Brad Gordon brings over 35 years of pioneering dispute resolution expertise to the Sports Conflict Institute as a Senior Practitioner, uniquely combining extensive mediation experience with hands-on youth athletics leadership. As Executive Director of UpSide413 (formerly Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority) since 1994, he founded and developed Berkshire County’s first court-connected Dispute Resolution Center, mediating over 4,000 cases across diverse contexts including education law disputes between students, teachers, and school districts. His six years coaching high school track and cross-country at Pittsfield High School (2006-2012) provides authentic insight into the dynamics of competitive youth athletics and the conflicts that arise in scholastic sports environments.

A former elite distance runner who competed at the high school and collegiate levels—recognized as one of the best high school distance runners in Western Massachusetts in the late 1970s—Gordon brings a unique philosophical perspective to sports conflict resolution. He draws powerful parallels between the physical demands of distance running and the emotional challenges of mediation: “You have to embrace discomfort. If you embrace it, you actually enjoy it. I embrace conflict. It’s interesting to me.” This mindset, combined with his extensive training as a mediator (UMass Mediation Project, 1989), conciliator, and collaborative attorney, enables him to navigate the most heated disputes with composure and effectiveness, particularly those involving youth athletes, parents, coaches, and athletic administrators.

Gordon’s expertise extends beyond traditional mediation to encompass organizational conflict systems design, having developed dispute resolution programs for Massachusetts courts, public agencies, and educational institutions. His work on the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Conflict Intervention Team (1995-2005) and current appointments to the Governor’s Housing Advisory Council demonstrate his capacity for high-level policy work. At SCI, he specializes in Olympic sports and related governance disputes, community sports disputes, scholastic athletics conflicts, youth sports organization governance, and developing sustainable conflict resolution systems for athletic departments and sports leagues at all levels.