Conflict Resolution Instructor Biographies

Winston Blake, BA, C.Med.
Winston Blake has over 15 years of experience in roles such as in-home support worker, family mediator, victim/offender mediator, mediation program developer and restorative justice worker. He has built a reputation as someone who is committed to serving the needs of youth, families and communities.

Winston holds an Advanced Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1995) and a certificate in Conflict Management from the Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society (1998). He is a Chartered Mediator with the ADR Institute of Canada (1999). He is currently pursuing his Masters in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University.

Serving the needs of youth has been a lifelong passion for Winston. He is the founder and Managing Director of the successful not-for-profit organization Peer Mediation And Skills Training (PMAST). PMAST offers conflict management training and services to youth, educators and parents in Calgary. He is also the Executive Director of the Restorative Action Program (RAP). RAP is a program offered to seven high schools in Saskatoon that deals with bullying, relationship breakdown and many other challenges that affect today’s youth.

Winston is always willing to encourage and support the development of others in the field of conflict management. In addition to teaching at Mount Royal University, Winston is a popular trainer for businesses, corporations and government. The recipient of many honours, Winston Blake is the only person to ever be nominated for the YMCA Calgary’s prestigious National Peace Medal in three consecutive years.

Today, Winston Blake calls Saskatoon home. Whether as a mediator or active member of the community, Winston promotes the principles of conflict management, restorative justice and peace, both personally and professionally.

Michele Brown
Michele Brown is a Certified Human Resources Professional with over 30 years experience in business. Michele’s academic qualifications include a B.Ed., a Certificate in Conflict Management and a Certificate in Human Resources. She is a mediator with Alberta Justice and also mediates workplace conflicts. Michele specializes in developing and delivering customized, practical, job related training for adults in the workplace. She is a dynamic speaker and a resourceful teacher and is committed to ensuring participants benefit from a positive learning experience.

Mark Donovan
Click to watch a 40-second video on Negotiation.

Pamela Dos Ramos, MA (Counseling), PhD
Pamela Dos Ramos is a human rights educator with the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre in Calgary. She does presentations and workshops on human rights issues at schools and community groups in Southern Alberta and assists with the creation of educational resources for the Centre.

Her most recent work is the educational video “…but words DO hurt: Stories from GLBTT youth”. This and another of her videos (“Hopes and Dreams: Stories from Young Refugees”) won AMTEC (Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada) awards. She is currently working on the Anti-Racism Curriculum and Mentoring Project for the Calgary Board of Education and is creating a new educational video on discrimination, harassment and human rights.

Pamela was a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary where she taught Cultural Influences on Professional Practice, Communicating across Cultures, Learning Anti-Racism, and International and Intercultural Communication. At Mount Royal University Faculty of Continuing Education she co- teaches Culturally Responsive Facilitation and Cultural Diversity in Conflict Resolution. As an Adjunct Professor for Gonzaga University’s Calgary Centre, Pamela taught Multicultural Counselling to master’s degree candidates for 10 years. She is currently teaching Culture, Diversity and Human Rights for Gonzaga's Department of Educational Leadership and Administration.

Richard Harding, BA, LLB, RFM
Richard Harding is a lawyer with RMHarding & Associates. He has been practising family mediation for over 20 years, and has done teaching and training in conflict resolution and mediation since 1994.

Richard is Past President of the Alberta Family Mediation Society and one of founding directors of Association of Collaborative Family Lawyers (Calgary), [now the Association of Collaborative Professionals (Calgary)] and Past Board Chairman of the L'Arche Association of Calgary.

Richard's interests are in human and social relations and development in general and conflict resolution in particular. He is passionate about the dignity, value and growth of the individual, as well as African and third world water and development issues, and Tibetan geopolitics. His interests take him to mountains, deserts and wilderness, and he enjoys hiking, backpacking, skiing, mountaineering and canyoneering.

Carey Patterson
Carey is the principal of Onward Strategies, a company specializing in achieving individual excellence and conflict fitness. Carey is a practising mediator and personal performance coach. In blending these two areas of passion and interest, Carey focuses on individuals at transitional points in their careers – those moving into new areas of responsibility and people embarking on bold change that alters which activities they undertake day-to-day. Carey is a certified coach through Corporate Performance Coaching and holds certificates in Conflict Resolution (Mount Royal College) and Adult Learning (University of Calgary). She holds a degree in Communication and Culture from the University of Calgary.

Carey’s professional experience is in public service. Specifically, Carey worked for the Calgary Police Service as a Public Safety Communications Officer for 12 years in various roles of increasing responsibility. Her roles included training and she held operational and administrative leadership positions. In this context, Carey honed the skills required for working  in a high-stress, high-change environment with great levels of responsibility and accountability. Currently, Carey works for the Government of Alberta in Family Justice Services as a Child Welfare Mediator. In this context, Carey is exposed to conflict with great jeopardy, working with families in crisis and professionals who support them.

Carey facilitates in face-to-face and e-learning environments on a variety of topics including communication, negotiation, dealing with difficult people, leadership and goal setting. She thoroughly enjoys assisting others find and reach their best and is energized by facilitating learning, as it directly fits her personal values of co-operation, fulfillment, purposefulness and respect.

Carey is thrilled to share her life with her husband, adult step-sons and four young children.

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