About Us
Deborah Jay Levy JD, MSW, MPH
Executive Director
Deborah Levy has been a Mediator since 2005 with The Congress of Neutrals and mediates with the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Among the civil matters mediated, her specialty is unlawful detainers where she uses her legal, mediation and counseling skills to reconcile differences and negotiate settlements between parties. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Welfare from University of California Los Angeles, a Master’s degree in Public Health from The Johns Hopkins University and a Law degree from John F Kennedy University. Deborah has interned and clerked with the US House of Representative’s Committee on Aging, the Veteran’s Administration, Contra Costa Court Superior Court Probate Department and JFKU’s Elder Law Clinic. She has held positions as Health Policy Analyst with the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Clinical Social Worker with Mt Diablo Rehabilitation Center, Geriatric Case Manager with Diablo Valley Foundation for the Aging. She has been a consultant with two Senior “Villages” in the Bay area whose primary mission is to help seniors age in place. She has served on the Boards of Contra Costa Senior Legal Services and Shelter, Inc.
Alice Forsyth, MBA.
Chief Financial Officer/Executive Administrator
After many years as Controller and HR Director in the aerospace industry, Alice Forsyth decided it is time to venture out to different areas of the workforce. Mediation is more important than ever in community dispute resolution. Knowing that she is part of a team that provides excellent knowledge to members of the community gives her a sense of great accomplishment. It is a satisfying feeling to be affiliated with a group that provides peaceful resolution to conflicts.
Alice holds an MBA from the University of Bamberg, Germany.
She enjoys travel, hiking with her dog, cooking, and spending time with the family.
Alba Zavala-Wilkes, JD
Family Law Mediation and Contempt Mediation Coordinator
Alba Zavala-Wilkes has been working in the family law field since 2018 when she worked as a Law Clerk for Scramstad Law, P.C. Further, she received a Major in Law in 2013 from the University of San Nicolas de Hidalgo, located in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. A short time after completing her major in law in Mexico she moved back to the United States and then pursued her Juris doctorate degree from John F. Kennedy University graduating in 2020. Alba is a fluent Spanish speaker. She was first acquainted with the Congress of Neutrals through a training class offered in law school back in 2017. Officially, Alba has been a Mediator with The Congress of Neutrals since April 2020 and mediates with the Contra Costa County Superior Court. She has experience mediating: unlawful detainers, civil harassment, restraining orders and family law matters. Alba Zavala-Wilkes is also the CEO of Prempeh & Zavala Legal Document Services. Which is a Black-, Latina and women-owned business that provides legal document services to the masses with the goal of helping to close the justice gap.
On her free time Alba enjoys alternating between her many hobbies. She enjoys crocheting toys for her daughter, making jewelry, canvas painting, and spending time at the gym.
Haleh Shahmohammadi, JD
Mediation and Director of Scheduling
Haleh has been mediating with TCON since Spring of 2023 and has mediated Small Claims, Civil Harassment and Unlawful Detainer cases in Martinez and Pittsburg. She completed her Mediation training and received her certificate from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution, in October of 2022.
Haleh comes from the high tech world, having worked in Silicon Valley in the 80’s and 90’s with a BS in Computer Science. She got interested in studying law after years in the High Tech world and she did it while caring for her newborn. She became an attorney in 1996. Although her interest and experience was in Intellectual Property law, she developed a passion for Dispute Resolution and has become a mediator.
Haleh is a practitioner of TM (Transcendental Meditation) and is bilingual in Farsi.
Jose Ramirez
Mediation Program Facilitator
Jose Ramirez has been mediating with TCON since late 2024 and is a certified mediator specialized in conflict resolution and facilitation. He mediates Small Claims, Civil Harassment, and Unlawful Detainer cases throughout Martinez, Richmond, and Pittsburg. In addition to his casework, Jose serves as a trainer, mentoring new mediators and supporting team development. He is known for strong interpersonal communication, professionalism, and a high success rate in helping parties reach formal settlement agreements.
Judy Bornstein MBA, MDR
Director of Training
Judy Bornstein is the founder of C Suite Resolutions, where she provides mediation, ombuds services, negotiation coaching, and conflict training for executives and their teams. She serves on the SF Bar Association Mediation Panel and on the Arbitration Panel for FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). Judy holds an MBA from Simmons University in Boston, a Masters in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law, and she is a doctoral candidate at Penn State where her research is focused on organizational conflict. Judy is a mediator certification trainer and a regular mediator for the Congress of Neutrals where she mediates court cases in Contra Costa County. Judy co-facilitates a Transformative Mediation group inside San Quentin State Prison, where she offers mediation training to incarcerated men interested in non-violent conflict resolution.
Board of Directors
Bill Waterman, JD
Najwa Sabrie, JD
Cary McReynolds, JD, Board Chair, Secretary
Vahista Falahati, JD
Judy Bornstein, MBA, MDR, Treasurer
Joann Martinez, MS
Mediators
Judy Bornstein, MBA, MDR
Jeffrey Buck, JD
Helen Chen, JD, MS
Anna Chopova JD
Jason Erlich, JD
Lisa Frydman, JD
Matthew Gluck JD
Daphne Golliher, JD
Farrah Hussein, JD
Denis Kenny, JD
Carol Kingsley, JD
Jim Krampf
Johanna Kwasnewski, JD
Deborah Levy JD, MSW, MPH
Peter Linn, JD
Jordan Meyer, JD
Mary Mock, JD
Jereal Nelson
Jose Ramirez
Najwa Sabrie, JD
Kara Lisa Selke, JD
Haleh Shahmohammadi, JD
Kevin Skipper
Rebecca Snavely-Saeleo
Sarah Swenson, JD
Brent Tarnow JD
Scott Tate JD
Elizabeth M. Thompson JD
Cheri Toney JD
Hallie Von Rock JD
Bill Waterman, JD
Kyanna Williams, JD
Ralph Woodard
Alba Zavala-Wilkes, JD