About me
Michelle Edison, MLS, MDR is the Owner of Change Starts With Hope, where she
also serves as the lead instructor, Conciliator, mediator, Legal Analyst and DEIB
Strategist. Edison oversees the organization’s global outreach efforts, world-class
professional training programs, and rigorous initiatives. Her practice, teaching, and
scholarship focus on cross-cultural dispute resolution, faith-based mediation, and
utilizing modern theories, science, and technology to devise creative solutions for
global disputes.
Edison is a successful mediator, instructor, and DEIB Strategist, and has resolved
disputes and restored justice throughout the United States. She formerly served as the
Chairwoman of the Baltimore City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC),
where she led workshops to strengthen coordination and communication across
Federal, State and local public safety agencies, in an effort to alleviate violent acts of
crime; moreover, she reviewed case backlogs, created Gun Court for juveniles and
adults, and implemented strategies to increase efficiencies and policy changes within
the criminal justice system.
Currently, Edison serves as vice chair for the National Security and Civil Liberties
Committee within the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Civil Rights and
Social Justice (CRSJ). In this role, she helps lead discussions and initiatives focused
on the delicate balance between maintaining national security and protecting
individual civil liberties. The committee is responsible for addressing key legal and
policy issues at the intersection of security measures and constitutional rights,
including surveillance, privacy, law enforcement practices, and anti-terrorism laws.
By supporting dialogue among legal experts, policymakers, and civil rights advocates,
the committee works to ensure that efforts to protect the nation do not infringe upon
fundamental freedoms.
As a skilled mediator, Edison adeptly navigates a spectrum of dispute resolution
arenas, lending her expertise to mediate in public policy, domestic relations,
landlord/tenant, community, employment, restorative, and court-mandated contexts,
particularly as a Circuit Court Domestic Relations mediator in Oregon, where is the
only mediator qualified to handle mediating financials with participants and their
respective counsel, and as a co-mediator for California Federal Courts. In the realm of
public policy, she facilitates dialogue among diverse stakeholders, fostering
consensus on important policy matters. In family disputes, Edison guides families
through delicate matters such as divorce, custody, and asset division with sensitivity
and fairness. Landlord/tenant conflicts find resolution under her skilled mediation,
addressing rental disputes and lease disagreements equitably. She encourages
harmony within communities, resolving neighborhood conflicts and promoting
Michelle Edison Academic and ADR Background cooperative solutions.
Edison is also a fully vetted mediator and small claims arbitrator on the roster for the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) where she helps resolve disputes
between investors, brokerage firms, and registered financial professionals. FINRA is a
government-authorized, not-for-profit organization that oversees U.S. broker-dealers,
ensuring market integrity and investor protection. As a ADR specialist, she facilitates
confidential, effective, and impartial resolution of complex financial conflicts, helping
participants reach mutually acceptable outcomes with the need for costly and time
consuming litigation.
In employment settings, Edison aids in resolving disputes between employers and
employees, ensuring fair treatment and adherence to labor laws. With a focus on
restorative justice, she facilitates healing and reconciliation in the aftermath of
conflicts or crimes. In court-mandated mediations, Edison serves as a bridge between
disputing parties, striving for mutually acceptable resolutions and alleviating burdens
on the judicial system, thereby embodying the essence of effective and compassionate
mediation across diverse spheres of conflict.
Edison teaches various subjects in dispute resolution, culture, and DEIB at Change
Starts With Hope, and as a Professor at accredited universities; and she has previously
written programs and initiatives related to cultural affairs, DEIB, preventing
recidivism, alternatives to sentencing, and addressing hard conversations. Edison is an
Assistant Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. She assists in the
residency course, through which students explore ethics, problem-solving, strategic
case evaluation, advocacy, and dispute resolution. During the residency, she ensures
students will develop an understanding of law in practice and the legal systems, while
engaging with case studies, live role plays, mock mediations and mock trials to
demonstrate how the law, lawyers and clients approach and resolve controversies and
solve legal problems. Edison is an Adjunct Professor at Southern New Hampshire
University, for Social Science and Interdisciplinary online courses. And she is an
instructor at D.C. Mediation Institute, where she created and teaches Managing
Emotions in Mediation and Diversity, Gender and Cultural Sensitivity in Mediation.
The two courses include an interactive lecture, and exercises, activities, and group
discussions.
Edison has assisted a sitting Justice of Barbados with topics related to dispute
resolution and cultural affairs. Additionally, she is a volunteer co-mediator for Federal
Court cases in the state of California under a barred attorney. She also volunteers in
marginalized communities throughout the United States, providing resources that
work towards disseminating victimization, restorative justice, conflict resolution,
understanding cyclical consequences of injustices, recognizing ethnocentrism within
diverse areas, and how culture contributes to lowering recidivism and crime
prevention.
Edison has given keynotes, lectures, and training on dispute resolution in states across
the United States and in India. She has delivered online sessions on DEIB, dispute
resolution, and emotional intelligence.
Edison earned her Associates of Arts in Business Administration, with a concentration
in Sociology, from Community College of Baltimore County. She received a
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, graduating Cum Laude, from Marymount California
University. She received a Master of Jurisprudence/Legal Studies from Pepperdine
Caruso School of Law, with a concentration in Human Resources and Conflict
Resolution; and, she earned her Master’s in Dispute Resolution from Straus Institute
for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law. She is currently
working towards her doctorate degree in higher education.
Edison is a certified DEIB Practitioner from Rice University, Emotional Scientist,
from Yale University, and a certified Cognitive Behavior Therapy Practitioner and
Mindfulness I, II and III Practitioner. She is an inducted member of Kappa Betta
Delta International Honor Society for business, Psi Chi International Honor Society in
Psychology, and Delta Epsilon Sigma Scholastic Honor Society.
