Midlands Mediation Center announces new Executive Director
April 1, 2016
COLUMBIA, SC – The Midlands Mediation Center, a non-profit conflict resolution organization serving central South Carolina since 1998, announces the selection of Diane Frea as its new executive director, effective April 1. The appointment was made after a regional search and selection process, during which Frea served as the interim executive director for the organization.
“We are very pleased with the continuity and stability provided by Diane’s appointment as the executive director,” said Board Chair Sandra Francis. “She brings a wealth of practical organizational experience and a solid understanding of the center’s mission, which is fulfilled largely through volunteers’ commitment of time and talent.”
Frea has been associated with the Midlands Mediation Center since 2010, when she completed the Introduction to Mediation training course for recertification credit as a human resources professional. She has served as a volunteer mediator, trainer and a member of the Board of Directors, and completed the SC Bar’s Family Court Mediation training program in November.
Previously, Frea was vice president of human resources for The State Media Company. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in organizational change and leadership from Columbia College, where she is an adjunct instructor in the same graduate program.
Frea has served in volunteer leadership roles with the Columbia chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management and with the United Way of the Midlands and its affinity group Women in Philanthropy.
“The Midlands Mediation Center does important work in our community, providing alternative dispute resolution services, especially for those with low and moderate incomes, and training people to apply those same skills and practices themselves,” Frea said. “I’m honored to serve in a staff leadership role as we approach 20 years of championing dialogue that leads to peaceful resolution of conflict.”
The Midlands Mediation Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing low-cost mediation and conflict management services to individuals and organizations in the Midlands of South Carolina.
