Carol Berz is a long time resident of District 6.  She is the immediate past chair the Brainerd Hills Neighborhood Association and is recognized for her commitment and attention to community issues.   Educated and trained in law, policy and economics, Dr. Berz brings to the table the skills, experience and know-how necessary to unite and revitalize District 6.

Carol Berz is the Chief Executive Officer of Private Dispute Resolution Services, LLC, a mediation services and training organization headquartered in Chattanooga.

A civil and family mediator, Carol Berz she is listed by the Supreme Court of Tennessee as a Rule 31 Neutral and Trainer in General Civil and Family Mediation and as a Trainer in the Special Circumstance of Domestic Violence.   In addition, Carol Berz serves as a mediator for the United States Postal Service REDRESS program and does extensive teaching in both the private and public sectors in the areas of mediation, mediation advocacy, mediation ethics and employment and labor/management matters relative to the costs of corporate conflict.

Formerly the Director of Forensic Services for Joseph W. Johnson Mental Health Center, and subsequently its Executive Director, Carol also has served as a visiting professor at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, teaching social policy, law and ethics.   She is a Board Certified Diplomat in Clinical Social Work, with extensive post-doctoral training in mediation, law and conflict management system design.

She served as the Chair of the Curriculum and Continuing Education Committee of the Mediation Association of Tennessee before becoming its President in March, 1998.   She also chaired the Mediation component of the Hamilton County Courts’ Pilot Project relative to Tennessee’s Parenting Plan law and spent eleven years as a commissioner with the Chattanooga Human Rights/Human Relations Commission, dealing with employment and civil rights matters.   Carol was the first woman Chairperson of that body.

Carol is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution in Washington, D.C., where she serves on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Certification Task Force and Awards Committees and as a member of the Finance Committee.   Other professional memberships include the National Association of Social Workers, where she chairs the Committee on Ethics for Tennessee, as well as serving as a mediator for the national organization; the American Bar Association, as a member of its ADR Ethics Education Sub-Committee, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Carol is a 1995 graduate of Leadership America in Washington, D.C., and is a former President of the Board of Directors, and a life member of, the Moccasin Bend Girl Scout Council.   She served on the Governor’s Task Force on Church Burnings and presently serves as Chairperson of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women, for whom she previously headed the Economic Impact Committee.   She is a former Chair of the Board of Managers of the Hamilton Family YMCA and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Chattanooga Metro YMCA, where she served on the Human Resources Committee.   She is the 2004 recipient of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, and recently was honored by the City of Chattanooga for her unique contributions toward advancing equality of opportunity among the citizens of the City.

Carol studied liberal arts at Emory University and human service administration at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.   Her master’s degree in social policy was completed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; her law degree was completed at the Nashville School of Law; and her doctorate in social policy was completed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in cooperation with Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania.   In addition, she is certified by the Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA) as an Instructor and by the YMCA/USA as an Instructor and Trainer in Aquatics, where she specializes in aquatic kick-boxing.   She is a graduate of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School’s 2005 and 2006 Insight Initiative Summer Learning Forums.