Irvine, Calif. – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced that it approved four new grants to organizations using innovative ways to promote and advance conflict prevention and dispute resolution. The foundation will distribute the money in the form of two Foundation Grants, which provide financial support up to $50,000 for ADR initiatives with national impact, and two Opportunity Grants, which award up to $10,000 for smaller scale and more localized projects.
“These organizations share the JAMS Foundation’s commitment to providing innovative and effective dispute resolution training and services,” said the Foundation’s Executive Director, Jay Folberg. “We are proud to support their efforts to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.”
The JAMS Foundation will provide Foundation Grants to the following initiatives:
Conflict Resolution Center (Minneapolis, MN) – Conflict Consulting Project - $50,000 to fund the development of a Conflict Consultant’s Handbook and training workshop, offering conflict management assistance to parties involved in community disputes when mediation with other parties is not an option, helping them to communicate more effectively and to develop constructive strategies and action plans for moving forward. www.crcminnesota.org
UC Hastings College of the Law, Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (San Francisco, CA) – Court-ADR Training Institute - $45,650 to fund a five-day intensive training institute in court-ADR systems design for non-U.S. lawyers, judges and court administrators, including both practical and theoretical instruction as well as opportunities to observe court-based ADR programs and to meet with local ADR judges, practitioners and scholars. www.uchastings.edu/centers/negotiation-adr
The JAMS Foundation has also awarded $10,000 Opportunity Grants for these two programs:
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (Madison, WI) – Stakeholder Meeting on ADR in Civil and Family Courts – In collaboration with Resolution Systems Institute and Marquette Law School, $10,000 to help support a meeting of national leaders in civil and family court dispute resolution, exploring current challenges faced by court-ADR professionals and developing new approaches for addressing them. www.afccnet.org
Volunteers of America, Western Washington (Everett, WA) – Conflict Resolution Training and Re-Entry Mediation Program - $10,000 to help strengthen and expand an existing program providing mediation skills training and re-entry mediation services to inmates preparing for release from prison. www.voaww.org
About the JAMS Foundation (www.jamsfoundation.org)
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, the nation’s premier provider of alternative dispute resolution services, and is funded by JAMS mediators, arbitrators and employee associates who contribute a percentage of their income. The JAMS Foundation has provided more than $3 million in grant funding since its inception. Founded in 1979, JAMS and its more than 250 full-time mediators and arbitrators are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s most important cases. JAMS is online at www.jamsadr.com.