2012 Year in Review

Happy New Year, Community Mediation!

2013 marks NAFCM's 19th year as the Voice of Community Mediation, and we're planning to take that voice into some pretty exciting new directions! Before we do, however, let's take a look back at some of our notable 2012 accomplishments... countdown style!  

10. New Member Benefits

As a member-supported organization, NAFCM is always seeking ways to support those who support us. Our growing package of member benefits is one way we're pleased to say "Thank You!" In 2012, we added several new options, including the ability to secure professional email addresses for all NAFCM members and the continued discount on Mediate.com's Case Manager for program members.

9. Community Calendar

Community mediation happens. When and where it does, NAFCM has it scheduled! This past year we continued to expand our Community Mediation Calendar by freely promoting over 600 local community trainings, gatherings, and celebrations. 

8. Conference Circuit

Each year brings a new slate of exceptional international and regional ADR conferences. This past year we had the pleasure of connecting with community colleagues at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, ACR, and SCMA annual conferences. We're planning even more gatherings for 2013! 

7. Webinar Series

2012 was a smashing success for NAFCM's new Community Mediation Webinar Series. We hosted over a dozen sessions on all manner of topics, most of which were FREE for current members! Moving into 2013, we'll continue to expand our offerings, including access to recordings from many of our archived events.

6. Publications Revisions

Early in 2012, NAFCM concluded the monumental task of completely revising many of our key publications. Thoroughly updated to reflect the field's evolving wisdom, NAFCM now offers the most up-to-date set of community mediation guides available anywhere. Moving into 2013, many of these will be available digitally to current program members! 

5. PeerMediators.org

Constructive youth-focused conflict resources are a must-have in today's schools. This past year, NAFCM collaborated with APADRC and Wendy E. H. Corbett to develop a new set of peer mediation resources that are now freely available to schools and community mediation programs everywhere. Available at PeerMediators.org, these training manuals, implementation guide, and digital resources, have already been shared with colleagues literally across the globe!

4. New Board Members

NAFCM is driven by the creative energies and dedicated work of its exceptional Board of Directors. This past year, NAFCM grew its Board by 50%, adding five inspiring field leaders and plenty of new energy to our continued renaissance. Our Board now includes representatives from 12 states and D.C. 

3. Outreach & Policy Committee

Capitalizing on the increased size and energy of the NAFCM Board, 2012 saw the establishment of our Board-level Outreach & Policy Committee. This committee will tackle some pretty important issues, including a number of pressing community mediation advocacy and public awareness initiatives. New Committee members are always welcome!

2. State of Community Mediation

For the first time in nearly a decade, NAFCM has outlined the contours and complexity of our field in its State of Community Mediation report. This extensive review included the contributions of over 100 field leaders and includes dozens of never-before-reported statistics about who we are and what we help our clients and our communities achieve. The entire report is freely available online and has been the subject of numerous presentations throughout the preceding year.

1. NAFCM Clearinghouse

One of NAFCM's top focus areas for 2012 is about to make 2013 unbelievably exciting! The NAFCM Clearinghouse, a digital, crowd-sourced collection of 6,000+ resources for and about community mediation, is now ready for its grand debut! Stay tuned to NAFCM's discussion group for release details and take a sneak peek at all that we've included.

Here's to an amazing year ahead!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

New Community Mediation Webinar Lineup

NAFCM's pleased to announce a fresh set of webinars in our ongoing Community Mediation Webinar Series.

Take a look at the exciting topics and expert presenters we'll be featuring:

• 2012-10-11: "Accommodating Mental Illness in Mediation" by Dan Berstein

• 2012-10-18: "Enhancing Mediation Skills through Online Simulations" by Giuseppe Leone

• 2012-11-08: "Understanding Mediation Program Influences Using TIMS" by Dr. Rebecca Storrow

• 2012-11-15: "Offering Elder Mediation Services to Your Community" by Crystal Thorpe

• 2012-12-12: "Advocacy Tools & Tips for Mediation Programs" by Joe Brummer & Daniel Kos

• 2013-01-10: "Grow Your Community Mediation 'Brand' through Fresh, Relevant Online Content" by Ben Ziegler

• 2013-01-17: "Adopting & Implementing the New Peer Mediators Curriculum" by Charles Chang & Wendy E.H. Corbett

• 2013-01-31: "Nipped in the Bud, Not in the Butt: Introducing ADR to Animal Conflicts" by Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton

Registration for many of these events is FREE for current NAFCM members and -- for most events -- only $25 for non-members. Secure the greatest savings by joining NAFCM or renewing your membership. For the next couple days, you can still snag your annual membership during our closing September special for only $38 (individuals) or as low as $75 for programs!

Have something you'd like to see included in our Webinar Series? You can now submit webinar proposals online via our ongoing RFP!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

RFP: Community Mediation Webinar Series

NAFCM is pleased to request a second round of proposals for its Community Mediation Webinar Series. We're seeking interesting programs, personalities, resources, and research to highlight amongst community mediation administrators and volunteers.

Initiated earlier this year, the Webinar Series has already offered nine educational events for program administrators throughout the U.S. and Canada. Now, we're seeking even more ideas to populate and continue building the Series.

• Do you have a new or interesting program you'd like to highlight?
• Do you have a personal or staff expertise you'd like to share with colleagues?
• Do you know of a resource colleagues should also know about?
• Are you a researcher with recent or upcoming work you'd like featured?

Whether one of the above applies to you, or you simply have a great webinar topic in mind, we want to hear from you!

Read the complete RFP and submit your topic ideas online. Both solo and collaborative presentations are invited! Act fast, the proposal deadline for this current round is August 15th. 

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Community Mediation Webinar Series

NAFCM is bringing all the latest in community mediation direct to you! Through the new Community Mediation Webinar Series, you can connect with the latest discussions, leading research, and inspiring topics, all from the convenience of your own office!

Staying current couldn't be more convenient! We realize budgets are strained, travel expenses have been excised, and time out-of-office is a decreasing luxury for many program administrators. That's why we're brining conference-quality trainings direct to you! Even better, we're making each webinar FREE for current NAFCM members! Non-members can register for only $20 per event or, better yet, join NAFCM to save even more!

Check out the initial list of webinars and stay tuned for new additions arriving regularly throughout 2012. Don't miss out, registration will be limited to only 20 seats per event!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

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