Leila Peterson has served as Executive Director for SchoolTalk, Inc, a non-profit specializing in special education dispute resolution, since 2008. Her practice focuses on public and community conflict, specializing in processes that allow individual, community, and government stakeholders to tackle difficult issues together. Recent focus areas have included utilizing Student-led Individualized Education Program processes to promote student involvement in decision-making and increasing the accessibility of conflict resolution practices for people with disabilities. Mrs. Peterson also teaches as an adjunct professor at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. Courses taught include Dialogue and Difference (CONF 325), Interpersonal Conflict and Resolution (CONF 320), and Practical Dialogue for a Global Society (CONF 690). She is an Associate Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and a member of the Mid-Atlantic ADA Leadership Network. She was a court-certified mediator for the State of Virginia, 2010-13.
Mrs. Peterson received a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, from George Mason University in 1998 and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Earlham College in 1993