Don Lawson

Don Lawson is a certified Mediator and Cultural Competency (CC) consultant and trainer living in Austin, Texas.  Don has over 39 years experience working in the public and private sector in communications, education, and civil rights.

After receiving a BA degree from the University of Houston Don paid his dues for ten years as a classroom teacher and put in over eleven years in the communications & advertising field as a writer, producer, photographer, and art director.  
                   
            Cultural Competency – Mediation Background
From 1991 through 2009 Don worked at several state agencies under the Texas Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC) banner.  The agencies included: The Texas Department of Health (legacy TDH is now DSHS) Office of Minority Health-Center on Cultural Competency; TDH Office of the Ombudsman (Civil Rights); and the HHSC Civil Rights Office.  Don was the Program Administrator and lead Cultural Competency trainer for the nine years he was with the Office of Minority Health.  

He has trained or given presentations, workshops and seminars to over 7,000 participants of state, local & community organizations on cultural competency and diversity issues throughout the U.S.  As a consultant Don has been invited to give CC workshops to the CDC in Atlanta; Motorola, Inc. Employee Diversity Committee; and to various community health provider agencies in Texas including Americorps, Case Management and Dental Hygienists associations.  He is considered a subject matter expert in cultural competency and has written articles and commentaries on the topic as well as served as a panelist on TV and radio speaking on cultural & diversity issues.

Don’s mediation experience began in his work with the Office of the Ombudsman and Civil Rights Office concerning workplace employment and discrimination issues.

                    Certifications
Don received cultural competency train-the-trainer certifications and instruction from the National MultiCultural Institute in Washington, DC; Stir Fry Training Seminars in Berkeley, CA; and in the Texas offices of the National Coalition Building Institute and The Center for Health Training.  He earned his mediation certification at the Dispute Resolution Center while with the TDH Office of the Ombudsman in Austin.

Don is also a published photographer and has traveled throughout the US, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Europe, and Kenya and Tanzania in east Africa.