Debora Denny, J.D., Director of the Office of Dispute Resolution (ODR), was honored with the Nebraska Mediation Association’s (NMA) Friend of Mediation Award at their annual conference on Friday, April 6, 2018. Jane Martin-Hoffman, NMA Board Member stated, “Debora has been an outstanding and innovative leader to integrate mediation, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and restorative justice practices across the state of Nebraska. She has devoted nearly three decades of her career to design, educate, implement, and sustain mediation, working with the Nebraska Supreme Court and its ODR-approved mediation centers. Debora has been integrally involved with several significant pieces of legislation forwarding ADR, including the Dispute Resolution Act, the Uniform Mediation Act, the Parenting Act, and child welfare and juvenile justice conferencing.”

Debora thanked NMA and noted that she had a mediation story for at least half the people in the audience. She expressed gratitude for all the hard work and effort that many in the room and those who have gone before with the vision and the practical hard work that has made Nebraska one of the stars in the constellation of effective and sustained statewide mediation in the United States.

Photo: NMA Board member Jane Martin-Hoffman with ‘Friend of Mediation’ Award Honoree Debora Denny and NMA President Casey Karges.