Presented by Elizabeth Grossman

Introducing our next multisession practice group!

ACR-GNY is launching a new Employment and Commercial Mediator Practice Group exclusively for its members!

Mediators strive to encourage understanding and bridge boundaries. Yet many work alone, with few opportunities to share their questions, frustrations, and ideas with colleagues. To provide support and education to members of the ADR community, ACR-GNY is starting a new five-part practice group for mediators working in the employment and commercial spaces, creating a confidential forum where practitioners can come together to share puzzling moments and give each other honest feedback.

Starting in October 2026, this Practice Group will meet every other Wednesday morning via Zoom from 8:30 – 10:00 am and will be limited to 15 participants. It will be led by Elizabeth Grossman, ACR-GNY Treasurer and Board member, and will include guest facilitators in some sessions. Mediators at all experience levels are welcome to attend. To promote community support in a small group space, participants are expected to make their best efforts to attend all sessions.

Group discussions will address:

October 7 Topic: Navigating Power Imbalances

October 21 Topic: Managing Challenging Behaviors

November 4 Topic: Ethical issues – Who’s in the Room?

November 18 Topic: Challenging Scenarios (participants share)

December 2 Topic: To be Determined with Group Input

Registrants are expected to attend all five sessions.

These practice group sessions are interactive and a safe space for questions and honest feedback; registration will be capped at 15 participants, and sessions will not be recorded.

The Details

Frequency: Every Other Wednesday

Dates: October 7, 2026 | October 21, 2026 | November 4, 2026 | November 18, 2026 | December 2, 2026

Time: 8:30 - 10:00am (Eastern Time)

Price: Free for ACR-GNY members

Format: Virtual (Zoom)

 

Elizabeth Grossman

Elizabeth Grossman serves as a mediator and consultant in employment discrimination and a wide variety of other civil rights and commercial matters. For over thirty years, Elizabeth worked as an attorney and manager for the federal government and non-profit organizations, with a focus on employment, housing, and disability discrimination. Throughout her career, she led litigation teams working on individual and systemic lawsuits. Elizabeth serves on the mediator panels for the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, New York State First and Ninth Judicial Districts General Civil and Commercial Divisions, and as an Arbitrator in New York State Small Claims Court. Previously, Elizabeth conducted mediations with the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, and she currently mediates for the New York Peace Institute and assists as a Coach during new mediator training. Her prior work experience includes: Executive Director/General Counsel, Fair Housing Justice Center; Interim Chief Legal Officer, Southern Poverty Law Center; Legal Director, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House; Regional Attorney, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New York District Office, and Program Director, Disability Rights New York.

This program is supported by ACR-GNY's 365 Sponsor:

Audrey J. Lee | Workplace Mediation

In this President’s FORUM., Audrey Lee will share key insights from her new book, Navigating Conflicts at Work: A Guide to Workplace Mediation. Drawing on her experience mediating and coaching hundreds of workplace conflicts, Audrey will discuss how to address workplace conflict directly, when mediation might help, how workplace mediation differs from other types of mediation, and ways in which participants (and mediators) can get the most out of them. Please bring your questions as the session will conclude with Q&A.

The discussion will be moderated by ACR-GNY President Nick Pozek.

President's FORUM. is a series of monthly discussions on timely topics in conflict resolution. All President's FORUM. events are free for ACR-GNY members. Join now!

BECOME A MEMBER

Audrey J. Lee is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School where she teaches Mediation and Diversity & Dispute Resolution. A PON affiliate faculty member since 2016, she currently serves as a lead faculty for the Harvard Mediation Intensive. At Boston Law Collaborative, LLC, Audrey mediates workplace, employment, and other disputes. Previously, she served as a mediator for the MA Commission Against Discrimination and a panel mediator for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In her consulting practice, Audrey works with clients to increase their effectiveness in difficult workplace conversations and negotiations. In recognition of her professional development work with lawyers, she was invited in 2018 to become a trusted advisor for the Professional Development Consortium, the national association for individuals responsible for the professional development of lawyers at law firms, law schools, government agencies, and corporations. Audrey has served as an Editorial Board Member of the ABA Dispute Resolution Magazine and as past chair of the Chicago Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution.

Date: Friday, October 30, 2026
Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm (Eastern Time)
Cost: ACR-GNY Members attend for free; Non-members attend for $20 (scholarships available)

Location: Virtual via ZOOM

Pre-registration is required.

Please note that President's FORUM. events are not recorded.

Contact us with questions at questions@acrgny.org.

This program is supported by ACR-GNY's 365 Sponsor:

ACR-GNY & CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College present:

Collaborative Hardball: Bringing Women’s Power and the Feminine into Negotiation

Negotiation happens not only between two intellects, but between two nervous systems, two bodies, two histories, and often two very different experiences of power. Drawing from her book Collaborative Hardball, Susan Coleman explores how traditional negotiation models can overlook gender, the impact of patriarchy, embodied intelligence, and the realities of unequal power.

In this interactive and experiential session, participants will examine how women—and people of all genders—can move beyond the false choice between preserving relationships and exercising power. Through a short reading, an unequal-power case, personal reflection, and simple embodied practices, participants will experience what it means to become firm without becoming rigid, fierce without dominating, and fair without abandoning ourselves.

Together, we will explore a feminine-infused approach to negotiation that replaces power-over with power-with, while preserving the courage, clarity, and strategic strength needed to engage conflict and create meaningful change.

   

SUSAN COLEMAN

Susan Coleman is a negotiation and conflict resolution expert with more than thirty-five years of experience working from war zones to boardrooms. She has taught and facilitated tens of thousands of people in thirty-four countries and worked with organizations including the United Nations, NASA, and Columbia University, as well as senior women leaders in the government of Afghanistan.

Her work with the United Nations helped establish a global initiative through which more than 100,000 professionals were trained in collaborative, intercultural negotiation. Susan began her career as a New York City litigator before moving into negotiation and conflict resolution after attending Harvard Kennedy School.

She is the author of Collaborative Hardball: Using the Power of a New Negotiation as Women to Change the World, which explores how women—and the feminine in all of us—can bring collaboration and strategic strength together to create meaningful change.

Website · Collaborative Hardball Podcast · Substack

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Roundtable Breakfasts are online meetings via Zoom. The link will change each month and will be distributed to all registrants the day before and the morning of the event. All listed times for ACR-GNY events are for Eastern Time. 8:00 am – 8:30 am | Join call to network with attendees 8:30 am – 10:00 am | Presentation and discussion About the Roundtable Breakfasts The Roundtable Breakfasts are organized by ACR-GNY and the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College. They take place the first Thursday of the month and are ongoing since 2001. Views expressed in connection with any Roundtable event publicity or at sessions are those of the speakers and participants and not of the CUNY DRC or ACR-GNY. This program is supported by ACR-GNY's 365 Sponsor: