divorces, in 2016, Mr. Sachs opened his own accounting practice dedicated to the Collaborative Process and other alternatives to litigation in settling financial issues in divorce and business. Ed is a Past President of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP) and is a member of three practice groups in Miami-Dade, Broward and South Palm Beach counties. He currently serves as the President of My Collaborative Team, the not for profit publisher of the #1 distributed weekly Collaborative Family Law Newsletter in North America. Mr. Sachs has trained countless professionals throughout Florida in the Collaborative Process and has taught Collaborative Ethical Standards for the past three years at the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals Annual Forum. He currently serves as Co-chair of the Credentialing Committee of FACP.

Ronda Fuch
Ronda Fuch

Dr. Fuchs is a Licensed Psychologist, Advanced Collaborative Divorce Facilitator, Qualified Parent Coordinator, Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, and Guardian ad Litem. She has been in private practice for 25 years. Her passion is to help families deal with the emotional stressors accompanying divorce through individual/family therapy during or after divorce, by serving as a Collaborative Facilitator in Collaborative Process, and by educating the public and professionals about the Collaborative Process.She has given several presentations on Collaborative Divorce including: My Collaborative Team, FACP, CFLPSF, and Family Court Services. Dr. Fuchs has authored numerous articles on Collaborative Divorce for local newspapers and widely-read websites. She is a member of APA, IACP, FACP, CFLI, CFLPSF, and MCT.

Thabatta Mizrahi
Thabatta Mizrahi

Thabatta Mizrahi B.S.Ed, M.A.Ed, is an educator with over two decades of expertise in neurodiversity, special needs, child advocacy, learning development, and curriculum design. Thabatta has applied her skills in the US and abroad providing consulting services and presentations to academic audiences and on the crucial role of Collaborative in divorce involving children and families with special needs to legal audiences. Her leadership positions concentrated on child/adolescent development, and her continuing research and experience fuels her unwavering pursuit to advocate and educate in the area of special needs, particularly in support of collaborative teams as a Special Education Consultant.

Carol Hughes, Ph.D, LMFT
Carol Hughes, Ph.D, LMFT

Carol R. Hughes, Ph.D., LMFT, is in private practice in Laguna Hills, California, specializing in divorce related issues. In 2003, Carol was a co-founder of Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County and has served on CDSOC’s Board of Directors in numerous capacities, including President and Training and Education Chair. She serves as a Collaborative Divorce Coach, Family and Child Specialist in Collaborative Divorce and Team Co-mediation cases. She frequently trains professionals at annual conferences of CP Cal, IACP, and other professional conferences. She is co-author of Home Will Never Be the Same Again: A Guide for Adult Children of Gray Divorce.

Kathy Campbell

I am a CP Cal Board member and the co-chair of the CP Cal Public Education Committee and Divorce Options Committees. I am passionate about spreading the word about collaborative divorce to consumers and aspiring collaborative professionals alike.