Kristin Belkofer, MS, LPC

Kristin Belkofer, MS, LPC, is the Founding CEO and Clinical Director of CLARA Healing Institute, a holistic mental health group practice in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Drawing on experience in community mental health, psychotherapy, education, and program development, Kristin created CLARA’s treatment model around healing the whole person within the context of family, relationships, and community. She leads a team of interdisciplinary professionals providing clinical services, expressive arts therapies, continuing education and training, professional development, and community programs. 

As a psychotherapist, Kristin works with individuals, couples, and families navigating complex life transitions, trauma, grief, neurodivergence, and the demands of our contemporary life. She specializes in working with attorneys, physicians and healthcare professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs—particularly women leaders balancing high-demand careers with the needs of their families and communities. Her clinical approach is informed by developmental neurobiology and attachment, with advanced training in somatic therapies, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems, and meaning-focused grief and trauma therapy.

Kristin holds degrees in Art Therapy and Community Psychology from Alverno College and has taught at Mount Mary University. Certifications include women’s leadership from Yale School of Management and Marquette University’s Elevate Program, as well as Suicide Postvention through the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her research and professional interests include the somatic experience of trauma, neurodivergence in girls and women, social connection, and public health approaches for adverse mental health outcomes. Kristin leads CLARA’s strategic partnership efforts, including a clinical and research collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Division of Suicide Research and Healing. She is the producer and co-creator of Connecting Bravely in their World, an online curriculum that helps parents and professionals better understand the role of digital media in youth and adolescent identity and relational development, while promoting “IRL” strategies for creativity and connection. She regularly presents at academic conferences, clinical trainings, and professional development events. Outside of work, Kristin enjoys life with her husband and collaborator, their two children, and their two elder dogs, Marvin and Earl Grey.

Heather Nelson

Heather Nelson is President and Shareholder of Everson, Whitney, Everson & Brehm, S.C., in Green Bay.  She is a Past President of Wisconsin Defense Counsel, whose members defend individuals and businesses in civil litigation.  Heather previously served on WDC’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee and is currently Chair of WDC’s Wellness Committee.  Heather is an experienced trial attorney, having successfully tried cases before juries in state and federal courts throughout Wisconsin and Illinois.  She obtained her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago and launched her legal career in the Chicago area, where she became Lead Trial Attorney with Hanover Insurance Company.  Heather became licensed to practice law in Wisconsin in 2000, and expanded her geographical reach, defending cases in both Illinois and Wisconsin. Joining The Everson Law Firm in 2016 brought Heather back home to her Green Bay roots and significantly reduced her post-Packer game commute time.  Her practice areas include motor vehicle accident, premises liability, products liability, wrongful death and insurance coverage.  Heather has been active in presenting CLE topics at WDC conferences, for the State Bar of Wisconsin, and at the North Central Region Trial Academy. None of this impresses her rescue dog and best boy, Bear, who cares only about long walks, pond swims and tummy rubs.

Katelyn Sandfort

Katelyn Sandfort is a Partner and Attorney with Herrling Clark Law Firm Ltd. She defended personal injury actions for the first ten years of her career. Her past experience as a defense attorney provides her additional insight of what the insurance company on the other side of a claim will likely do, both pre-suit and in litigation.

Katelyn has tried cases throughout the State of Wisconsin, from Milwaukee County to Eau Claire County and, of course, close to home in Outagamie County. She is a member of the Wisconsin Association for Justice (WAJ), as well as various local bar associations.

In her personal time, Katelyn can be found with her husband and two young sons enjoying Appleton’s farmers market in the summer and spending their afternoons exploring area parks and trails. She also has a spoiled Bernese Mountain Dog named Kiva.

Andrea Kupfer Schneider

Andrea Kupfer Schneider is a Professor of Law and Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law where she teaches a variety of dispute resolution courses, professional responsibility, and international conflict resolution.

In 2024, Professor Schneider was awarded the Rubin Theory to Practice Award given by the International Association of Conflict Management (IACM) honoring meritorious and long-standing contributions at the nexus of theory, research and practice. She was named the 2017 recipient of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work, the highest scholarly award given by the ABA in the field of dispute resolution. And in 2009, Professor Schneider was awarded the Woman of the Year Award by the Wisconsin Law Journal and the Association for Women Lawyers. She was elected to the American Law Institute in 2022 and the Council for Foreign Relations in 2023.

Professor Schneider has published numerous articles on negotiation, plea bargaining, negotiation pedagogy, ethics, gender and international conflict. Her books include Discussions in Dispute Resolution: The Coming of Age (Oxford University Press 2025) (winner of the 2025 CPR Book Award) and Discussions in Dispute Resolution: The Foundational Articles, (Oxford University Press 2021) (winner of the 2022 CPR Book Award) both edited with Art Hinshaw and Sarah Cole; multiple textbooks in the field including Dispute Resolution: Beyond the Adversarial Model (with Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Lela Love, Michael Moffitt & Kristen Blankley), Negotiation: Processes for Problem-Solving (with Menkel-Meadow & Love), Mediation: Practice, Policy, and Ethics (with Menkel-Meadow & Love), Dispute Resolution: Examples & Explanations (with Moffitt & Cole); Negotiating Crime: Plea Bargaining, Problem Solving, and Dispute Resolution in the Criminal Context (with Cynthia Alkon); and essay collections including Negotiation Essentials for Lawyers (ABA Book Publishing, 2019) and The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (DRI Press 2017), both co-edited with Chris Honeyman. She also co-authored the book Smart & Savvy: Negotiation Strategies in Academia with her father, David Kupfer and published the 25th anniversary edition of her book Creating the Musée d’Orsay: The Politics of Culture in France.

Professor Schneider was previously the director of the nationally ranked DR program at Marquette University Law School in Wisconsin, where she taught ADR, Negotiation, Ethics and International Conflict Resolution for over two decades. In addition to overseeing the ADR program, Professor Schneider was the inaugural director of Marquette University’s Institute for Women’s Leadership.

She is a founding editor of Indisputably, the blog for ADR law faculty, and started the Dispute Resolution Works-in-Progress annual conferences in 2007. In 2016, she gave her first TEDx talk titled Women Don’t Negotiate and Other Similar Nonsense. Professor Schneider received her A.B. cum laude from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. She also received a Diploma from the Academy of European Law in Florence, Italy.

Honorable Samantha Wagner