Irvine, CA –The JAMS Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, working in collaboration with the Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York (CUNY), to study the history of diversity in the ADR field.
The purpose of the research aims to uncover the early pioneers and organizational initiatives that have contributed to the diversity of the dispute resolution field. Marvin Johnson, founder and executive director of the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, along with Professor Maria Volpe, director of the Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College at CUNY, are leading the project. They seek to increase the research-based evidence on how diversity has been addressed as a private and as a public matter, identify prior diversity efforts and lessons learned for implementing diversity initiatives, as well as identify next steps for understanding diversity in the dispute resolution field.
“This research will help to close the knowledge gap about the roots of diversity in dispute resolution and will allow the ADR community to build on that knowledge,” said Chris Poole, JAMS Foundation President and JAMS President and CEO.
Marvin Johnson, M.S., J.D., is a recognized mediator, arbitrator and trainer with more than 25 years of dispute resolution experience in public and private disputes and 16 years as a professor of Labor Relations, Law and Conflict Management at Bowie State University. He launched the Center for ADR in 1986 with the mission to promote and provide education and other comprehensive approaches to dispute resolution. He is based in Washington, D.C.
Maria Volpe, Ph.D., is a professor of Sociology as well as the director of the CUNY Dispute Resolution Consortium, a university-wide center focusing on dispute resolution research and innovative program development at John Jay College. The Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College, which she started in 1981, is one of the nation’s pioneer academic programs for undergraduates.
“As the dispute resolution field continues to grow this research will make everyone more aware of the long history of diversity in the dispute resolution field,” said Johnson.
“Our goal is to publish our research in dispute resolution-related journals so scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking information about diversity in the dispute resolution field can access it,” said Volpe.
Johnson and Volpe will examine documents buried in personal collections and the organizational archives of dispute resolution organizations. They will also search websites, email dispute resolution lists and identify additional sources of primary data like newsletters, memos, informal records and more. The team plans to complete their research in late 2011.
About the JAMS Foundation
The non-profit JAMS Foundation is the largest private provider of ADR-related grants in the world. The Foundation was established in 2002 by JAMS, The Resolution Experts, and is funded by JAMS mediators, arbitrators and employee associates who contribute a percentage of their income. The JAMS Foundation has provided more than $2.6 million in grant funding since its inception. More information about the JAMS Foundation may be found at www.jamsfoundation.org.
About JAMS, The Resolution Experts
Founded in 1979, JAMS, The Resolution Experts, is the largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services worldwide. With Resolution Centers across the country and abroad, JAMS and its 250 full-time, exclusive neutrals are responsible for resolving thousands of the nation’s more important cases. JAMS may be reached at 800-352-5267 or www.jamsadr.com.