Lesley Allport

Lesley Allport has had a long career as a mediation practitioner, spanning the last 30 years. Working initially as a family mediator in the 1980s, she has been involved in developing new areas of practice such as special educational needs mediation and disability conciliation. She mediates conflicts within families, workplaces and education settings, as well as having experience in community mediation and cross-border child abduction cases. Lesley delivers foundation mediation training in...See more

Lesley Allport has had a long career as a mediation practitioner, spanning the last 30 years. Working initially as a family mediator in the 1980s, she has been involved in developing new areas of practice such as special educational needs mediation and disability conciliation. She mediates conflicts within families, workplaces and education settings, as well as having experience in community mediation and cross-border child abduction cases. Lesley delivers foundation mediation training in several contexts and offers advanced training for supervisors and mediators working directly with children. She has a keen interest in developing professional standards. She is currently Vice Chair of the College of Mediators and acts as an adviser to the Professional Standards Committee. She also sits on the editorial board of the College journal Mediation Theory and Practice. Lesley's academic interest in mediation began in 2005 with a European master's degree, as part of which she developed a model of supervision specific to mediation. In 2016 she successfully completed her PhD with the Birmingham Law School, examining the comparative growth of mediation. Her research included conversations with many mediators working in a variety of contexts and investigated core aspects of mediation practice operating across all sectors. See less