Alexia Georgakopoulos

Alexia Georgakopoulos, Ph.D., is currently a Professor in the Department of Conflict Studies at Nova Southeastern University where she advises and teaches masters and doctoral students. Dr. Georgakopoulos has previously taught at three other premiere universities, which most recently included Arizona State University. She is the Director of the Institute of Conflict Resolution and Communication (ICRCtraining.com), a premiere mediation and conflict resolution training, consulting firm specializing in delivering educational training in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation Certification to the public. She delivers Florida Supreme Court Mediation Certification and continuing mediation education.

She is the Editor of the Handbook of Mediation: Theory, Research, and Practice that has recently been published by Routledge Publishers in 2017. The handbook is the most contemporary handbook of mediation in the field and it features nearly 60 thought leaders, forefront authorities, and notable practitioners in the fields of mediation, peace studies, justice, human rights, and conflict resolution. Many contributors are pioneers in the field. This work is a unique multidisciplinary collaboration that Dr. Georgakopoulos organized with participating scholars and practitioners from various universities, centers, and organizations that included, but was not limited to the following: John Hopkins University, American University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Harvard, University of California, Mediators Beyond Border, NGOs, the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation, William D. Ruckelshaus Center as well as governmental agencies like the U.S. Military Academy, and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to name a few. The handbook features ways that mediation can be applied to a range of spectrums, including new age settings, relationships, organizations, institutions, communities, environmental conflicts, and intercultural and international conflicts. The text is informed by cogent theory, state-of-the-art research, and best practices to provide the reader with a well-rounded understanding of mediation practice in contemporary times. More about the book can be found at bit.ly/TheHandbookofMediation. 

As a professor, trainer, researcher, practitioner, and world-class expert in mediation and conflict resolution with two decades of work in the field, she is a nationally and internationally sought out speaker and trainer. She was interviewed and appeared on NBC’s Today Show to discuss peace in a diverse world.

Dr. Georgakopoulos is a practicing mediator in diverse forms of mediation (family, corporate, environmental, and multinational mediation) as well as a facilitator, arbitrator, dispute systems designer, conflict coach, and peacebuilder in both domestic and international contexts. She served as part of the Middle East Initiative Group of the Mediators Beyond Borders (working with the Israeli and Palestinian conflict), facilitated a Foreclosure Summit in Florida during the financial housing crisis, worked as a facilitator with a House Representative who was charged by the White House to address policy issues concerning Climate Change and National Security, and she continues to train thousands of mediators throughout the world in classroom and training contexts. She received a Quality of Life Grant to design the Youth Peace Leadership Mentorship Program titled READING PEACE PALS for youth organizations including the Boys and Girls Club. The program focused on training youth to be Peace Ambassadors and she plans to roll out this program on national and international levels. She has worked with Nonprofits like the Children’s Movement of South Florida Organization to promote and aid in their advocacy of children initiatives, legislation, issues, and programs. Also, she works closely with the South Florida Crime Commission to promote safer communities with her work on workplace bullying, community policing, illicit narcotics, and at risk youth programs. She was the lead facilitator at the Annual Narcotics Conference in 2015 and presented official questions for the distinguished panel of leading experts in narcotics such as FBI officers, senior law enforcement officials, and directors of hospitals in South Florida. She is an authority on Conflict Management Systems, Adult Workplace Bullying and Workplace Wellness/Safety, and along with her research in this area, she regularly delivers training workshops on these topics for organizations. She was featured among the leading experts on workplace bullying on the panel at the Annual Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment by the Broward Crime Commission.

She is committed to providing service in the community and as such she is the Director of the Conflict Resolution Community of Practice Working Group, which is a Department of Conflict Studies’ Working Group devoted to a movement for Positive CHANGE in Communities. She welcomes anyone with a passion to promote change in communities to join. Further details of past and present programs are provided on the website.

Dr. Georgakopoulos conducts extensive research in conflict resolution and works as a professional practitioner, trainer, and conflict resolution specialist in the following contexts: multinational organizations, school systems, healthcare organizations, family systems, governmental agencies, religious organizations, community-based organizations, and international organizations. She delivers a wide range of alternative dispute resolution programs. She is committed to offering quality educational programs to her students.