COMMUNITY
STARTS HERE.
OUR STORY
The Bridge Institute has been promoting peaceful resolution since 1989 and operates from the foundations of Roanoke's Conflict Resolution Center and Better Agreements, Inc. which served the New River Valley. Today, we serve all of Southwest Virginia as the region's leader in processes for resolving conflict and building community.
The Bridge Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible and support our mission of ensuring everyone has access to alternative dispute resolution processes. Our federal EIN is 02-0655364.
MEET US
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EDDY SMART began his career as a student intern reluctantly placed with the Conflict Resolution Center in 2006, Eddy observed the value of conflict resolution processes and the power found in transforming conflict into opportunities for understanding and productive ways forward. Eddy remained at the Conflict Resolution Center honing his skills as a mediator, restorative justice practitioner, group facilitator, and parent educator, and became Executive Director in 2010. Eddy’s passion for conflict and process-related work led him to return to the field after an eight-year detour in direct mental health services, starting his own firm in 2019. Eddy took on leadership of The Bridge Institute, then Better Agreements, in the fall of 2020.
BOARD PRESIDENT
DONNA CHEWNING is passionate about creating opportunities and ways for people to share their stories and have a voice in the decisions that affect them. She is a graduate of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA, where she focused on Restorative Justice. Donna has taught restorative justice concepts and circle process to teachers, administrators, resource officers, students in public and private schools, members of the church community, and students at the university level. Through her restorative justice work in the juvenile courts in the Roanoke Valley and the public schools in Richmond and Roanoke, she has facilitated over 1,000 circles with children, youth, parents, and teachers and witnessed the respect, understanding, and accountability that emerges through circle conversations. She owns and operates Shared Solutions LLC.
ASHLI SEMONES
Board Vice President
Quality Management Director
Carilion Clinic
AMELIA BLAND WALLER
Board Secretary
Retired, Assistant Attorney General, Division of Child Support Enforcement
STEVEN P. LEE
Board Treasurer
Business Intelligence Developer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
KIM KRISTENSEN
Board Member
Owner, Warrior Mediator
ALEX WATKINS
Board Member
Population Health
Community Coordinator
Virginia Department of Health
HENRY YAMPOLSKY
Board Member
Assistant Director for Education, Outreach, and Conflict Resolution
Office for Equity and Accessibility, Virginia Tech