Community Mediation Program Map

Community Mediation Does Amazing Work. NAFCM Promotes It!

With over 400 community mediation programs operating throughout North America, these programs make a real difference every day. As a field, we have a lot to be proud of. With all these programs' regularly updating services and contact information, NAFCM has a lot for us to stay on top of.

NAFCM strives to maintain a complete, accurate list of all community mediation programs available to assist those in conflict. To make this list accessible to those in need, we've made it freely available on NAFCM's website as an interactive online map.

Each month, this map is accessed thousands of times by those in conflict seeking nearby assistance. It helps families locate programs to help with parent/teen mediations. It helps neighbors find more constructive options than relying upon code enforcement to encourage neighborly behavior. It helps local organizational leaders find a skilled facilitator for a difficult upcoming meeting. This map connects people facing all manner of conflicts to an entire field that's prepared, ready, and willing to help. We encourage anyone confronted with a particularly difficult situation to explore this online map and contact a nearby community mediation center to discover which services may be available for you.

We also encourage our colleagues throughout the field to regularly review and update the contact information contained on this map to ensure the public continues to have the best possible resource when called upon. Help NAFCM ensure it has your program's most accurate contact information. Confirm and, if necessary, update the details of your program. (Lend a hand by updating a neighboring program's info, as well!)

We're proud of the incredible work performed throughout the community mediation network. And we're very pleased to help make their work more accessible via the Community Mediation Program Map.

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

How Do We Help Thee? Let Us Count the Ways...

"Mediation sounds good for others, but it just won't work in my situation."

"The other side is too [insert: crazy, unreasonable, unstable, untrustworthy, unwilling, ...] to participate." 

Sound familiar?

Community mediation program staff members and volunteer mediators hear these responses from potential service recipients every day. In fact, convincing the parties that mediation may be helpful is oftentimes the most difficult (self-imposed) hurdle to a constructive resolution than any which may arising during the actual mediation itself. Part of this hesitance and uncertainty stems from the parties' unfamiliarity with mediation generally and its storied application in their context specifically. 

To help increase public awareness of how community mediation can help, NAFCM is compiling stories of how these services have previously helped similarly conflicted residents move beyond conflict and get back to their lives. Over the next several months, we will be contacting programs throughout the country to hear their stories and add them to an extensive list of applications for which community mediation can help.

Working with us on this project is Sheryl Ellis, a soon-to-be Master's recipient and NAFCM's newest project-based intern.  Sheryl's work will help those in conflict to connect with both the conceptual potential and the community programs able to make a difference. Here's what Sheryl has to say about her interests and energies: 

"I am excited about the opportunity to volunteer for NAFCM! I look forward to meeting other individuals in the organization throughout the United States. I am graduating in May with my Master’s in Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. During school, I completed Internships with American Airlines and North Texas Food Bank. I am currently an active member of ACR, Conflict Resolution Network, and Mediators Beyond Borders. My background is in Human Resources Consulting specializing in Employee Relations with my Human Resources Certification, California PHR Certification and my California Accident Life and Health License. One of the reasons that I am volunteering for NAFCM is to learn more about Community Mediation and how NAFCM assists communities in resolving issues. Professionally, I am interested in providing mediation, training and conflict coaching."

We look forward to supporting Sheryl as she connects with programs throughout the country and collects compelling stories of the many ways in which community mediation programs help those in conflict. If you would like to share your example of how community mediation can help, complete this short online form. 

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Partnering to Advance the Transformative Dialogue

We are pleased to announce a collaborative project between NAFCM and the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation (ISCT).  Over the past month, we have been working to create a convenient, online platform to advance both the agenda and dialogue surrounding transformative mediation.

Today, we are thrilled to unveil the "Transformative Practitioners & Centers" discussion Group!  This Group, co-hosted by both NAFCM and ISCT, is built upon NAFCM's private Google Groups portal, which functions as both a traditional list serve and an interactive online meeting space.  This platform will provide convenient access to those community mediators and program administrators interested in deepening their knowledge of and commitment to transformative approaches toward conflicts.  

To ensure the highest quality dialogue and latest developments are regularly covered, ISCT has tapped two of their brightest representatives to serve as the Group's managers.  Judith A. Saul and Jody Miller have committed to leading this exciting online exchange.  They will use this new Group to entreat substantive dialogue, foster the exchange and growth of participants' wisdom, and empower those advancing along their transformative path.  

Judith is currently a Certified Transformative Mediator™, a Fellow, and member of the ISCT's Board of Directors.  She previously founded the Community Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. in Ithaca, NY where she served as its Executive Director for 25 years.  Jody is also a Certified Transformative Mediator™and Fellow of ISCT.  She is the current Executive Director of the Mediation Center of Dutchess County in Poughkeepsie, New York.  You can read more about Judith and Jody, including their impressive backgrounds and deep commitment to transformative mediation on the ISCT's website.

This collaborative project reflects the strong, long-standing support NAFCM has demonstrated toward the transformative framework.  We firmly recognize the value of transformative mediation, which is largely viewed as a more holistic and responsive approach toward mediation than alternative models/frameworks/philosophies.  NAFCM works to support the numerous community mediation programs across the country that have adopted transformative mediation as their preferred or exclusive practice.  During 2007 and 2008, we trained 35 individuals representing several community mediation programs throughout the country in transformative practices as part of the Helping Our Military reEnter (H.O.M.E.) program.  Today, through this discussion Group, we continue our support of transformative mediation and those community mediation programs which are interested in or are currently espousing its tenants.   

We look forward to having many of you join us in the rich dialogue occurring within the Transformative Practitioners & Centers discussion Group.  We also graciously thank ISCT, Judith, and Jody for their continued support of community mediation and for working to make this collaboration possible.

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Website Wednesdays - Social Networking

Each Wednesday (or as close thereto as our schedule allows) we will highlight a particular feature of NAFCM's website worthy of your review.  By highlighting specific components of our website, we're hopeful you'll become better equipped to take full advantage of all the resources we've packed into our mighty site. Once you've checked out this week's feature, we invite you to continue clicking and discover even more!

This week's "Website Wednesday" feature: Social Networking

NAFCM's gone social!  Over the past seven months, NAFCM has been taking the hopeful message of community mediation to the masses using a number of popular social networking outlets.  From Facebook posts to bite-sized Twitter updates, videos and podcasts, and even this very blog, we're spreading the news that community mediation is here to help.

On the left panel of every NAFCM.org webpage, you can visit each of our current social accounts by clicking on their respective logos.  We've also created easy-to-remember short links directly connecting you to these services:

                    Go.nafcm.org/Facebook

                    Go.nafcm.org/LinkedIn

                    Go.nafcm.org/Twitter

                    Go.nafcm.org/YouTube

                    Go.nafcm.org/ADRhub

                    Blog.nafcm.org

                    Groups.nafcm.org

However you access our social activity, you'll quickly see there's a lot more happening than hits the listserve or makes our homepage.  For example, our Facebook Wall allows fans to ask questions and promote helpful resources.  Our Twitter account features a convenient list of community mediation programs using the service.  Our YouTube Channel features hours of community mediation videos viewed by thousands of visitors and subscribers.  On LinkedIn, we've created an open discussion group for all to join and contribute.  And on ADRhub, the social networking service designed specifically for conflict professionals, we're keeping community mediation squarely on the ADR field's broader radar.  

Each of these outlets allows us to spread the news about community mediation to different and increasingly wider audiences.  It also allows us to customize our message to these diverse audiences.  We keep it buttoned up for our business-minded LinkedIn discussions, and then to kick up our feet for Twitter updates like how community mediation can help cool red faces after too much green beer.

Wendy E. Hollingshead Corbett actually started us moving in this direction in November 2009 when - as our then Jr. Co-Chair - she created and administered NAFCM's Facebook page.  That first entree into social networking taught us a lot.  We learned connecting online is an increasingly meaningful, educational, and powerful experience, not entirely dissimilar to the personal connections we daily encourage in our work as conflict professionals.  We also learned that online social networking is becoming a key source of information for those in need of local offline services.

With this new appreciation in hand, we want to encourage more community mediation programs explore their own online social activities.  Getting set up with many of the most popular services is incredibly easy, and regular account maintenance can be as simple as a couple minutes every few days...though your investment obviously influences your returns.  If you're looking for inspiration, take a look at NAFCM Board Member-Elect Joe Brummer's activity for Community Mediation, Inc.  You can also check out the regularly informative "Tip of the Day" videos uploaded onto the Virginia Conflict Resolution Center's YouTube Channel.  

Once you've taken the plunge (or if you're already posting and tweeting away), NAFCM wants to amplify your online voice.  We've created a simple online form for you to tell us which social networking or other online promotional services/activities you utilize.  As you tell us what you're up to, we'll use our own networks to encourage folks to fan, follow, friend, and support your online activities.  This is yet another way we're supporting your important work and spreading the community mediation message.      

Be heard, be seen, be social with NAFCM!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Website Wednesdays - Community Mediation Search

Each Wednesday (or as close thereto as our schedule allows) we will highlight a particular feature of NAFCM's website worthy of your review.  By highlighting specific components of our website, we're hopeful you'll become better equipped to take full advantage of all the resources we've packed into our mighty site. Once you've checked out this week's feature, we invite you to continue clicking and discover even more!

This week's "Website Wednesday" feature: Community Mediation Search Engine

Do you Yahoo?  Do you Google?  Do you... Community Mediate?!  You should!  NAFCM has scoured the Internet to discover and aggregate hundreds of websites directly related and of greatest interest to our field.  You can take advantage of this extensive directory directly from NAFCM's website.

Using the power of Google's Custom Search Engine, we've created a search tool that only indexes community mediation and related websites.  You can access this new tool on the top right corner of every NAFCM.org webpage.  Simply click the downward arrow next to the "Search this site" box to reveal a "Community Mediation Search" option.  (The above picture demonstrates how to access this option.)  By selecting this option and then performing your search, you'll receive the fastest, most targeted, and useful information you've ever experienced online.   

For example, if you perform a regular Internet search for "intake form", you'll receive thousands of results from accountants, attorneys, counselors, doctors, schools, and countless other professional contexts which have nothing to do with community mediation.  Using NAFCM's new "Community Mediation Search Engine," however, this exact same search will provide you instant access to dozens of community mediation intake forms located on colleagues' websites.  No clutter, no useless results, no wasted time.  You get exactly what you need FAST!

To constantly improve your results, we are regularly adding new URLs to be indexed by our custom search tool. As programs around the world launch new websites, we're quickly adding them to the directory.  You can ensure your own website is included by completing our simple online form.  Once your site has been added, your resources will become quickly accessible to assist colleagues near and far.

Once you give it a try, you'll likely find yourself Googling...er "Community Mediating" more and more!  Use NAFCM's custom search engine to find sample forms, compare volunteer requirements or mediation costs, or, amusingly, "Community Mediate" yourself or a co-worker. Whatever you search for, we're confident you'll love the results!

SEARCH ON,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Website Wednesdays - Community Mediation Calendar

Each Wednesday (or as close thereto as our schedule allows) we will highlight a particular feature of NAFCM's website worthy of your review.  By highlighting specific components of our website, we're hopeful you'll become better equipped to take full advantage of all the resources we've packed into our mighty site.  Once you've checked out this week's feature, we invite you to continue clicking and discover even more!

  

This week's "Website Wednesday" feature: Community Mediation Calendar

Community mediation happens.  NAFCM has it scheduled.  

Need to promote your next event?  Planning your conference schedule for the year?  Interested in comparing your program's training rates and PR materials with those of colleagues?  NAFCM's Community Mediation Calendar is your new resource for all this and more.

Visiting NAFCM's new website will quickly get you connected with the latest events happening across your state and around the globe.  Whether its an international or regional conference, basic or specialized mediation training, volunteer mediator in-service training, teleseminar, fundraiser, call for proposal, or other community mediation related event, you can discover and promote them all using the field's new Community Mediation Calendar.  

This resource truly is the community's calendar.  In just over one month since launching, the Community Mediation Calendar has grown to over 40 events representing 20 different community mediation programs in over a dozen states.  We're working hard to ensure all events sponsored by or of significant interest to those working in community mediation are featured.

Now, we want to promote your events, as well!  If you are planning, presenting at, or simply looking to further promote a community mediation related event, share the details with the entire world by sharing them with NAFCM.

Adding your community mediation event is as easy as sending an email to events@nafcm.org.  In your message, be sure to include the event's sponsor, title, location, and a flyer or website where those interested can learn more. If you have PR or registration materials but haven't yet uploaded them online, we'll do that for you and add them directly to your event listing.  And to make this calendar accessible for all, we're offering this service to our community for FREE! 

Get involved.  Get noticed.  Get scheduled using NAFCM's Community Mediation Calendar.   

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Introducing NAFCM's "Website Wednesdays"

This week, we're pleased to launch a new feature on NAFCM's Blog, entitled: "Website Wednesdays."  

Each Wednesday (or as close thereto as our schedule allows) we will highlight a particular feature on NAFCM's website worthy of your review.  By highlighting specific components of our website, we're hopeful you'll become better equipped to take full advantage of all the resources we've packed into our mighty site.  Once you've checked out this week's feature, we invite you to continue clicking and discover even more!

  

This week's "Website Wednesday" feature: News & Resource Feeds

With over 400 community mediation programs throughout the U.S. and hundreds more internationally, our field definitely moves and shakes.  Trying to stay on top of it all can be an incredibly difficult and time consuming undertaking.  As a result, many of our colleagues only have time to learn what's happening at nearby programs or, for the ambitious, around their state.

Now, community mediation programs, their staffs, volunteers, and Board members can easily plug-in to the entire field directly from NAFCM's website.  We've created a single page titled "News & Research" containing up-to-the-minute activities and resources from Washington state to Washington D.C., Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and all points in between.  

We've scoured the web, subscribed to countless feeds, and set up dozens of alerts that capture and notify us of everything from newly published research to realtime tweets.  Using this system, roughly 20 items of note cross our desk each day.  (This number will continue to grow as we further build upon and refine our notification system, and as more community mediation programs expand their online activities.) Once notified, we personally vet each item and link only the most interesting, noteworthy, and otherwise helpful information to be featured on our website.  

In just the first month of our new website going live, we have featured over 100 items, including 20 job  announcements, 20 links to the latest research, over 30 national and local news stories, and links to 30 social updates, all specifically related to community mediation.  (Of course, if you find we're ever missing anything, please don't hesitate to let us know.)  Regularly visiting NAFCM's website will give you access to all these updates without having to wander the web alone.  With so many updates added daily, staying on top of community mediation is as easy as NAFCM.org!

We hope you enjoy this new feature!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

NAFCM Awarded a Google Grant!

NAFCM has been awarded a grant from Google allowing us to further promote public awareness of community mediation services.  As a recipient of a generous Google Grant, NAFCM will have extensive access to in-kind advertising designed to promote community mediation and constructive conflict engagement skills.  

Soon, links to NAFCM's online program map, interactive FAQ webpage, creative phone-in testimonials, and other resources will appear atop and alongside typical results when people search for such things as "sue my neighbor," "crazy in-laws," "hostile work environment," and many other common conflict-related terms.  Of course, we'll also be promoting NAFCM's resources alongside more 'industry-specific' terminology, such as "alternative dispute resolution,""community mediation," and "third-party neutrals," amongst others.

This grant will help introduce those in conflict with the helpfulness of community mediation services.  It provides our entire field priority access to those who are both experiencing some sort of conflict and casually or desperately seeking out advice and/or resources to deal with that conflict.  Being prominently showcased within results for many conflict-related searches means the public will now have truly helpful alternatives to the countless heavily optimized commercial websites which promote adversarial, combative, or other less-than-constructive remedies for seekers' queried quandaries.

This is a wonderful opportunity for NAFCM and, by extension, the entire community mediation field.   We encourage other 501(c)(3) nonprofit community mediation programs to apply for their own Google Grant to further raise public awareness, expand our collective reach, and do even more good.  

(Congratulations are in order for Community Mediation of Greater New Haven, which was also recently awarded a Google Grant!)

Thanks, Google!

In community,
Justin R. Corbett
Executive Director, NAFCM

NAFCM's New Website!

We are thrilled to unveil 

NAFCM.org 

NAFCM's new website!    

Developing this website has been a substantial labor of love (emphases definitely appropriate!). We have tried to pull the best from our former site and combine them with an extensive array of new features we're pleased to introduce.  You can still find much of NAFCM's historic materials on our new site, but can now also easily connect and share resources in exciting new ways.  With our redesign and continued enhancements, we look forward to serving as the online portal for all things community mediation.

Here are just some of the exciting features we are pleased to provide in our brand new website:

1. LOCATE A CENTER! - This feature has been the number one request of visitors to our website.  Previously, visitors could find programs by searching for their state and scrolling through lists of various lengths to hopefully find a nearby program.  Now, finding a center is as easy as zooming into an interactive Google map!  Place markers identify community mediation centers, their address, and basic contact information.  We encourage programs to search for their current listing and notify us of any additions/corrections using the link directly below the map.  We anticipate making numerous corrections in the early days of this feature, so welcome your feedback to making this feature as accurate and accessible as possible.
2. NEW DISCUSSION GROUPS - Join one of the many new community mediation discussion groups hosted by NAFCM.  These groups, centered around geographic and topical interests, are an interactive way to connect with colleagues, share resources, and stay on top of the latest developments.  These groups act as a listserve for those interested in participating via their email, and as an online community space for those who want to login, upload profile pictures, and engage the conversation directly through their browser.  Get connected, join a group today!
3. COMMUNITY MEDIATION CALENDAR - Community mediation happens.  NAFCM has it scheduled!  We are now hosting a centralized calendar of events relevant to our field. Whether its a conference in California, a gathering in Grand Rapids, a training in Tucson, or a teleseminar or online event, we'll publish your event details for all to see.  Adding events couldn't be easier.  Simply send an email to events@nafcm.org.  We'll also be adding a simple online form for additions soon.  
4. COMMUNITY MEDIATION SEARCH - Looking for just the right resource, but can't quite put your fingers on it?  Now, you can use NAFCM's custom Community Mediation Search Engine to quickly find resources directly related to our field.  Using the drop down box at the top of our new website, you can choose to search NAFCM's site, the entire Web, or perform a custom "Community Mediation Search."  This last option allows you to target your search to community mediation programs' websites and related resources.  We have indexed hundreds of websites and thousands of webpages to help you quickly find the best community mediation information and resources directly from NAFCM's website.
5. PUBLIC TESTIMONIALS - Mediation programs are too often referred to as their communities' 'best kept secrets.'  Now, through NAFCM's website, those we serve can also serve us by sharing their experience.  Visitors to NAFCM's website can choose to leave a general or program-specific testimonial by completing a quick online form, conveniently submitting a letter of support, or recording an audio message to be featured on our website.  These testimonials will help inform and encourage others to consider community mediation services for their own conflicts.  (For quality assurance and confidentiality reasons, all submitted testimonials will be reviewed prior to sharing to ensure their appropriateness for public posting.)

Those are just some of the exciting new features we've been working on, but there's more.  We're going live this week with a big list of additions yet to be unveiled.  Here are some of the features we look forward to releasing over the next month:

1. MEMBER LOGIN - NAFCM's members are dedicated professionals who are asked to do a lot with very little.  We're working to make their work easier by providing a members-only area that houses a crowd-sourced clearinghouse of countless resources, enhanced program member profiles to be included in future map releases, and other resources to help members better connect and enhance their centers.  As we continue building this members area, you can get an early start by beginning to share resources to the new online community mediation clearinghouse using our simple upload gadget or by sending your files to share@nafcm.org.
2. NEW CONTENT - While our new site isn't old enough to have collected any dust, not all pages and features may be completely polished either.  We're working hard to quickly upload the latest content about NAFCM, the field, and our members.  As we do so, we appreciate any feedback you have about new material you would like to see included. Share your ideas, additions, corrections, or comments about new content today!

We hope you enjoy NAFCM's new website.  It is an incredible pleasure to build and publish a site featuring the truly remarkable achievements of so many working and volunteering in the community mediation field.  We hope you find our website a fitting online portal for those in conflict and those working toward its constructive engagement.

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM