Meet the Team
Susan Yates
Facilitator and Trainer
Drawing on more than four decades of experience as a mediator, trainer and dispute resolution pioneer, Susan Yates is adept at developing systems that address multiple conflicts in an effective, meaningful way and create a positive domino effect throughout the workplace. As executive director of the nationally recognized Resolution Systems Institute from 1997 to 2024, Susan strengthened access to justice and worked extensively in dispute system design, mediation ethics and safety in mediation.
“I meet people and organizations where they are—not where they should be—and help them get where they need to go.”
At JAMS Pathways, Susan prioritizes effective communication to resolve workplace conflict, with a focus on nonprofits, especially boards of directors; mission-based strategic planning; and relationships among stakeholders such as board, staff, volunteers, funders and service recipients.
Career Experience
- Facilitator and Trainer, JAMS Pathway, 2024
- Susan Yates, LLC, 2024
- Executive Director, Resolution Systems Institute (RSI), 1997–2024
- Development Director, Constitutional Rights Foundation, Chicago, 1993–1996
- Adjunct Faculty Member, DePaul University College of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
- Executive Director (1985–1989), Volunteer Mediator and Trainer (1983–2024), Center for Conflict Resolution, Chicago
- Member, Association for Conflict Resolution Taskforce on Safety in ADR, 2024
- Member, Grants Committee, American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) Foundation, 2019–2022
- Member, Editorial Board, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 2003–2017
Background & Education
- B.S., Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Insights & Publications
07/02/2025
Susan Yates Joins JAMS Pathways PanelARTICLES
- “Designing A System for Online Resolution of Cross-Border Custody Disputes,” World Arbitration and Mediation Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2018 (co-authored with Janet Martinez and Colin Rule)
- “Family Court ADR: Decades of Cultivating Innovation,” Dispute Resolution Magazine, 2013 (co-authored with Peter Salem)
- “Reimagining ADR in the Midst of Crisis: Neutrals Responding to the Foreclosure Dilemma,” ACResolution, 2012 (co-authored with Heather Scheiwe Kulp)
- “An Overview of the Revised Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators,” Dispute Resolution Magazine, Winter 2006 (co-authored with Wayne R. Thorpe)
- “Mediating Lanham Act Cases: The Role of Empirical Evaluation,” Northern Illinois University Law Review, 2002 (co-authored with Jennifer Shack)
BOOKS
- ADR Handbook for Judges, American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, 2004 (co-edited with Donna Stienstra)
- Alternative Dispute Resolution, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 2001 (co-edited with Anne V. Swanson)
EVALUATIONS
- An Evaluation of the Lanham Act Mediation Program – U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Resolution Systems Institute, 2000 ((co-authored with Jennifer Shack)
RESEARCH
- “Family Court Online Dispute Resolution for Thinly Resourced Parents, Courts and Communities: Impediment, Improvement or Impossible Dream?” Resolution Systems Institute, 2022
- “Considering an Online Pre-Mediation Tool to Screen for Intimate Partner Violence: Findings & Blueprint,” Resolution Systems Institute, 2019 (co-authored with Eric Slepak-Cherney)
- “Accessing Justice Through Mediation: Pathways for Poor and Low-Income Disputants,” Resolution Systems Institute, 2007
Work Vision
Helping to build workplaces where clear communication, hard work and innovation are valued
Values
Respect, compassion, effectiveness, flexibility, optimism
Areas of Focus
Workplace dispute resolution, especially conflict involving nonprofits and underserved communities
