Family Mediation Council – Michigan is pleased to honor individuals who we call “Peacemakers.” These people have distinguished themselves in the community. In addition to family mediation practice, they participate in training and advocacy. Their efforts help to advance the practice and use of mediation as a tool for peaceful conflict resolution, helping families through a difficult process with dignity and understanding. Zena Zumeta is one such Peacemaker. Her enthusiasm for mediation is contagious!  She has shared her skills and talents with so many of us.  Her tireless work and consistent message have created a strong foundation for the continued growth of mediation in our state.  It is the privilege of the Family Mediation Council – Michigan to honor Zena with a Tribute Dinner celebrating her Lifetime Achievement in Mediation.

Zena has been a active participant in developing the court rules for mediation, the standards for mediation training, and the domestic violence training, which focuses on the screening protocol.  She has served on numerous committees and work groups to address ongoing or special purpose issues.  She has been a practicing mediator since the early eighties, and has been a trainer since the late eighties.

Zena was born in New Jersey, moved to Massachusetts, and ended up moving to Michigan in the seventies. Zena attended the University of Michigan Law School, and practiced in the area of labor law.  She worked, in part, on organizing and negotiation on behalf of nurses.  She later worked at U of M’s Institute of Gerontology and was asked to help mediate a dispute among staff members at the Institute. A resolution was achieved, and an interest in serving in the role of mediator was born.  Zena felt that with mediation, there was finally a way to get to the bottom of issues underlying a dispute.

Once Zena became aware of a movement to use mediation in the family law arena, she felt that this would be a good fit for developing her practice, in part because her personality allowed her to be a good bridge between the mental health and lawyer communities.  Zena later got involved with training, which she liked because she believed that training was a means of learning the craft, and that has proven to be true for her.

Among Zena’s proudest accomplishments is her participation with others, including Sally Rutzky, Mary Whiteside, and Gary Marsh, in creating the inter-disciplinary community has become central to how family law is practiced in Washtenaw County. She believes that the tenor of divorce practice has changed due to the ongoing communication between lawyers, the courts, mental health, and financial professionals.  This is being continued in the growth of collaborative practice as well as mediation.

Zena re-counted a recent conversation with a former student, in which the student asked how Zena promotes mediation. Zena’s answer was that she really is not trying to promote mediation – she is trying to promote peace. Mediation is a tool that she has loved and would recommend to many people, but what she is about is creating peaceful families, and the ability of families to help themselves.  She says that even though you can’t expect to completely change the world, this is a start, and the hope is for peace in this neighborhood and ultimately in the world beyond.