ELI Faculty and Staff

Alison Kelley, J.D.
Adjunct Associate Professor
Salem Coordinator for the Executive MPA degree program and Public Management Certificate

Tel: 503-363-6533 Fax: 503-363-0535
AlisonSKelley@aol.com

Alison S. Kelley, J.D. is an adjunct associate professor with the Executive Leadership Institute (Hatfield School of Government, College of Urban and Public Affairs) of Portland State University. Ms. Kelley holds a B.A. in history with a minor in political science from Willamette University (cum laude), and a J.D. and Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Willamette University College of Law. She teaches Creating Collaborative Communities, Strategic Planning, and Public Sector Communication for Success for the PSU Masters in Public Administration program. Additionally, she provides presentations on conflict management and collaboration for various ELI programs.

Ms. Kelley is an attorney, mediator and facilitator with a practice based in Salem, Oregon. Through her company, Conflict Management Strategies, LLC, she offers mediation, facilitation, executive coaching, team building and other consulting services.  She facilitates complex public policy dispute resolution processes and assists participants in collaborating to achieve their objectives.   She has worked with a wide range of public agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Prior public policy projects include facilitating the Consensus Committee of the 2006 ConnectOregon program for ODOT, responsible for the allocation of $100 million in lottery-backed bonds for non-highway transportation projects; facilitating the BOLI Task Force on Public-Private Partnerships in 2005-06; assisting with ODOT's Access Management Advisory Committee in 1999 and 2001 and facilitating the DMV Older Driver Advisory Committee in 2000. In 2001-2002 she worked with the Oregon Dispute Resolution Commission to develop a system for evaluating the effectiveness of public policy collaboration. This pilot project was conducted in conjunction with the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution (MODR) and the United States Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR) under the umbrella of the Policy Consensus Initiative (PCI).

Ms. Kelley is a member of the Oregon State Bar, the Marion County Bar, the Oregon Mediation Association, and the Association for Conflict Resolution. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Oregon State Bar and has participated in planning continuing legal education programs. Alison mentors law students through Willamette University College of Law and was one of two lawyers named "Mentor of the Year" for the academic year 2002-03. Ms. Kelley is a Lecturer in Law and Senior Fellow of the Center for Dispute Resolution, Willamette University College of Law.

Alison has contributed to five chapters on mediation and related topics to the Oregon State Bar Continuing Legal Education publications, including the following:

Arbitration and Mediation, Oregon State Bar (1996 ed. & 2001 supplement).
Chapter 15: Mediation Basics (2001 supp.)
Chapter 19: Court Referral to Mediation (2001 supp., with Alice Phelan)
Chapter 25: Mediator and Arbitrator Ethics (2001 supp., with Sam Imperati)

Oregon Civil Pleading and Practice, Oregon State Bar (1994 ed. & 2001 supplement)
Chapter 36: Mediation (2001 supp., with Sam Imperati)

Federal Civil Litigation in Oregon, Oregon State Bar (1994 ed., & 2002 supplement)
Chapter 29: Alternative Dispute Resolution (2002 supp.).

She is assisting with the 2007 revisions to Chapters 15 and 25 of the Arbitration and Mediation CLE manual.  Alison is currently working on an article, "Conflict Management in Strategic Planning," as well as a long-planned biography of former Oregon Governor Oswald West.

Weekend interests include horseback riding, hiking, and gardening.