Anastasia (Stacy) Watson Smith, JD, is the Director of Special Projects at the Center for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (C-DRUM), providing faculty support to the Carey School of Law’s Mediation Clinic and the Erin Levitas Initiative for Sexual Assault Prevention. Ms. Smith is dedicated to encouraging and supporting collaborative decision-making and conflict management for individuals, organizations, and public and private institutions.

Ms. Smith has over 15 years of experience in offering and promoting effective conflict resolution processes, including mediation, group facilitation, facilitated dialogues, negotiation, and restorative approaches. Ms. Smith mediates regularly for the District Court of Maryland, for the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights in employment and discrimination matters, and for the Anne Arundel County Conflict Resolution Center in community, parenting plan and prisoner re-entry matters. She implemented and coordinated C-DRUM’s innovative attendance mediation program, and successfully expanded the program throughout Maryland in a collaboration with Community Mediation Maryland.

Ms. Smith also supports C-DRUM’s Schools Program, which promotes conflict resolution and restorative approaches in educational settings. She offers training and implementation support in restorative approaches to educators and school leaders throughout Maryland, including specialized trainings and workshops. She is a licensed trainer for the International Institute for Restorative Practices.

Ms. Smith graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Economics and received her law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center.   As an attorney she practiced for several years in the areas of corporate, health care and higher education law, with expertise in business organization, contract and regulatory compliance.  Ms. Smith is a member of the Maryland Bar and the MSBA section on Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence. She resides in Takoma Park, Maryland.