Conflict Resolution Month 2026

Meet the Speakers

Dr. Amy Salazar 
President & Principal Consultant | Higher Heights Consulting

Dr. Amy Salazar is President and Principal Consultant of Higher Heights Consulting, where she partners with a wide range of colleges and universities—from large flagship institutions to regional public colleges—to develop strategic initiatives that improve student success, institutional effectiveness, and organizational performance. She also collaborates with organizations beyond higher education to advance strategic planning, project management, and organizational excellence. In addition to her consulting work, Dr. Salazar serves as an Assistant Professor in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at The University of Alabama, where she is a core faculty member for the Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution and teaches graduate courses in leadership, emotional intelligence, and conflict negotiation. Through her work as both a consultant and educator, Dr. Salazar is dedicated to helping individuals and organizations build stronger cultures, develop effective leaders, and achieve meaningful, lasting results.

Bryan Carlisle, MS
Director of Safety and Risk Management | Blinn College District

Bryan Carlisle is a seasoned crisis management executive and professional speaker with over three decades of leadership experience across law enforcement and higher education. He currently serves as the Director of Safety and Risk Management for the Blinn College District, where he oversees campus safety, emergency planning and response, and behavioral threat assessment and management. Bryan’s expertise in conflict resolution is rooted in his extensive field experience, including his tenure as a Crisis Negotiation Team Commander, Criminal Investigator, and senior command-level officer.

A recognized authority in de-escalation and crisis communications, Bryan is a Department of Homeland Security Master Trainer in Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management and the founder of Crisis Training Solutions, established in 2004. He holds a master’s degree in criminal justice leadership & management from SHSU and is a graduate of both the prestigious FBI National Academy and Leadership Command College. Bryan has served as an adjunct instructor for Sam Houston State University College of Criminal Justice and the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas . His unique blend of tactical negotiation experience and academic rigor allows him to translate high-stakes crisis strategies into practical, masterable skills for any professional environment.

Peter Reilly, JD
Professor of Law and Associate Director of Aggie Dispute Resolution Program | Texas A&M University School of Law 

Peter Reilly is professor of law and associate director of the Aggie Dispute Resolution program at Texas A&M University School of Law. He teaches classes in ADR, Professional Responsibility, and Negotiation. Prior to entering academia, Reilly was attorney-advisor within the Office of General Counsel at the United States Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, DC. Reilly's scholarship focuses on dispute resolution, with a strong interest in deferred prosecution, ethics, emotional intelligence, and theories of influence and persuasion within the context of mediation and negotiation. Reilly has received the Dean’s Scholarship Award at Texas A&M Law, recognizing faculty members who demonstrate “steadfast commitment and contribution to legal scholarship.” Reilly earned a B.A. from Princeton University, J.D. from Harvard Law School, and LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. 

For the last several years, Professor Reilly has been a consultant in the federal prosecution of Boeing surrounding two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that resulted in 346 deaths in 2018 and 2019. Reilly was part of a team led by Professor Paul Cassell (Utah Law School), an expert on the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) who was lead counsel for 15 families who lost loved ones in the Boeing tragedies. The government used several ADR instruments to resolve the case (including a deferred prosecution agreement or DPA, a plea deal, and finally a non-prosecution agreement). Reilly will talk about his experiences working on the case, focusing in particular on the advantages and disadvantages of the government using a DPA at the outset of the case. Reilly has spent much of his career highlighting the advantages of turning to Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve issues, and working on the Boeing case has made him think through some of its drawbacks.

Mike Aspland
Executive Director, Institute for Homeland Security | Sam Houston State University

Mike Aspland has 36 years of experience in criminal justice, homeland security, and public service. He was the first member of the Institute for Homeland Security team at Sam Houston State University, bringing together a group of professionals from the public and private sectors to set the IHS on a path to improving critical infrastructure protection for Texas. Mike served as the Deputy Director of Education Operations and the Common Operations Research Environment Lab at the Naval Postgraduate school for seven years, served as the Assistant Police Chief for the Monterey, California Police Department, and a Lieutenant for the Santa Barbara Police Department. He also founded Set Free Monterey Bay, a restoration home for women escaping sex trafficking. In October 2021, Mike arrived in Texas to launch IHS.   

Shreya Mehta and Kaisa Goodman
Stanford University

Shreya Mehta recently graduated from Stanford University (data science and social systems major), and Kaisa Goodman recently graduated from Stanford Law School. They were recently recognized by Stanford University with its ePluribus Stanford award, which recognizes critical inquiry, constructive dialogue, and civic engagement. They have significant experience with civil discourse at the university-level, and will present their experiences about how to have discussions on difficult subjects that are essential to democracy. You can read about their work and their recognition here: https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/06/epluribus-award-civic-engagement-dialogue

Henry E. Farber, JD
Mediator and Arbitrator | RanierADR

Henry E. Farber is a mediator and labor arbitrator based in Washington and California.  He began his career as a neutral with the National Labor Relations Board.  After law school, Henry practiced labor and employment law representing employers and individuals for 39 years.  He began mediating in 2021, and focuses mostly on employment litigation matters in tech, health care, and government workplaces.  Henry is also a Commissioner on the Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission, has been named a “Best Lawyer in America” since 2001, and is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. 

Hon. Tom Gray, JD
Chief Justice (Retired), 10th Court of Appeals

Chief Justice Tom Gray, now retired, served 26 years on the Waco Court of appeals, 21 of those as the Chief Justice.  He is a 1978 Cum Laude graduate of Sam Houston State University, with a BBA degree.  He received an MBA degree from Texas A&M University in 1979.  After working for at the international accounting firm of Deloitte Haskins + Sells, for three years he attended Baylor School of Law, graduating Cum Laude in 1985.  Upon graduation from Baylor with his JD degree, he practiced with a regional law firm in Corsicana, Texas with an active litigation practice in probate matters and condemnation.  In 1988 he began working for Fulbright & Jaworski's Dallas office doing a variety of commercial litigation including accounting malpractice defense.  In 1998 he won election for an open seat on the Waco Court of Appeals (Texas Tenth Court of Appeals District) and in 2003 he was appointed Chief Justice of that Court where he was subsequently elected in 2004, 2006, 2012, and 2018 and from which he retired at the end of 2024.  He is now a retired/visiting judge qualified to sit on both the trial and appellate bench.  He also served on the committees that advise the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals regarding the adoption of rules of procedure and evidence.  He is the only member to serve on both committees.  While on the Court he was an active proponent of the referral of cases to mediation because of the belief that it is better for the parties to actively participate in the final resolution of their dispute rather than have a court conclude it with an opinion and judgment.