Raytheon Rawls

Ms. Rawls is a member of the faculty at the Fanning Institute, a public service and outreach institution of the University of Georgia. Ms. Rawls is an attorney, arbitrator, and mediator and holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources. Additionally, she holds the status of Advanced Practitioner/Advanced Educator with the Association for Conflict Resolution. She is also an Associate at the Public Conversations Project, an organization out of Boston, Massachusetts whose mission is to guide, train, and inspire individuals, organizations, and communities to constructively address conflicts relating to values and worldviews.

Ms. Rawls has mediated and arbitrated thousands of cases in government institutions, court systems, corporations, and with private parties. Since 1983, she has traveled extensively throughout the United States offering courses in mediation (basic and advanced), arbitration, conflict management, designing conflict management systems, and valuing diversity. Her courses have been approved by various state bar associations, the National Association of Social Workers, and other professional organizations. She has facilitated numerous meetings on issues of diversity, public policy and strategic planning. In 2002, the Supreme Court of Georgia appointed her to the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution—the body responsible for establishing ADR policies and procedures in the courts of Georgia.

Currently, Ms. Rawls is serving as lead faculty member on the writing of the statewide water management plan. She is assisting in facilitating meetings on the rewrite of the Juvenile Court Code, community economic development academies, stakeholder input on strategies to overcome persistent poverty and leadership development. She is currently conducting training sessions on becoming an arbitrator, becoming a certified grievance hearing officer and facilitating difficult conversations.

Ms. Rawls was the founding president-elect of the Georgia Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution. She received her J.D. degree from Georgia State University and is admitted to the Georgia Bar. She was an Administrative Law Judge in the State of Georgia, and a former assistant dean of the Georgia State University College Law. She is currently serving on the editorial board of Conflict Resolution Quarterly.