Rich Porcelli | President
Kevin Gallagher | Treasurer Kristen Sloan Maccini | Secretary Yvonne Baglini Jeannine Casselman Justice Patricia A. Hurst (Ret.) Nicholas Obolensky Andy Wunsch 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. Rich Porcelli | President
Rich is the Director of Learning and Advisory services at the Boston based national non-profit Health Leads. In this role Rich has led the development of learning and consulting solutions that enable Health Care institutions across the country to build and scale sustainable social needs programs for their patients. He is thrilled to help health care organizations create meaningful programs that uncover and address social health issues such as food insecurity, homelessness, education. Previously, Rich served as the national manager of volunteer engagement at Health Leads. He designed systems and curriculum used to recruit and train a national cohort comprised of hundreds of undergraduate volunteers who provide case management services. Prior to his role at Health Leads Rich was part of the leadership team at a community mental health center in Chicago where he managed residential treatment and crisis stabilization services. In this role he worked to expand treatment-based transitional housing programs for individuals living with mental illness and substance abuse. As a practicing therapist and organizational coach, Rich is passionate about working with individuals, groups and organizations to help them maximize their own potential. He holds a BA in psychology/theater from Providence College and an MA in counseling and organizational psychology from Adler University. Kevin Gallagher | Treasurer Kevin Gallagher serves as Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Prior to joining Governor Raimondo’s team, Kevin was an associate at Edwards & Angell (now Locke Lord, LLP), where he practiced in the firm’s Litigation Management Group. Kevin is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Boston College Law School. Before law school, Kevin spent two years teaching middle school as a Teach For America corps member in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to serving as Treasurer for the Center for Mediation and Collaboration Rhode Island, Kevin is also a member of the Year Up Providence Leadership Council. Kristen Sloan Maccini | Secretary As a civil practice attorney for 22 years Kristen Sloan Maccini received her certificate to mediate in 2013. Subsequently, she began volunteer mediating with CMCRI and joined its board in May of 2014. She has served as attorney/coach for The Moses Brown School's mock trial team for over a decade. Kristen is a member of the RI Bar Association and of its Continuing Legal Education Committee. She is also a member of the American Bar Association as well as of its Section on Alternate Dispute Resolution. She has a JD from the New England School of Law and a BA in English from the College of the Holy Cross. 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. Jeannine Casselman Attorney Jeannine Casselman is the Program Director for the Rhode Island Medical-Legal Partnership located at Hasbro Children's Hospital. She has been an employee of the Rhode Island Center for Law and Public Policy (RICLAPP) since 2011. Prior to that she served as a VISTA volunteer for RICLAPP. In 2012, she was honored by the Childhood Lead Action Project for her work on Lead Hazard Mitigation Act enforcement. She graduated from Roger Williams University School of Law in 2009 where she focused her academic interests on public interest law. She interned with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, South Coastal Counties Legal Services and the Center for Mediation and Collaboration RI. Before enrolling in law school, Jeannine obtained a Master of Arts in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor's of Arts in Anthropology and Political Science from the University of Rochester. Born and raised in Rhode Island, Attorney Casselman is committed to serving vulnerable populations and ensuring equal access to legal justice. 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. Justice 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. Nicholas Obolensky Nicholas Obolensky, Esq. is an attorney and partner at Duarte & Obolensky 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 three sons at the beach. Andy Wunsch 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. |
Tonya Harris
Executive Director tharris@cmcri.org A lifelong resident of Rhode Island and an experienced mediator and trainer, Tonya Harris has served the people of Rhode Island in many capacities over the last three decades. She rose to the rank of detective sergeant in the Providence Police Department, serving as supervising officer of the School Resources Bureau, where she used her leadership and collaborative skills to rebuild and strengthen relationships between the PPD and the community. Ms. Harris has a passion for community work which she brought to her leadership roles at the Providence Black Repertory Company, OIC of Rhode Island, and most recently to the YMCA of Rhode Island where, as Operations Director, she served in a senior management capacity overseeing the programs, budgets, and day to day operations of the 3,000 member organization. Certified as a non-violence and conflict resolution trainer, Ms. Harris has used her CR skills to train police officers in South Africa, as well as hundreds of Rhode Island residents. |
