Officers and Board of Directors

CCND Officers & Board

Board of Directors

Officers

President
Rosemarie Ferrante, Wilton

Rosemarie joined the Board in 2019 after serving on the public education committee, for many years. She has hosted many Comcast shows on behalf of CCND in an effort to enhance CCND’s outreach. Rosemarie also worked with Amy Stone to develop the comprehensive Policies and Procedures Manual. Rosemarie is looking forward to further engaging members through ongoing programs and trainings and launching a pro bono project with the CT Bar Association. Read more about Rosemarie here.

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Vice President
Katie Bissonnette, Glastonbury

Katie joined the Board in 2017. She has been actively involved in the Public Education Committee and done a tremendous amount of work with our webmaster in ensuring our website is optimal. As the new Membership Committee chair, she hopes to achieve more engagement from the bars and grow our membership! Learn more about Katie, here.

Treasurer
Hollis Hardiman, Fairfield

Hollis joined us as Treasurer after successfully hosting our quarterly CDFA Meet Ups for over a year. Learn more about Hollis here.

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Past President
Michael Conway, Waterbury

Mike has been a Board member since 2016, serving as Secretary, Vice- President and President. Under his leadership, we created a robust internal structure through our Policies and Procedures Manual, we’ve brought back in person dinner meetings and our annual conference. Mike has served on the UCLA Committee and Legislative Committee and is proud of the hard work done by all to bring the UCLA to the forefront of the next legislative session. Mike strongly believes in the culture and unified effort of all CCND professionals and is proud to have been in a leadership position, and continue to supporting our mission. Read more about Mike here.

Board Members

Michelle Adelman, Fairfield

Michelle has been a Board Member since 2018 and has served as Secretary since 2020. She serves on the Public Education Committee and is eager to continue the committee’s work in promoting our organization to professionals who are often the first to support those contemplating family restructuring, such as clergy and therapists across Connecticut. A cherished memory of her time on the Board is the first in-person Board meeting after years of remote sessions during Covid. Hugging everyone again highlighted her gratitude for working alongside like-minded professionals who have become dear friends and the importance of these connections. Learn more about Michelle here.

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Jill Bicks, Westport

Jill joined the Board in 2020 She has served on the Public Education Committee and is Chair of the UCLA Committee. Thanks largely to Jill’s efforts, the Uniform Collaborative Law Act (UCLA) is scheduled for consideration on the docket for the next legislative session. Jill is very proud of CCND’s work in expanding awareness of and access to the collaborative process and mediation. Read more about Jill here.

Nicole Bikakis, New Haven

Nicole joined CCND’s Board in 2025. She has been part of CCND since 2020 and has served on the Professional Development Committee since 2022, where she is now co-chair. Nicole has devoted her practice to nonadversarial divorce and is passionate about expanding the use of mediation and collaborative divorce, helping families across Connecticut navigate transition with respect and care. Learn more about Nicole here.

Susan Busby, West Hartford

Susan has been a board member since 2007 and served as Secretary from 2008-2012. She works on various committees, including Professional Development. Susan cherishes the friendships she has made through CCND, and has enjoyed the collective work of ensuring our non-adversarial voices were heard during the COVID pandemic. Read more about Susan here.

Sophie Denis-Helenek, Essex

Sophie joined the Board in 2020 and has served on the Professional Development committee and Treasurer from 2020-2024. She is thrilled to continue to offer engaging and informative webinars and workshops for CCND members. With the return of our in-person dinner meetings, Sophie is looking forward to seeing members connect and expand their knowledge. Read more about Sophie here.

Douglas E. Fishman, West Hartford

Doug has been a Board Member since 2016 and served as President from 2018-2020. He has worked tirelessly along side Katie Bissonette on maintaining CCND’s website and assists the Treasurer on all things financial. He fondly recalls surprising Board Member Beth Karassik with the Lifetime Achievement Award! Learn more about Doug here.

Brendan Holt
Woodbridge

Brendan joined the Board in 2020 and has been instrumental in continuing to bridge the relationship Carrie Kass built with Quinnipiac Law School which continues to benefit our community. Brendan is looking forward to serving as Vice President and serving on the Professional Development Committee to assist in the implementation of new and enriching trainings to benefit our members. Read more about Brendan here.

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Robert Horwitz, New Haven

Bob is one of CCND’s OGs, having served on our Board for over 25 years! He served as Co-President in 2000- 2001. Bob shares that CCND has been near and dear to his heart since he first joined, when the organization was in its infancy, when we were CCDM (The CT Council for Divorce Mediation). He remembers fondly how we grew to include collaborative practice when it began to take hold in CT. Learn more about Bob here.

Carolyn Kaas, Hamden

Carrie is one of our longest serving Board Members, and served as Co-President with Sidney Horowitz. Carrie forged our long standing positive relationship not only with Quinnipiac University’s School of Law, but also Quinnipiac’s Center for Dispute Resolution. These relationships continue to bring value to all CCND members as we continue to host many events at QU. Carrie is a vocal proponent of ADR with respect to the legislature and has been educating young lawyers on mediation and collaborative divorce through her teaching position at QU School of Law. Learn more about Carrie here.

Beth Karassik, Cheshire

Beth has served on the Board since 2017. She has chaired the Professional Development Committee for many years. Beth is looking forward to continuing to resume and grow our in person dinner meetings and offering cutting edge trainings for members. She is the proud recipient of the Your Brain on Divorce Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more about Beth here.

Jessica Lastarza, West Hartford

CCND’s newest Board Member, Jessica Lastarza, joined the Board in 2026. A collaborative attorney and mediator with more than two decades of experience, she has dedicated her practice to helping families resolve divorce outside of court through mediation and collaborative divorce. Her approach emphasizes education, empowerment, empathy and efficiency, helping clients make informed decisions while navigating family transition with dignity and respect. As a mother of three teenagers and an active member of her community, she brings both professional experience and a practical understanding of the challenges facing families to her work and to the CCND Board. Learn more about Jessica here.

Jennifer Luise Champagne, Shelton, CT

Jennifer has been an active Board Member for over 10 years. As President, she succesfully led CCND through the Covid years, after serving previously as Secretary and then Vice President. She is proud of the hard work the Board did during her presidency to keep CCND a vibrant community. Jen currently chairs the Public Education committee, currently in the process of organizing our next Divorce with Respect week. Learn more about Jen here.

Deborah Noonan, Norwalk

Deb has been on the Board since 2001. She served as Co-President in 2006-2007. Deb serves on the Public Education Committee as well as the UCLA Committee. She was Chair of the committee which organized our 2024 annual conference. Read more about Deb here.

Traci Provost, Westport

Traci has been a board member since 2022 and serves on the membership committee; she has worked hard at ensuring that all members profiles are updated! Traci also works on the newsletter. You can read more about Traci here.

Mark Soboslai, Westport

Mark joined the Board in 2022. He serves on the Public Education Committee and has been instrumental in organizing Divorce with Respect week. He is proud of the work CCND has done with respect to brining the UCLA to the next legislative session. Read more about Mark here.

Honorary Advisory Board
Louise Zito, New Haven

Louise joined the Board in 2007 and served as President from 2014-2016. She has not only been a member of the Professional Development and Public Education Committees, but she also developed and leads the “APFM Verified” 40 Hour Divorce & Family Mediation Training hosted by CCND annually. Louise is the 2022 recipient of the Howard Krieger Beacon Lifetime Achievement Award and shares that is one of her proudest moments, “to be recognized by your colleagues is a beautiful gift, to be the first to be awarded this honor after it was renamed in honor of Howard, there are no words that are sufficient!” Read more about Louise here.