Speaker Biography Melissa Mangiaracina

Sierra Mediation, LLC

Melissa Mangiaracina is a founding partner at both Sierra Mediation, LLC, and the Mediator Training Center. Melissa spent her legal career working on cases involving family violence, including as a legal services and child advocate attorney, the Directing Attorney of the Senior Law Project for Washoe County, and as a Justice of the Peace Pro Tempore in Incline Village, NV. After practicing law, Melissa worked for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, where she provided technical assistance and training to judicial officers and other professionals on the intersection of domestic violence, child protection and custody cases. These experiences led Melissa to the field of mediation, where Melissa now focuses her practice.

In addition to her private practice, Melissa mediates child protection cases for Nevada’s Juvenile Dependency Mediation Program, custody and minor guardianship cases for the Second Judicial District Court of Nevada, and appellate cases for the Nevada Supreme Court. When Melissa is not mediating, she trains mediators and other legal professionals on domestic violence and other topics. Melissa has had the honor of serving as faculty throughout the United States and in Canada for organizations including the American Bar Association (ABA), the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the Center for Court Innovation (CCI), and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), among others.