JAMS Foundation Awards More than $170,000 in Grants

September 26, 2012

Irvine, Calif. – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced that it approved eight 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 provide financial support up to $50,000 for ADR initiatives with national impact, and five Opportunity Grants, which award up to $10,000 for smaller scale and more localized projects.

“The JAMS Foundation is proud to continue funding programs that work to increase access to ADR around the world,” said Jay Folberg, executive director of the JAMS Foundation. “These initiatives aim to develop and teach conflict resolution skills and we’re honored to support them.”

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

• Kids Turn San Francisco (San Francisco, CA) – Development of Online Version of ‘Kids Turn Way’ Curriculum - $30,000 to fund the development and partial launch of an interactive online version of its recently revised and updated curriculum, The Kids Turn Way, which will provide conflict resolution and communication skills education to parents and children in reorganizing families. It is intended to extend the program’s reach to remote areas that lack access to such materials.

• Resolution Systems Institute (Chicago, IL) – Website Upgrade – (Conditional Matching Grant) $49,600 to redesign, update and expand RSI’s CourtADR.org website providing comprehensive information and resources on court-ADR, including improvements to its database and content, visual appearance, search capability, site navigability and site maintenance.

• U.C. Hastings College of Law (San Francisco, CA) – Court-ADR Summer Institute (Year 3) - $47,700 to fund the third annual, six-day intensive training institute on court-ADR systems design for non-U.S. lawyers, judges and court professionals, that prepare participants to design and implement court-ADR programs in their respective countries.  The program includes a mix of theoretical and practical classroom presentations, simulation exercises, opportunities to observe selected court-ADR programs and to meet with ADR judges, practitioners, and scholars, and continuing technical assistance following participants return to their home countries.

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

• Association for Conflict Resolution (Reston, VA) – Youth Day Resources for Annual Conference - $3,500 to fund Youth Day activities and resources at ACR’s 2012 Annual Conference in New Orleans. Funding will provide peace tools, printed materials, expert facilitators, food for participants and educational resources for youth to bring back to their schools and communities.

• Public Conversations Project (Watertown, MA) – Community Partnerships for Addressing Conflict Between Immigrant and Host Communities ($10,000) – In collaboration with Welcoming America, a national organization helping immigrant populations adjust to life in the U.S., $10,000 to fund an innovative pilot project assisting underserved urban communities develop processes for addressing and resolving conflicts between U.S.-born host communities and newer residents comprised of diverse immigrant and refugee populations.

• Quack & Wabbit Puppet Theatre (Eureka, CA) – Bullying Prevention Puppet Theater - $10,000 to fund the completion of a new bullying prevention puppetry program to complement existing programs, teaching K-6 children skills necessary for addressing differences, dispelling stereotypes, managing anger and resolving conflict. 

• University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (Baltimore, MD) – Attendance Mediation Program - $10,000 to support the expansion of an attendance mediation program for elementary and middle school students and their families, designed to reduce high levels of truancy in schools. The grant will fund training and technical assistance to community mediation centers throughout the state in an effort to extend the program’s reach.

• Volunteers of America, Northern New England (Brunswick, ME) – On-Site Mediation Clinics/Conflict Resolution Training for Seniors - $10,000 to fund the development of on-site conflict resolution workshops and mediation clinics at several low-income senior residences, providing education and services for disputes involving residents, family members and staff.

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 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.