Nicholas Obolensky | President
Andy Wunsch | Treasurer David Joseph | Secretary Yvonne Baglini Laura Bottaro Theodore DeMarco Walter Hunter Justice Patricia A. Hurst (Ret.) Our Board members represent a wide variety of backgrounds. CMCRI Board members come from local businesses, RI universities, major law firms and many other backgrounds, from mediator to entrepreneur to artist. The Board members are the lifeblood of the agency, providing advice, ideas, logistical and financial support, and fundraising assistance. CMCRI has a 100% giving board, representing the Board’s commitment to and belief in the mission of community mediation. Board members serve a three-year term with an option to renew. If you are interested in becoming a Board member, please contact our Executive Director. Nicholas Obolensky | President
Nicholas Obolensky, Esq. is an attorney and partner at Obolensky and Balkcom Law, a general practice law firm in downtown Providence. Nicholas received his Juris Doctor at Roger Williams University School of Law, as well as earning a concurrent master's degree in marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island. Before entering the legal field, Nicholas owned and operated an international seafood trading company, Nobol Trading International LLC, conducting business in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Nicholas grew up in New Bedford, MA, where he established his deep appreciation for the sea, including a passion for environmental conservation, surfing, and sailing. A family man, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and four sons at the beach. Andy Wunsch | Treasurer Andy Wunsch is a mediator and an investment advisor. He began his career in 1986 as a stockbroker trainee with Moseley, Hallgarten, Estabrook & Weedon and worked as sales manager, corporate trainer and branch complex manager with regional and national investment brokerage firms including Prudential Securities, Advest and Janney Montgomery Scott. In 2009, Andy founded South County Financial Advisors LLC, a registered investment advisor. After completing training with CMCRI in 2009, Andy began volunteering as a mediator in Rhode Island District and Family Courts. In 2010, Andy became a Financial Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) mediator, where he combines his mediation skills and in-depth understanding of the financial services industry to help investors, broker-dealers and their attorneys evaluate and resolve pending arbitration claims. In addition to volunteering as a mediator and serving on the board of CMCRI, Andy strives to promote mediation as a profession through his work as a FINRA mediator and service as a director of Rhode Island Mediators Association. Andy graduated from University of Hartford in 1986 with a BS in Business Administration. David Joseph | Secretary Dave Joseph, MSW, is a Senior Associate at Essential Partners, formerly the Public Conversations Project, where he has helped communities, organizations, congregations, universities and non-profit organizations have productive conversations across differences. He has provided training and consultation in the United States, Canada, Romania, Nigeria, Greece, Burundi, Thailand and Liberia. Trained as a mediator in 1995, he co-founded and later served as Executive Director of the Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island. Prior to that, he directed outpatient mental health and addictions programs for 20+ years. He is a founding member and currentlyserves as chair of the board of Mediators Beyond Borders International. In his spare time he enjoys travel, playing with his grandchildren, rock-climbing, photography and cooking. Yvonne Baglini Yvonne Baglini is a Mediator and an ADR Executive. As an Assistant Vice President, she has been a Leader at the American Arbitration Association‘s Northeast Case Management Center since its inception 16 years ago. In addition to her management activities, she is a staff trainer facilitating national trainings for new arbitrators which includes the Core arbitrator training program. She has also served on several Muscular Arbitration panels at in person events and webinars in the New York metro area. As a trained mediator, Yvonne has volunteered as a mediator in Rhode Island District Courts since 2013. Yvonne is an advocate for ADR, particularly mediation as a way to preserve relationships between parties, especially those that find themselves on opposite sides of the court room. As a long term resident of Rhode Island she is committed to giving back to the community and assisting nonprofit organizations. Yvonne is a proponent of innovation both personally and professionally. She has attended several Innovation Conferences and has visited Innovation Labs in the Boston metro area. Yvonne, along with her family, enjoys boating, fishing, and jet-skiing during the summer and snowmobiling, skating, and snowshoeing during the winter. Laura Bottaro Theodore DeMarco Justice Patricia A. Hurst (Ret.) Justice Hurst has nearly 40 years of legal training and experience, 26 of them as a trial court judge before retiring from the Rhode Island Superior Court in 2016. Justice Hurst now serves on the State of Rhode Island Supreme Court Appellate Mediation Program panel of mediators. Justice Hurst is admitted to practice law (inactive/judicial status) in the State of Rhode Island, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States Federal District Court for the districts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Tax Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. She also has served on the American Arbitration Association panel of construction arbitrators. Throughout her career, Justice Hurst has been active in legal education, teaching evidence and criminal justice and frequently speaking at local and national educational programs for judges, attorneys, expert witnesses and law students. She is author and co-editor of two Massachusetts Continuing Legal Educational Inc. publications, one of which won an international “Best Publication” award from the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA), an association serving the worldwide CLE profession thorough leadership, education and development. Justice Hurst co-authored and edited Rhode Island’s first model civil jury instructions, first copy righted and published in 1998 and now in the second edition. She also served on the Rhode Island Bar Association’s editorial board, on various court committees and as a delegate to regional and national judicial conferences. She also remained active with local non-profit and civic organizations. Hurst received recognition for her excellence in service including presenting as a speaker at the American Association for Justice’s (American Trial Lawyers’ Association) 50th annual convention, an invitation extended by the Association’s National College of Advocacy. She is a recipient of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Association for Justice’s Judicial Merit Award and of the National Association of Women Judges’ Excellence in Service Award. Currently, Justice Hurst is an active member of the National Association of Women Judges and the International Association of Women Judges. In the past, she served on the National Association of Women Judges’ Board of Directors, Executive Committee and other leadership committees. She continues to serve on one or more of that Organization’s committees. Justice Hurst also is a member of the American Bar Association Judicial and International divisions and has served and Rhode Island’s delegate to the American Bar Association’s National Conference of State Trial Judges. She also is a member of the American Judges’ Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors/Trustees for the Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association and Center for Mediation and Collaboration RI. Walter Hunter |
Martha Machnik
Executive Director Martha@cmcri.org Martha has over 30 years of experience working and training others to improve communication skills, build respectful relationships and develop leadership skills. Prior to joining CMCRI, Martha worked for 18 years with the YMCA; most recently serving as the Chief Operations Officer for the Attleboro YMCA. Prior to this Martha served as the District Executive Director for the YMCA of Greater Providence. Martha is also the current Board President of the Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center. Martha earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Salve Regina University. She is a Dartmouth, Massachusetts’s native who lives in Rhode Island with her husband John. Martha and John have 2 adult children and are happy, new grandparents! In her free time, Martha enjoys cooking, crafting, her garden and spending time with family and friends. Martha@CMCRI.org 
Rhonda Bergeron
Operations Director rbergeron@cmcri.org Rhonda manages day-to-day operations and leads all of CMCRI’s programming including the Court Mediation Program, the RI Agricultural Mediation Program, School Mediation Programs, Conflict Resolution Training and the Community Center’s mediations.
After graduating from Syracuse University and working in the public relations industry for twenty years, Rhonda’s passion for communications was never fully quenched until she discovered mediation at Roger Williams School of Law. She describes her studies and practice in mediation as the best gift she has ever given herself. Embracing this life skill as the secret to happiness, Rhonda has been an active lead mediator with CMCRI since 2015 and has taught mediation through the Center for Mediation and Collaboration RI (CMCRI) as well as at Brown University and URI. She has extensive experience mediating and resolving landlord-tenant disputes, workplace disputes, interpersonal disputes, and other complex issues. She has designed and implemented communication and conflict resolution trainings for companies, universities and schools throughout Rhode Island. Rhonda is member of the New England Association for Conflict Resolution, RI Mediators Association and the National Association for Community Mediation.. |
