Roni Lipton is the Associate Director of the Graduate Programs in Dispute Resolution; she is responsible for the administration of the programs, including development, student recruitment, admissions, and advising. She also serves as a member of the clinical faculty, supervising students in district court placements as part of the Mediation Internship.

Roni is a mediator, negotiator, facilitator and trainer with experience in a variety of settings, including start-up and established corporate environments, non-profits and government agencies. As Senior Vice President of American CableSystems Corporation, she managed multi-million dollar business acquisitions and served as lead negotiator for more than 50 municipal contracts in six states.

Prior to coming to UMass Boston in 2004, she worked for the Community Dispute Settlement Center (CDSC) in Cambridge, MA, where she was responsible for initiating a program in elder mediation.

Roni mediates in the Boston Municipal Court/Boston Bar Association Civil Case Mediation Program.

Roni received a BS in Political Science from Tufts University, a Special Diploma in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and an MS from Boston University College of Communications. She has also completed advanced mediation training with The Center for Social Gerontology [Ann Arbor, MI] and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Workshops and Presentations:

July 2005-July 2006: Conflict Resolution: Tools for Advocates Developed and implemented a workshop in negotiation skills designed for Latino Community Activists associated with Iniciativa, a program of the Gaston Institute; the workshops were funded by a UMB Public Service Grant.

January-May 2005: Conflict Resolution Skills for UMB Employees. Developed and implemented a series of professional development workshops, co-taught with part-time faculty member Josh Jacks, for UMB’s Human Resources Department; more than 50 managers & supervisors participated in day-long sessions targeting conflict resolution skills.

AY 2005-2006: Conflict Resolution Skills for Graduate Students and Faculty A series of campus-wide workshops to be conducted for the Office of Graduate Studies.

November 2005:  Bringing It All Back Home: Creating a “Conflict Wise” Workplace, organized & moderated panel at NEACR Regional Conference

Recent Publications:

Lipton, R. and Matz, D. “Choosing Between a Training Program and a Graduate ADR ADR Program,” ABA Dispute Resolution Magazine, Fall 2005.