Faculty & Staff Biographies
Sara Campos is the Director of the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution, a Certified Bilingual mediator, and a Visiting Professor of Law. She received her bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Originally trained at The LCCR as a law student mediator, The LCCR recruited her to become part of the regular staff upon graduation in 1999. Since that time, she has become the associate director, directing community and court-affiliated mediation programs, supervising and mentoring staff, students, as well as volunteers, providing community outreach, support and training. Ms. Campos, along with another colleague, received the 2005, 2012 and 2018 Case of the Year Award from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. She participates on numerous mediation panels including, The Second Appellate District Court Panel. In addition to her mediating and mentoring, she also teaches Mediation Advocacy at Loyola Law School. Ms. Campos served on the board of The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) and continues to be a member of the Membership Development Committee.
Alexandra Pogonat is the Assistant Director at Loyola's Center for Conflict Resolution. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in English Comparative Literary Studies from Occidental College and a Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. She is an attorney and received mediation training satisfying the Dispute Resolutions Program Act as a law student. She has over ten years of mediation and conciliation experience and is fluent in Romanian and Spanish.
Matias Alcaraz is a Senior Conflict Resolution Associate / Mediator at The Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution. He received his bachelor’s degree from the California State University, Fullerton in Political Science and Criminal Justice. Matias received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. As a law student, he received mediation training that satisfied the Dispute Resolutions Program Act. He started at LCCR as a student extern and later as a contract Conflict Resolution Associate. He is bilingual (Spanish) and an attorney.
Edwin Salguero is a bilingual Senior Conflict Resolution Associate/Mediator at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution. As a law student at Loyola Law School, he received mediation training that satisfies the Dispute Resolutions Program Act. In addition, Edwin also conducts community outreach, mediates custody and visitation disputes in Dependency Court, and is the liaison to the Collaborative Family Law Clinic in which he coordinates and mediates divorces with a collaborative team. Prior to joining the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution, Edwin worked as a Special Education Assistance for LAUSD assisting children with special needs (2008-2011). Upon graduating with a B.A in Sociology from California State University Northridge, he worked for a nonprofit community based mental health agency for five years. Edwin received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in May, 2020.
Robert Antunez is a Conflict Resolution Associate/Conciliator at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor from University of West Los Angeles School of Law. He is bilingual (Spanish).
Janet Sacks Grundfest is a Senior Conflict Resolution Associate/Mediator at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution who was named Los Angeles County Volunteer of the Year in 2018, for her work in mediation and conflict resolution. Janet is a graduate of The University of Southern California with a B.A. in communications and sociology and received her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. Janet received her Dispute Resolutions Program Act Mediation training through the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs and Loyola Law School. Janet is a part-time staff mediator at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution and is an attorney.
Philip Adler: Philip Adler is a Conflict Resolution Associate/Conciliator at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego and his Master’s and Doctorate in Psychology from the California Graduate Institute of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He received training from the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association, and he received mediation training that satisfies the Dispute Resolutions Program Act.
Mercedes Smith is the Coordinating Secretary at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Loyola Marymount University. She received mediation training that satisfies the Dispute Resolutions Program Act. Mercedes coordinates the Center’s three clinical programs: C-MAC, DC-MAC and C-LAW.