2025 Advanced Mediators' College

The following table includes an at-a-glance look at the 2025 Mediators’ College schedule and content. Meeting times and topics subject to change. 

Prior to February 21: Watch the Welcome Video, complete the Topic Selection Survey, and review the materials for your February 21st pre-selected topic. All materials can be found in the 2025 Advanced Mediators’ College educate@iaiabc course.

*If you do not remember which topic you selected, please email events@iaiabc.org.

You can find a detailed look at the program here:

View Detailed Schedule

Facilitators:

Brian Holmes
Director of Mediation and Ombudsman Services
Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation

Brian Holmes is the Vice Chair of the IAIABC Dispute Resolution Committee and Chair of the Mediators’ College planning subcommittee. In his role as the Director of Mediation and Ombudsman Services at the Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, he directs policy and leads 22 mediators and 7 ombudsmen as they educate the public about workers’ compensation and resolve benefit disputes. He has had the privilege to help thousands of injured workers’, their employers, and insurance companies make informed                                                      decisions while resolving their workers’ compensation benefit disputes for over 17 years.

Jennifer Poole
Mediator
Idaho Industrial Commission

Jennifer has been an Idaho Certified Professional Mediator since 1996 and currently serves on the board of the Idaho Mediation Association, and is a member of IMA’s grants and fundraising committee and IMA’s Training and Education Committee. She has been teaching mediation, conflict resolution, constructive communication, and Restorative Justice since 1999 as adjunct faculty at Boise State University and throughout Idaho with                                                      her company, Resolution Empowered Mediation and Training and her nonprofit, Idaho                                                          Mediation and Resolution Center.

Theresa McGowan-Sroczyk
Compliance Bureau Chief
Montana Department of Labor and Industries, Employment Relations Division

Theresa was a Wage and Hour Compliance Investigator for the State of Montana for 10 years.  She then moved to the labor mediation section, mediating public sector labor grievances, wage and hour issues, and worker relationship issues.  The agency underwent a reorganization and the workers’ compensation mediators were combined with the labor mediators.  Theresa became the supervisor of that unit and worked to cross train mediators so they were able to mediate any dispute arising from a decision issued by the                                                      Montana Department of Labor.  Theresa was promoted to the Bureau Chief, for the                                                                  Compliance Bureau, responsible for assisting businesses in compliance with workers’                                                              compensation, independent contractors, professional licensing, and safety and health                                                            regulations.

Patrick Cummings
Workers' Compensation Judge
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry

Judge Cummings serves as a Workers’ Compensation Judge and Mediator for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Office of Adjudication.  Hearings and mediations are conducted either in person or may be conducted remotely (i.e. by video or telephone).  Judge Cummings generally conducts In person hearings and mediations in the Office of Adjudication court rooms located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Some of you may recognize Scranton as home of “The Office” or as birthplace of President Joe Biden.                                                       Sworn in as a Workers’ Compensation Judge in 2005, and an active member of the IAIABC                                                     since that time, Judge Cummings currently serves on its Dispute Resolution Committee.

Leslie Bowman
Mediator
Montana Department of Labor and Industries, Employment Standards Division

Ms. Bowman began her career as a Workers’ Compensation claims adjuster in 2000 after studying nursing at the University of Montana.  While she enjoyed studying nursing, she discovered her passion for both medicine and the law could be seamlessly integrated into her role as a Workers’ Compensation adjuster and mediator. Her extensive experience as a  claims adjuster provided a strong foundation for her success as a Worker’s Compensation    mediator for the state of Montana.  As a member of the IAIABC, Ms. Bowman values              collaboration with other professionals and is passionate about educating and supporting                                                    mediators.  Ms. Bowman gained invaluable insights through her work with fellow                                                                    mediators and is passionate about sharing this knowledge with those aspiring to enter                                                          the field. 

Doug Gott
Chief Administrative Law Judge
Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims

Doug Gott has been an administrative law judge with the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims since 2008. He was appointed Chief ALJ in 2017. He helped develop and implement the DWC’s expedited medical dispute program. He has chaired the DWC’s Regulatory Advisory Committee on multiple occasions to provide the Commissioner information from stakeholders on updating current regulations and implementing ones. He was involved in the DWC’s Medical Advisory Committee that assisted the                                                                              Commissioner on the adoption of treatment guidelines and a pharmaceutical formulary.                                                      He initiated the development and implementation of the DWC’s first mediation program                                                      and regulation. Since late 2018, he has mediated over 800 workers’ compensation claims.                                                      He coordinates semi-annual training sessions with the ALJ panel in Kentucky, with regular                                                    emphasis on improved legal writing. He has presented on various topics at over 50 state,                                                      regional, and national conferences since becoming an ALJ. He is on the Board of the                                                                National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary; a fellow of the College of                                                                  Workers’ Compensation Lawyers; and a member of the IAIABC Dispute Resolution                                                                    Committee.

Michelle Sisk
Manager of Policy and Compensation Compliance and ALJ
Colorado Division of Workers' Compensation

Michelle S. Sisk, Esq., is the Manager of Policy and Compensation Compliance and an Administrative Law Judge for the Colorado Division of Workers' Compensation.  Her job involves oversight of the rules and legislative process and the carrier practices unit. She also serves as a Prehearing Administrative Law Judge where she rules on procedural matters and conducts settlement conferences. Michelle previously served as a Senior Assistant City Attorney with the City and County of Denver in their Workers'                                                                               Compensation Unit, and also worked in private practice, primarily representing                                                                         respondents.

Jason Parker
President and Senior Work Disability Consultant
Centrix Disability Management Services

Jason is the creator of Motivation and Action Planning, which is a unique behavioral, worker-centric approach to work disability prevention.  Jason has extensive experience in Work Disability Prevention and Stay-at-Work/Return to Work programs with over 27 years                                                    of experience covering almost every employer group.  Over the years, he has developed a                                                    specialty in work disability prevention, worker engagement, and RTW outcomes that is                                                          evidence-based and worker-centric. Jason oversees the leadership of Centrix focuses on                                                       helping Insurers and Employers improve RTW outcomes by transforming the worker                                                               experience.

Patrick Pendleton
Ombudsman
Alabama Workers' Compensation Division

Patrick Pendleton is an attorney who is licensed in Alabama and Mississippi. After years working in Mobile as a defense attorney, he went on his own and represented employees                                                    throughout Alabama in workers' compensation law.  Seven years ago Patrick and his wife                                                      decided to slow down and move full time to their family farm in Conecuh County,                                                                    Alabama.  Patrick is an Ombudsman with the State of Alabama, and regularly speaks on                                                        the topic of workers' compensation and mediation.  Patrick has personally mediated over                                                   1,000 cases and was involved as an attorney in hundreds of mediations.