~ MEET THE STAFF
Meet the Staff - Board of Directors
Kris Donley, M.Ed.
Executive Director
Kris Donley has served as the Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Center in Austin, Texas since 1994. Since coming to the DRC as Executive Director in 1994, Kris has provided mediation, training and consultation services at the local, state, national and international levels. She received her BA and Masters degrees in the social sciences from Texas State University and completed post graduate work in psychology at the University of Texas in Austin. Kris has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate Conflict Management program at St. Edwards University and as Practicum Faculty of the Executive Masters Program in Conflict Resolution at the University of the Principality of Liechenstein. She is a frequent university and college guest lecturer throughout Texas and has presented at national and international conferences on topics ranging from Community Mediation, Conflict Management in the Workplace and Trends in the Mediation Field. Kris has served on many field-related boards throughout her career and is a founding board member for The Companion Flag, a peace promoting international project based in Seatle, Washington. She is a fellow at the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution at the University of Texas Law School and a Regional Training Institute trainer with the National Association of Community Mediation in Washington DC. Her mediation expertise is in family and public interest, multi-party facilitations.
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Deidra Davidson
Director of Training & Community Relations
Deidra is a facilitator, trainer, presenter, mediator, curriculum developer, and interpreter for the deaf. Deidra received her degree from CFNI in Dallas, TX. She has worked in various kinds of alternative dispute resolution for over ten years. Deidra has served in a variety of roles at the DRC including Case Manager, Director of Training, Case Management, Volunteer Services & Technology as well as her current role as the Director of Training and Community Relations. She has served as a member of DOVIA (Directors of Volunteers In Austin), Executive Women's Guild, Mediator Trainers Roundtable, and as a Trainer for the Texas Institute For Public Problem Solving, (TIPPS). She coaches for the 40-Hour Mediation, LBJ School and Advanced Family Training Courses. She likes to focus her attention to facilitating, training groups and providing mediation services to the community, emphasizing the alternative with enthusiasm and vigor to help others appreciate the benefits of dispute resolution.
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David Huang
Director of Case Management & Volunteer Services
David was born in Taiwan and raised in Panama. He received his BA in business from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He has been with the DRC since August, 1995. In addition to his duties as Mediation Coordinator, he serves as a mediator and a coach for training. David is bilingual and enjoys music, Latin dancing, and traveling.
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Lisa Weger
Finance Director
Lisa has been on the DRC staff seven years. She serves in many capacities in addition to her duties as finance director, including volunteer mediator and coach for trainings. Lisa is married to Kurtis and enjoys cooking, reading, art, singing, movies and working part time as a massage therapist.
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Scott Rich
Director of Court-Referred Mediation Services
Scott began working at the DRC as a Case Management Intern in October, 2006. He received his undergraduate degree in Speech Communication from Southern Illinois University. He received a Masters in Conflict Resolution from St. Edward's University in May, 2007. Scott enjoys travel, motorcycles, camping, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.
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Rita Rancken
Office Administrator
Rita joined the DRC as Office Administrator in June, 2005. She is originally from Ohio, where she attended Kent State University and Cleveland State University as a psychology major. She moved to Austin in 1979 and has raised two daughters here. Rita's interests include comedy (especially improv), reading, alternative health, and metaphysics.
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Annita Hinson
Administrative Consultant
Annita is a semi-retired administrative assistant with 35 years experience. She worked five of those years with the Austin DRC and the balance as an executive assistant in the convenience store industry and various entrepreneurial ventures of Susser Holdings in Corpus Christi, Texas. Annita has two grown children and one grandson (whom she adores). Her interests include computers, music, movies, reading and traveling plus shopping adventures with her sister.
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Dr. Victoria Bergin
Mediator Liaison
In 1990 Dr. Victoria Bergin retired as Deputy Commissioner of Education for the State of Texas. After leaving the Texas Education Agency, she and a partner devoted the next 10 years to developing their own education publishing and training company which operated under the name of “Guerrilla Tactics for Teachers in the Trenches.” In 2000 the company was sold and since that time she has been “truly retired,” enjoying her time with her husband, children, grandchildren and many friends both in Austin and around the country. She and her husband, Bob, keep an updated 10-year list of exotic places they want to visit while their knees still work. She studies piano, Italian, and practices yoga on a daily basis. She has been a volunteer bilingual mediator at the DRC for about 25 years and hopes to continue her mission with them for the next 25 years.
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Community Mediation
