Community Mediation Webinar Series

Advanced Community Mediation Trainings, 

Direct to You!

Community mediation program administrators are some of the hardest working professionals in our field. Every day they undertake the seemingly Sisyphean task of nurturing and embedding greater conflict competence within their diverse communities. Many programs do so understaffed and on significantly under-supported budgets. And yet, despite substantial hurdles along the way, these professionals and their dedicated volunteers accomplish wonderful victories for peace one renewed relationship, one enhanced local policy, and one empowered neighbor at a time.

Unfortunately, given the variably affronted and repeatedly attenuated budgets as of late, community mediation programs have increasingly fewer resources to reinvest in their staffs' professional development. Juxtapose this with nearly two decades of commentary detailing the overworked, overstressed nature of community mediation administration, along with more recent research noting marked increases in specialized service demand at such programs, and the need for accessible, affordable training is not only necessary for current administrators' professional development, but also core to the very advancement of our field.

Continuing its tenured role as an advocate for and innovator within our field, NAFCM is excited to announce the initial stages of its new Community Mediation Webinar Series! This exciting new Series is designed to specifically answer the demands facing those programs seeking to responsibly and smartly invest in their administrators' continued development. Using intuitive technology, this Webinar Series will bring valuable trainings directly to program staff - eliminating the expenses and downtime associated with traditional out-of-the-office conferences and training sessions. It will extend and compliment NAFCM's successful Teleseminar Series, Regional Training Institutes, and other efforts that regularly and widely share fresh material to community mediators and program administrators.

Share Your Expertise: Call For Proposals

Not limited to merely conveying packaged trainings, NAFCM wants to incorporate your unique expertise into the Webinar Series. We're looking for program administrators who have a special skill set, programmatic focus, or well-earned wisdom they're willing to share with colleagues. Through August, we will be accepting topic proposals to be included in this exciting new Series. Take a look at our Webinar Series Request for Proposals and consider what you can share with the field. When you're ready to propose a topic, complete this simple Proposal Form.

Webinar topic proposals must be received by Wednesday, August 31st.  Soon thereafter we look forward to revealing additional Series details, including our initial schedule of informative webinar trainings!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Fund Development Teleseminar

Teleseminar on

Fund Development for Community Mediation Centers

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

1:00 to 2:30 pm EDT

Cost: FREE!

Co-Sponsors: NAFCM & the ACR Community Section

Back by popular demand, this one and a half hour teleseminar will provide a broad overview of funding sources available to nonprofit mediation centers. The information provided will be general in nature. All participants will receive a helpful 24-page fund development handbook and have an opportunity to participate in an interactive Q&A component following the formal presentation.

The following topics will be covered in the teleseminar:

1. The essentials of development planning;
2. The seven sources of money available to any organization;
3. Overview of government funding sources;
4. Funds from foundations;
5. Fees for service;
6. Funds from individuals; and
7. Marketing, public relations, and fundraising.

Speaker: Karmit Bulman is an attorney, qualified neutral under Rule 114, and has been the director of non-profit organizations for 25 years. She was a managing attorney for legal services and served as executive director for the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, Avenues for Homeless Youth and Temple Israel. Ms. Bulman is currently the executive director of the Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) in Minneapolis, and is responsible for financial management, program development, public and community relations, fund raising and oversight of CRC operations. CRC is a community-based, non-profit organization formed in 1981 for the purpose of strengthening communities by teaching and providing mediation and conflict resolution services. Karmit is also the newly elected Vice Chair of the NAFCM Board of Directors and member of the ACR Community Section Leadership Team.

To ensure there is an opportunity for all those on the call to participate, we may be limiting the number of registrations accepted for this event.  Complete your registration today! 

Call-in instructions and teleseminar handouts will be emailed to registrants on Friday, July 22nd.

We look forward to hearing you on the call!

In community,
Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

ABA Dispute Resolution Conference Recap - Day 2

The second full day of general sessions is now a wrap at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution's Spring Conference. What a day it was! From complexity theory to therapeutic dogs, I'm flying away with some interesting experiences and truly out-of-the-box thoughts. I'm also leaving with some new and renewed connections with colleagues involved in or supportive of community mediation.

Here's the community mediation recap for day two. Share your thoughts and respond to the questions by submitting a comment!

Topic: Engaging Conflict Before It Matures - Using Deliberative Dialogue to Assist Communities and Members of the Armed Services Bridge their Differing Cultures

Question: What is your community doing to help service members re-integrate into civilian life following deployment(s)?  Is there a way your program may be able to plug-in to and supplement these efforts?

Question: Could multi-stakeholder community dialogues focusing on the challenges facing re-integrating service members help bridge the military-civilian cultural divide? 

Resource: NAFCM & the ACR Community Section's co-hosted teleseminar on Mediating Military Personnel-Involved Conflicts.

Resource: Learn about NAFCM's previous work supporting the re-integration of reservist service members.

Topic: Conflict Resolution and Creativity as Emergent Characteristics of Weak-Tie Networks and Small Worlds

Question: How many community dispute resolution centers are engaged in conflict prevention work, and what (beyond training) are they doing on this front?

Question: What is the right mix of conflict prevention, conflict engagement, and conflict resolution services?  Is there a "right" or "optimal" mix of these services for the entire field, or is it inherently contextually/community-based?

Resource: The Werner Institute for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution

Topic: Stories Mediators Tell

Question: Do you share your mediator stories?  If so, with whom (mediation program staff, fellow volunteers, others)?

Question: Would there be value in NAFCM creating a new repository of community mediation stories and/or outcomes?  Could we do such a thing and ensure confidentiality?

Resource: Medley of Mediation Stories created from participants of the NAFCM and VOMA listserves.

Resource: How would you categorize your favorite community mediation story? Love fest, horror novel, heart-warming, pure comedy, something else? Share your favorite story headline!

Finally, there were dozens of hallway conversations that kept the ideas flowing and connections strong.  In between sessions I was able to further the community mediation connection with JAMS Foundation's dedicated staff, Mediate.com's tech marvels, the nation's foreclosure mediation guru, court ADR resource and research powerhouses, and folks from CADRE, the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine's Straus Institute, Creighton's Werner Institute, and many other brilliant and wonderful colleagues.

One specific conversation leaving me both smiling and scratching my head was with a mediator who uses trained, therapy dogs to ease tensions that arise during mediations. She said these dogs are trained to walk toward those expressing anger and calmly place their heads upon the laps of those whose anger is rising. "Who can stay mad when there's a cute dog calmly sitting by your side," she asked. Good point! Made me wonder if these pups were simply more advanced versions of koosh balls many mediation programs keep table-side to ease table tensions.  Also had me scratching my head about whether such purposeful use of service animals by the mediator may run afoul of any standards or ethical guides. While allergies may be at risk, confidentiality, it's safe to assume, wouldn't be jeopardized!

Throughout the conference we were also providing micro-updates and interesting links on our Twitter account.  Don't miss a quip!  Follow us as we head to other conferences and continue our exciting work.  

If yesterday's overview and today's recap have you feeling you missed out, be sure to mark your calendar for next year's 14th Annual Spring Conference in Washington D.C. on April 18-21, 2012. We'll reach out and work with the Section to find ways we can make next year's conference an even better, more accessible event for community mediation folks, especially those near our nation's capital.

Enjoy the weekend!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Beyond Bullying - Training Active Bystanders

Community mediation programs across the country have initiated and advanced an impressive array of community-focused services.  From community-police dialogues to surrogate decision making, cross-cultural communication training to homeless prevention, these services expand upon the core components of constructive conflict engagement and serve to equip communities with targeted responses to emerging and persistent conflict trends.

No trend is as disturbing or consequential as bullying.  Headlines continue to fill our media with unfortunate examples of the harm caused by such activities, as well the creative and increasingly visible responses it has begun to elicit from school houses to the White House.

Quabbin Mediation in Orange, Massachusetts, is leading the way in responding to this increasingly destructive conflict through their engaging, holistic, and proven approach called Training Active Bystanders (TAB).

NAFCM is pleased to highlight Quabbin Mediation's extensive work with TAB by offering a teleseminar designed to educate and expand the use of TAB programming throughout communities nationwide.  Co-hosted by the ACR New England Chapter, this hour-long teleseminar on May 26th will feature three of Quabbin Mediation's dedicate professional staff members and introduce the tenants, benefits, and potential of TAB.  We invite all interested programs to learn more and register for this FREE teleseminar titled: Beyond Bullying - Training Active Bystanders.

Together, we can help reduce harm, improve our communities, and do even more good.

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM