When the team was considering a possible recipient of the Award, Nina Miereding was at the top of our list.
We are honored to recognize Nina as the 2025 Anita Engiles Key to Access recipient.
Nina Meierding, a national leader in the field of conflict resolution, has mediated over 4,000 disputes and has trained thousands of people in almost all 50 states, as well as Canada, England, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, and Sweden. She’s taught at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law for over 27 years and also taught at Southern Methodist University for almost 20 years. She has been an instructor at the National Judicial College and the California Judicial College and is a guest lecturer at universities throughout the United States. Nina served as a special education mediator for the California State Department of Education and was the mediation partner and trainer for the Wisconsin Special Education System (WSEMS) from 2006 - 2017.
Although she is a rockstar in the field, she is immensely generous with her time. She has been a longtime friend of CADRE’s. You’ll find Nina’s materials all over our website -- with numerous presentations at previous CADRE conferences, and special webinars she’s done for us that available in our library. It is obvious that she loves the work and sees peace work and promoting mediation as her mission. It’s her heart.
Additionally, she is deeply concerned about equity, and has trained extensively on culture and gender issues in mediation. She isn’t afraid to challenge the field and ask us difficult questions about our practice. As a mediator, I have appreciated Nina’s ability to push my thinking and am delighted to be part of the team bestowing CADRE’s highest honor.
We are delighted that Nina has agreed to share her thoughts with you in today’s keynote. Without further delay, I present to you the 2025 Recipient of the Anita Engiles Keys to Access Award, Nina Meierding.