CHERYL L. EPPS
Senior Program Director, El Monte

Cheryl L. Epps is a mediator, trauma-informed facilitation practitioner, and dialogue designer with over two decades of experience supporting individuals, institutions, and communities navigating conflict and change. She is the Founder, Mediator, and Lead Consultant of AFGO Conflict Resolution Collective, where she provides mediation, training, and facilitation for youth-serving organizations, educational institutions, and workplaces. She most recently served as Executive Director of Kids Managing Conflict, leading the design and expansion of youth peer mediation programs in elementary, middle, and high schools.

Cheryl also served as a Senior Mediator with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office Dispute Resolution Program, where she mediated disputes between community members and Los Angeles Police Department officers and coached LAPD Sergeants and Detectives in basic mediation and de-escalation strategies. Her work in this space focuses on accountability, communication, and rebuilding trust across lines of authority and lived experience.

In community settings, Cheryl is a trauma-informed facilitator with the Institute of Non-Violence – Days of Dialogue, where she convenes and facilitates dialogues on issues including racism, religious and cultural conflict, homelessness, and community wellbeing initiatives. She is also an experienced educator and guest speaker, invited to universities to speak on facilitation, peer mediation in schools, and constructive engagement across differences, including the design and facilitation of classroom-based dialogues on cross-cultural conflict.

Internationally, Cheryl has collaborated with Mediators Beyond Borders International, serving on a global team supporting trauma-informed dialogue training for Ukrainian mediators working with refugee communities. She also developed and convened the Leaning In Dialogue series on race, collaborating with mediators across the United States and internationally, including colleagues based in Peru and Australia.

Cheryl holds a Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and is a registered Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitrator. Across all of her work, she is known for creating structured, compassionate, and “safe-enough” spaces that allow people to engage honestly, listen deeply, and move forward with greater clarity and dignity.