Board of Directors
2023-2024
President: Tonya Ricklefs, PhD MSW, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at Washburn University. She teaches at the Graduate level and Undergraduate level and is a state-approved mediator who has a Masters Degree in Social Work and a Ph.D. in Family Studies from Kansas State University. Tonya has a certificate in conflict resolution from Kansas State University. She has experience with video (Skype, Zoom) mediation, military families, as well as receiving training in high-conflict mediation and Elder mediation and conciliation cases. Her experience is in multiple mediation/dispute resolution training in workplace, high conflict, culture and conflict, and family mediation. Ph.D. in Family Studies. Areas of research are Adult Sibling Relationships and experiential learning.
Secretary: Tina Crawford has a JD from Washburn University school of Law and a B.A. in psychology from K.U. She is a Kansas Supreme Court approved core, civil, and domestic mediator and approved mentor mediator for civil and core. Tina is a co-coordinator for and weekly volunteer with the mediator program at the Johnson County District Court, Small Claims division. Tina teaches CORE mediation for JCCC. She also serves on the board of Heartland Dispute Resolution Association. Tina’s professional experience includes private civil legal practice followed by a 22-year teaching career as Professor of Business law. Tina served as Chair of the Business Administration department where she mediated disputes between faculty members and between faculty and students; as well as serving on the college investigations committee. You can find Tina at tcrawfordmediation@gmail.com
Treasurer: Deborah Medlock is a Supreme Court approved mediator in core, civil, domestic, parent adolescent and child in need of care. She is also a parent coordinator, approved mentor mediator in core and domestic, and co-teaches both core and domestic mediation at Johnson County Community College. After over 20 years of work for the courts, specializing in family mediation, Deborah has entered private practice. Through Dispute Resolution Center, Deborah offers a full range of dispute resolution services. Deborah is a past president and current treasurer for HMA.
Past President: Melanie Worsley is Professor in the Criminal Justice and Legal Studies Department and the Associate Dean of the School of Applied Studies at Washburn University. She earned her JD from Washburn University School of Law and is a licensed attorney in Kansas. Melanie became interested in ADR in law school and became a Kansas court-approved mediator in core and parent adolescent mediation after graduation. Beyond having an appreciation for the role mediation can play in helping parties, she is a firm believer that mediation training teaches invaluable conflict resolution skills that can be used in other professions.
Board of Directors
Wayne Olsen: Born in New York Wayne started his career as a Forester before switching to the Federal Government where he managed disaster planning and recovery operations for several agencies. After retiring from federal service, he became a disaster recovery manager for a large thrift bank, safeguarding several hundred billion dollars of other people’s money. He subsequently moved to Kansas and has been self employed as a Dispute Resolution Specialist for almost two decades. He is a Past President of the Heartland Mediators Association and is currently a member of the Board of Directors. He believes that ADR and Mediation are dynamic endeavors, working within a society that often needs assistance in resolving disputes and he is always looking for ways to improve the craft and his personal skill set.
Janell Murphey graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology with a Secondary Major of Natural Resource and Environmental Science. She attended the Kansas Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution at Bethel College and has been approved by the Kansas Supreme Court to practice core, domestic, parent-adolescent, agricultural, and victim-offender mediation in central Kansas. Janell is a member of the HDRA, the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Janell serves as the liaison for SIRJ working closely with the Saline County Attorneys and local law enforcement to better serve those participating in victim offender mediations.
Verdell Taylor is a Kansas Supreme Court Approved Mediator since 2003. He has been a “Pastoral Counselor” at Christian Psychological Services (CPS) since 1996. He is a native of Leavenworth, Kansas and a Vietnam Era Army Veteran. Mediation is one of Verdell’s areas of expertise and is embarking on a new phase of Mediation, known as Restorative Justice, through “Building Peace” in Lawrence, KS. Verdell has been ordained as a pastor since 1980. From 1995 until 2021, Verdell was the Senior Pastor for the St. Luke A.M.E. Church in Lawrence, KS. He received his BS degree in Education in 1968 and his MS degree in Counseling in 1972 from Emporia State University. From 1995 until 2021, Verdell was the Senior Pastor for the St. Luke A.M.E. Church in Lawrence. Verdell is married, has two daughters and five grandchildren.
Greta Wills has been associated with HMA-HDRA for almost 20 years. She was a mediator with the City of KCMO for many years which afforded her with voluminous mediation opportunities to actually practice the process. She worked as a civil rights investigator in community mediations, landlord/tenant dispute, public and outreach associated with the civil rights agenda. She is currently involved with Clay County MO Court Office of Dispute Resolution; Douglas County KS Domestic Court; a CASA Jackson County volunteer since 2018; Human Kind, Inc. based in the Northland; and the Missouri Bar Fee Dispute Resolution with the Missouri Bar Association program since 2019. Greta created her own business in 2017 called Civil Conciliations, LLC to consolidate her education, experience and skill set acquired during the last decade+ years in the arena of mediation and conflict resolution. Areas of expertise include family dispute, neighborhood dispute, fair housing law and employment law.
Angie Smith is currently an Employee Relations Mediator in the Human Resources Department at the City of Overland Park, Kansas. She is licensed as an attorney in both Kansas and Missouri, and has previously worked in both private law practice and as a staff attorney for a Kansas foster care agency. For nearly 20 years, Angie worked for Domestic Court Services in Johnson County, Kansas, as a mediator, evaluator and parent educator. She is a Kansas Supreme Court Approved Mediator in the areas of Core, Domestic, and Parent/Adolescent. She is also an approved Dispute Resolution Provider for Conciliation, Parent Coordination, and Mentor Mediation. Angie has been assisting through coaching in the mediation training classes at JCCC for over 25 years, and is a member of the board of directors for the Children’s Peace Alliance Foundation – a non-profit dedicated to providing affordable conflict resolution services to children and families going through separation or divorce. Angie also participates in the Eviction Mediation Program at the Johnson County District Court.
Janet Lhuillier / HDRA Executive Director
W: 913.956.9720
HeartlandDisputeResolution@gmail.com