Scholar

Sheila Rodriguez Padron

North Carolina

School

North Carolina Central University Law School

I plan to use my ADR certificate to better assist my clients in their estate planning and asset protection endeavors. In the future, I want to become a certified mediator or arbitrator so I can help people needing these services while going through the justice system. Overall, alternative dispute resolution courses should be a requirement of all law degree programs as these skills are transferable to any industry one finds herself in.

Scholar

Destiny Fulton

North Carolina

SCHOOL

North Carolina Central University Law School

My goal within the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution includes learning how to effectively consider interests and values of disputing parties, while navigating a healthy and open-minded process.

Scholar

Jeanie Telfer

New York, NY

ABOUT

Jeanine Telfer has dedicated her career, which has spanned more than 15 years, to litigation and advise matters within federal government and state government sectors. Ms. Telfer is a 2010 American Arbitration Association's A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Fellow, who has practiced in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, California, New Jersey, and New York. She is also a patent attorney and licensed mediator. Ms. Telfer has experience in labor and employment, disability law, patents, trademarks, copyrights, government relations, government regulations, contracts, negotiations, and collective bargaining agreements. Ms. Telfer prides herself in bringing a prophylactic approach that assures quality advice and counsel with integrity, resulting in appropriate decisions. Providing supportive, knowledgeable legal advice with direction that educates through honest communication and mutual respect is her goal.

Scholar

Meher Tandon

India

School

MIDS in International Dispute Settlement, Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS), Geneva Graduate Institution

I am a common-law trained attorney from India, currently enrolled in the Geneva LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (“MIDS”), specializing in international commercial arbitration.
Before joining the MIDS, I worked for five years and was a senior associate in the dispute resolution team at Khaitan & co, one of India’s tier-one law firms. During my tenure at the firm, I have acted as legal counsel for large-scale and multinational hospitality and infrastructure companies before Courts and in arbitral proceedings, both domestic and international, primarily before ad hoc and some institutional arbitral tribunals.

Scholar

Johnchryso Eze Tochukwu

Nigeria

School

Chattered Institute of Arbitrators' Course on - Accelerated Route to Fellowship - International Arbitration

My career goal is to become a renowned dispute resolution and international arbitration expert. I also intend to purse my masters and doctorate degrees on International Arbitration and to afterwards become a part time lecturer teaching courses in international arbitration.

I have been engaged in litigation practice for over 5 years with lots of experience in court room adjudication in various subjects including cross border transactions and disputes . However, I need this experience to become a well-rounded dispute resolution expert because it is not all disputes that are suitable for litigation and I need the competence and certification to practice arbitration on a professional level. I earlier took a course of Mediation and Conciliation which certified me as an Associate Member of the Institute of Chattered Mediators and Conciliators Nigeria.

Scholar

Queralt Vidal

Spain

School

MIDS in International Dispute Settlement, Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS), Geneva Graduate Institution

My name is Queralt Vidal, I am 23 years old and I am applying for the American Arbitration Association Foundation’s Diversity Scholarship.

I was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain, and I graduated from ESADE Law School in December 2022. I completed a double degree in Law and International Affairs, but since I started my college years, Alternative Dispute Resolution caught my attention. It was during my participation in the Jessup and ELSA Moot Courts that I realized that I wanted to make a living out of this beautiful profession.

After 4 years in college I had the opportunity to do two exchange programs. The first one was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I both studied and worked (Universidade de Sao Paulo and BMA Advogados), and the second one was in Washington DC (Elliot school of International Affairs). In DC I attended all kind of conferences and events which allowed me to create a humble but solid network through which I found the internship that I am doing right now. I started this job in May 2023, in Dunning Rievman & MacDonald LLP, in New York City, where we mostly do international arbitration. I absolutely love what I do and I look forward to do it as a real lawyer, and not only an intern.

Scholar

Mary Mutupa

Zambia

ABOUT

Mary Mutupa MCIArb, is an author, human rights and dispute resolution lawyer, gender and governance expert with more than 14 years of management experience and 17 years overall national and international work experience mostly in civil society sector. Mary specialises in and has vast experience in resolving disputes through Mediation and Arbitration. Mary has teaching experience in dispute resolution and has taught at the University of Zambia. Between 2016-2018 she worked at CIArb Zambia as a project consultant on a mediation project which was support by USAID which focuses on increasing mediators in Zambia. She also coordinated all trainings and sensitisation activities on Alternative Dispute Resolutions through media engagement, workshops and publications.


Mary is working as an independent Consultant. Before this, she worked at the National Legal Aid Clinic for Women (NLACW)as Deputy Executive Director from 2016-2023. And prior to joining NLACW in 2016, she worked at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Zambia Branch as a Mediation project Consultant; ActionAid Zambia as Governance Programme Officer, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) Constitution project as Coordinator, Programme Manager African Women Millennium Initiative in Senegal and Zambia among others.


Mary holds a Master’s Degree in Human Rights Law, Degree in Law, Post-graduate Diploma in Teaching and Lecturing methodology, professional training in Arbitration, Mediation among others. In 2010 she authored a Publication entitled “Working with the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: A Handbook for Civil Society Organizations”. She has contributed to various publications on Human Rights, Gender, Governance and Alternative Dispute Resolutions topics.

Scholar

Kelvin Njuuna

Nairobi, Kenya

School

Queen Mary University

I am Kelvin Njuguna Mugwe, a 27-year-old Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. I have been a practitioner for the last three years. I am passionate and greatly interested in advancing my skills in international arbitration.

I consider myself a diligent, hardworking and self-driven individual. I have through the years, demonstrated commitment, adaptability to ever changing circumstances and the desire to learn from my mistakes while seeking to attain excellence in all I do. My experiences, both at school and my brief professional life, have inculcated in me the virtues of professionalism, integrity and teamwork. I further possess the ability to effectively communicate on diverse issues, both orally and through writing.

Scholar

Kricia Pires Coelho

Brazil

School

Bucerious Law School LLM

Krícia Pires is a highly accomplished legal professional with a passion for international dispute resolution and a commitment to promoting justice and fairness. Krícia is currently enrolled in the International Dispute Resolution LL.M. at the prestigious Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in the class of 2023-2024.
Krícia has a diverse range of professional experiences that have shaped her expertise and dedication in this field. As an intern at Brazilian's largest law firm, Machado Meyer, Krícia played a vital role in the civil reparation mediation program for the Vale dam environmental disaster, contributing to the resolution of the damage caused to affected individuals and territories in Brumadinho. This experience ignited her interest in environmental and social justice issues. Krícia further honed her skills at Guglielmino Derecho Internacional, where she represented Venezuela and Bolivia in Investor-State arbitrations before renowned bodies such as ICSID and PCA. Working alongside esteemed mentors, Krícia gained valuable insights into the complexities of international arbitration and the importance of effective representation. Krícia has also been employed as a legal trainee at Delaloa, an international arbitration boutique in Lisbon, handling international commercial arbitrations under the ICC and LCIA Rules. This role allowed her to broaden her understanding of the European Union framework and gain invaluable experience in different jurisdictions. With a strong drive to promote Latin America and the Global South in the international scenario of dispute resolution, Krícia aspires to become an active voice in addressing the specific challenges faced by these regions. She seeks to contribute to the discourse, advocate for fairness, and drive positive change in the field of international dispute resolution.

Scholar

Lorraine D. Mandel

New York, NY

ABOUT

Lorraine D. Mandel is an arbitrator and court certified mediator. She serves on the commercial arbitration panel of the American Arbitration Association and as a non-public FINRA arbitrator.

Previously, she was Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Global Derivatives and Government Affairs, of XL Group, the global (re)insurance holding company (now AXA-XL). In her previous in-house positions, she negotiated complex commercial transactions and insurance coverage matters on a world- wide basis. Through her participation in the training course entitled “Comprehensive Commercial Arbitration Training for Arbitrators and Counsel”, sponsored by the NYS Bar Association and the AAA, Lorraine hopes to gain high level and intensive training experience to further enhance her effectiveness as a practitioner and lend value to the ADR field. Lorraine is a member of the Board of Directors of the NYU Law School Alumni Association, and is Secretary to the Legal Advisory Council of Sanctuary for Families. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section of the New York State Bar Association and the Insurance Law Committee of the City Bar Association. She holds a
B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. from Tufts University, and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School (having attended New York University Law School).