Staff

            Tamara Ambar Losel
            Executive Director

            Tamara is the Executive Director of NCRC, since March of 2008. Tamara holds two Master's degrees in international conflict resolution (Coexistence and Conflict) and Jewish history from Brandeis University, and an undergraduate degree in English from Earlham College.  With more than a decade of experience in non-profit administration and development, Tamara oversees NCRC's training, operations and fundraising activities.  Tamara has been working in the mediation and conflict resolution field since 2004.  After graduate school, Tamara lived in Jerusalem and worked on the Coexistence Network, a project of the Abraham Fund supporting over 170 Israeli-Palestinian grassroots peace organizations working for Arab and Jewish equality and improved relations in Israel. Tamara also worked collaboratively with Israelis and Palestinians in the field of human rights.  Tamara is a Rule 31 Listed General Civil/Family Mediator.  She received basic mediation training at Lipscomb University (Nashville), and advanced mediation training at Mediation Works, Inc. (Boston) and Community Mediation Maryland (Baltimore).  Tamara sits on various advisory boards and committees dealing with mediation, including the Coalition for Mediation Awareness in Tennessee and the Tennessee Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission (Community and Pro Bono Mediation Committee).  Recently, Tamara helped organize the statewide project, Make It Real: The Tennessee Vision for Mediation - http://www.makeitrealtn.org/.


            Michele Flynn
            Juvenile Court Family Director

            Michele came to NCRC in June 2009.  Prior to her engagement here, Michele operated her own business, FlynnConsult, providing a range of training and technical assistance to non-profit organizations including: project development and management; board and staff leadership skill enhancement; strategic planning; and organizational management. Preceding her consulting work, Michele was employed for 15 years with a statewide affordable housing and economic development organization, the TN Network for Community Economic Development. Among the programs she initiated were the Women and Self-Sufficiency Collaborative, Tennessee Micro Enterprise Initiative, Individual Development Account Project, and the Tennessee Home of Your Own for Individuals with a Disability. Michele has led workshops and consulted on projects for national public policy organizations, is a founding member of numerous non-profit organizations and has served as an Advisor to the Boards of many others, within and outside Tennessee. She has also written extensively for the field. Her formal educational background is in English, Mental Health, and Special Education.


            Sara Figal
            Mediation Intake and Volunteer Coordinator
            Sara directs and mediates in the Civil, Community, and Juvenile VORP programs for NCRC, and she coordinates the volunteer efforts of NCRC's pool of dedicated mediators by providing training, convening and scheduling support, and continuing education opportunities. Sara joined the NCRC staff in 2011. Previously, she was a member of the Vanderbilt University faculty as a Professor of German Cultural Studies and Film Studies. She earned her BA from Yale University and her PhD from Harvard University. Sara is also a photographer and fiber artist whose work can be seen in several Nashville venues. Sara is a Rule 31 Listed General Civil/Family Mediator. 


            Edubina Arce
            Bilingual Mediation Coordinator


            Danita Marsh
            Victim-Offender Coordinator

            Brandon Hill
             Youth Coordinator

            Volunteers

            Volunteer Mediators, responding to the tremendous need for free or low-cost mediation services in Civil, Family, VORP, and Community-based cases here in Nashville, come to this organization from diverse walks of life. Many complete their training, either as Civil or as Family Mediators, though NCRC; others have trained with professional mediators and organizations across the country and bring their skills to share with NCRC. As of 2012, aproximately 40 mediators are actively engaged with the day-to-day demands of our programs; another few dozen are committed on a more limited basis.

            If you are interested in training as a mediator, please check here for updates on our scheduled offerings. If you have trained elsewhere and wish to volunteer with our programs, please download and complete a Volunteer Mediator Application. For further information, contact Sara Figal at 615-333-8400.