The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced that it approved five new grants to organizations using innovative ways to promote and advance conflict prevention and dispute resolution. The foundation will distribute $50,000 in the form of Opportunity Grants, which award up to $10,000 for localized projects.

“The JAMS Foundation is proud to continue to provide funding to programs promoting new and effective uses of ADR,” said Jay Folberg, executive director of the JAMS Foundation. “These five programs will make a valuable and positive impact in their communities and we’re honored to help support them.”

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

California Lawyers for the Arts – Pro Bono Mediation Program for IP Disputes - $10,000 to help fund a pilot program to create a specialized intellectual property panel to mediate arts-related IP disputes referred from federal courts, U.S. Copyright and U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices. It will provide pro bono mediation services for low-income participants and non-profit arts organizations.

Central Oregon Mediation – Resilient Habitat for Humanity Family Project - $10,000 to help fund a regional pilot program providing low-income Habitat for Humanity families and Habitat staff with conflict resolution and communication skills training, as well as providing no-cost mediation services to Habitat families and communities in appropriate cases.

Community Dispute Settlement Center – Domestic Workers Mediation Program - $10,000 to support the expansion of a unique program providing mediation training and services to domestic workers and their employers. In collaboration with the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers, CDSC will develop and conduct a series of train-the-trainer programs to build capacity and sustainability and provide domestic workers and employers with a safe and constructive forum for addressing disputes.

Loyola Marymount University – Bystander Awareness Program - $10,000 to support a campus-wide initiative to develop a sustainable Bystander Awareness program, providing university students and staff with information and resources for intervening constructively and effectively in order to prevent or reduce harm.

Suffolk University Law School (Boston, MA) – Mediation Advocacy Training Video - $10,000 to fund the creation of a training video demonstrating advocacy techniques for effectively representing clients in mediation, employing realistic case scenarios to present a full array of techniques used by skilled advocates to advance the interests of clients in legal and commercial 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 more than $4 million in grant funding since its inception. Founded in 1979, JAMS and its more than 280 full-time mediators and arbitrators are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s most important cases. JAMS is online at www.jamsadr.com.