Our Team

Merri Hanson Director

  • Director, Peninsula Mediation Center

    Ms. Hanson provides conflict resolution services for workplace, EEO, ADA, and other business disputes for government and private sector organizations. Peninsula Mediation Center manages ADR training and service delivery for the Department of the Navy as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, National Archives and Records Administration, US Department of Agriculture, and others. Merri provides a variety of conflict resolution webinar series for Department of Defense Education Activity leaders worldwide. In 2019, Merri served on the Department of State’s Speaker Series in India, speaking to issues pertaining to safe and respectful workplaces for women.

    In addition, Merri conducts organizational conflict and communication assessments such as conflict audits, communication audits, focus groups, dialog processes, group facilitation, team building, communication skills training, and conflict coaching for senior leaders, managers, and key personnel.

    Ms. Hanson conducts a broad range of organizational conflict and communication assessments to include conflict audits, communication audits, the creation of internal communication plans, focus groups, customized group facilitations and other interventions, team building, communication skills training and development, and conflict coaching for senior leaders, managers, and key personnel. Merri is certified to use the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP), the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI), and also uses assessment instruments such as the Thomas Kilmann Mode Instrument (TKI), the Emotional and Social Competency Instrument (ESCI), and the Leadership Profile Instrument (LPI).

    Ms. Hanson provides a variety of services and trainings to promote civil treatment in the workplace and diversity and inclusion efforts. Such services include but are not limited to the development and design of model policies and procedures, working with leadership groups to develop organizational cultures that promote and value diversity and inclusion, promote greater understanding and awareness of unconscious bias and its impacts in the workplace, and training bystanders to respond appropriately to acts of bias or incivility. Merri has provided such services to various Department of Navy Commands, National Gallery of Art Education Department, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Dispute Resolution Network, GLSEN HQ in New York City, and the Los Angeles Universal Preschool.

    Merri is currently a graduate instructor at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, teaching Organizational Dispute Systems Design.

    Education & Publications

    Ms. Hanson did her postgraduate work in Organizational Psychology at Old Dominion University; received her Master of Arts in Communication & Conflict Management at University of the Pacific; and received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Azusa Pacific University with a minor in Hebrew.

    Ms. Hanson has produced over 50 publications, scholarly papers, and presentations since 1987. She developed over 50 training curricula during her career, and continues researching, teaching and developing training courses in current conflict management topics.

    Professional Societies

    American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution

    Association for Conflict Resolution, Practitioner Member, Approved Trainer, and Consultant Society for Human Resources Management, Virginia Chapter

    Virginia Mediation Network, Member, Past President (2003-2004)

    Certifications

    Virginia Supreme Court, Certified Mediator - General and Family Mediation, General District and Circuit Court; Certificate Number 0058.

    Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP), certified trainer and user. Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI), certified user.

    Roster Member

    Department of Navy, Mentor Roster Department of Justice, ADA Mediator Roster NASA, Mediator Roster

    Department of Energy, Mediator Roster Supreme Court of Virginia, Mediator Roster

    U. S. Air Force, Trainer Roster (Senior Trainer) and Mediator Roster

    Department of Navy, Mediator and Trainer Roster

    Department of Homeland Security, Mediator Roster

    Department of Transportation, Mediator and Trainer Roster

    Virginia State Bar, Attorney Fee Dispute Mediation/Arbitration Roster

    Virginia Department of Forestry, Water Quality Mediation Roster

    El Centro Interdisciplinario paras el Manejo de Conflictos, A.C. (Mexico City)

    Conflict Coaching Matters Roster of trainers and coaches

    Home and Community Life

    Merri loves music, enjoys water color painting, and is an avid sailor.

    Sings with various church and community groups in Virginia.

    Merri is a Virginia Master Naturalist and relishes walking and hiking.

    She is a Councilor, Town of Urbanna Virginia, Town Council and Planning Commission Chair

    Enjoys gardening, and spending time with her family, friends, and her Spaniel Scarlett and orange tabby Kit Kat.

  • Administrator and Project Manager

    Glennis Ribblett provides support services for Peninsula Mediation & ADR. Ms. Ribblett comes with over 17 years of experience with federal and private sector Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Civil Rights, and disability law. She was recruited by the Department of the Army’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Diversity and Leadership (known at the time as the Office of EEO and Civil Rights) as a Presidential Management Intern. Ms. Ribblett spent a total of 11 years with the Department of the Army in various locations, plus five years with the Department of the Navy, as an EEO Specialist/Manager, Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator, and ADR Program Manager. While with the Navy at NAWCWD China Lake, she established an ADR program, developing an onsite cadre of mediators and instituting highly successful conflict coaching, mediation, and facilitated discussion options outside the EEO arena. After retiring from federal service, Ms. Ribblett joined the State of New Mexico Human Rights Bureau as a Civil Rights Investigator until February 2021.

    Education

    Glennis graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Masters degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Conflict Resolution.

    Home and Community Life

    Glennis is an avid hiker and fisherwoman, and spends time between New Mexico and her family in Texas, always seeking out new trails and quiet fishing holes.

    She is an excellent chef and enjoys creating special meals and throwing parties, and grows her own edible flowers and extensive herb garden.

    Glennis is a bibliophile - if she’s left the house and hasn’t returned, the best place to look for her is in a used bookstore, where she can get lost for days.

  • Peninsula Mediation Center maintains a roster of highly trained and qualified ADR professionals who perform work as mediators, facilitators, trainers, conflict coaches, and instructors. Our partners are located around the U.S., providing availability across different time zones, including overseas. We can typically assign an ADR professional to meet your needs within two business days. All of our ADR professionals are fully COVID vaccinated.