Anastasia Watson Smith, JD

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. 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 Equity and Civil Rights in employment and discrimination matters, and for the Anne Arundel County Conflict Resolution Center. 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.

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.