JAMS Foundation Awards $100,000 in Grants

June 11, 2013

Irvine, Calif. – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation approved five 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 three Foundation Grants, which provides financial support up to $50,000 for ADR initiatives with national and international impact, and two Opportunity Grants, which award up to $10,000 for smaller scale and more localized projects.

“The JAMS Foundation is proud to fund programs that provide access to ADR around the world,” said Jay Folberg, chair of the JAMS Foundation. “These organizations will develop and teach conflict resolution skills in communities that need it and we’re honored to continue supporting them to do great work.”

The JAMS Foundation will provide Foundation Grants to the following initiatives:

• National Association for Community Mediation (Mesa, AZ) – Training Resource Center - $50,000 to fund the development and administration of a field-wide Training Resource Center for all community mediation centers and affiliated volunteer mediators, providing a centralized, accessible repository of video and audio training materials collected over many years from multiple sources worldwide. This project is intended to complement and integrate with the JAMS Foundation-funded NAFCM Clearinghouse providing a range of no-cost resources to community mediation centers, volunteers and staff.

• International Senior Lawyers Project (New York, NY) – Technical Assistance for Lagos Court of Arbitration - $15,000 to help provide technical assistance to the Lagos Court of Arbitration to develop ADR services in Nigeria, including capacity-building administrative support as well as specialized training for Nigerian judges regarding arbitration and the enforcement of arbitral awards.

• American Board of Trial Advocates (Dallas, TX) – Civility Matters Program (Year 2) - $15,000 to continue support for a nationwide program addressing incivility in the legal profession by providing law students and lawyers with vivid examples of uncivil behavior and highlighting the need for more constructive approaches to resolving disputes.

The JAMS Foundation will provide Opportunity Grants to the following programs:

• Community Justice for Youth Institute (Chicago, IL) – Restorative Justice Hubs - $10,000 to help fund the establishment of Restorative Justice Hubs, safe spaces providing conflict resolution and restorative justice education and services to at-risk youth and their families, community residents, schools, community and faith-based organizations and service providers.

• SEEDS Community Resolution Center (Berkeley, CA) – Court Mediation and Advanced Mediation Training Program - $10,000 to help expand the organization’s successful court mediation program in conjunction with the launch of a new advanced mediation training and certification program, providing experienced volunteer community mediators with advanced training and opportunities to practice their skills by participating in court-referred mediation of small claims disputes.

About the JAMS Foundation (www.jamsfoundation.org)
The nonprofit 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 largest private 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 nearly $4.7 million in grant funding since its inception. Founded in 1979, JAMS and its more than 300 full-time mediators and arbitrators are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s most important cases. JAMS is online at www.jamsadr.com.