Draft Agenda – Restoring Community Day
8:00: Meet in lobby – please bring $5 to contribute to cost of bus transportation
8:30: Depart hotel
9:00 Arrive at Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center
9:15 Welcome
9:30: Session 1: “You’re Doing Fine Oklahoma! Overview of the Early Settlement Mediation statewide community-based program.”
10:30: Break
10:45: Session 2: “Bandaging Wounds: The Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board’s Experiences Using Mediation to Promote Healing”
11:45: Break
12:00: Session 3: “Restorative Practices”
1:00 Lunch/Networking/Tours of IJKC (Lunch sponsored by IJKC – Plano)
2:30: Session 4: Round Table Discussions:
(i) Bringing Parties to the Table
(ii) Breaking Deadlock
(iii) Remote / On-line Mediation
(iv) Restorative Practices
(v) ACR and NAFCM Partnership
4:00: Break/Buffer
4:15: Thanks and Farewell
4:30: Depart for Hotel
5:00: Arrive at Hotel
You’re Doing Fine Oklahoma! Overview of the nationally recognized Early Settlement Mediation statewide community-based program
Overview:
The Dispute Resolution Act was passed by the Oklahoma legislature in 1983 and added a funding mechanism in 1985 (which was increased this past year) to fund regional Early Settlement mediation centers around the state. The centers provide various mediation services to the courts and communities across the state free of charge (or by statute $5 per party if not filed in district court) to its citizens utilizing community volunteers from all different walks of life. This past fiscal year there were over 5,500 requests for mediation services statewide with a 70% agreement rate. The Oklahoma model is recognized nationally as being one of the fastest growing community based programs.
Presentation Objectives:
This presentation will give attendees an overview of the successful statewide community-based Alternative Dispute Resolution System model used in Oklahoma including:
The Oklahoma Model
Facilitative Mediation
Regional Early Settlement Centers
Types of Services Provided
Volunteer Mediators
Program Growth
Presenters:
Phil Johnson, State Director, Alternative Dispute Resolution System
Marcy Thomas JD, Director, Early Settlement Mediation – Northeast Oklahoma
Gary Maxey JD, Director, Early Settlement Mediation – Northwest Oklahoma
Kathy King, Director, Early Settlement Mediation – Central Oklahoma
Phil Johnson became the State Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution System, a program sponsored by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma through the Administrative Office of the Courts, on November 1, 2016. Oklahoma is recognized nationally as having one of the premier community-based mediation programs in the country with over 5,500 mediation requests per year. There are twelve (12) regional Early Settlement Mediation programs which serve all 77 Oklahoma Counties and thirteen (13) State Agency Programs.
Phil also serves as the statewide Peer Mediation Specialist and ADR System Trainer. Previously, he served as the Assistant State Director and Director of the Early Settlement Mediation - Central program serving over 1.2 million people. Phil started as the Program Director for the Early Settlement Mediation – East Central Program in 1996.
During his time with the program, Phil has obtained training and certification from the Supreme Court of Oklahoma - Administrative Office of the Courts in the various types of mediation the program serves, including being trained by Dr. Bernard Meyer of CDR and Associates, Boulder, Colorado, in Family and Divorce mediation. He has also completed certification as a trainer for the Oklahoma mediation program.
Additionally, Phil was trained by the National Center of Conflict Resolution in Chicago, Illinois as a student peer mediation trainer and has worked extensively with schools around Oklahoma in helping them implement the student peer mediation program. He serves on the Association of Conflict Resolution - Community Section Committee. Phil has mediated or co-mediated over three thousand (3,000) civil and family cases in his time with the program.
Speaking opportunities include over 40 per year in schools and community settings around the service area and the state. These speeches are both informational and motivational, and are intended to educate Oklahomans’ about the program and the opportunity to resolve disputes in a “peaceful manner.
Phil has a Bachelor’s of Science degree with an emphasis in Middle School Education from East Central University. He resides in Norman, Oklahoma.
Contact Information: Administrative Office of the Courts (405) 556-9835 -2100 North Lincoln, Suite 3 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105 -- E-mail:
Bandaging Wounds: the Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board’s Experiences Using Mediation to Promote Healing
Overview: The Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board (CAB) provides mediation services throughout the United States of America, primarily in matrimonial, familial, business, and other commercial matters. CAB offers its services in matters in which at least one party is a member of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim community, generally known as Ismailis. Underpinning CAB’s mediation practices is a deeply-held conviction that mediation can initiate a restorative healing process for parties affected by the trauma of a dispute. CAB aims to set these parties on a path of healing by “bandaging their wounds” through mediation.
Presentation Objectives: This presentation seeks to share CAB’s specific, restorative practices used during mediation, namely: (i) a consciously empathetic process, (ii) referrals for inter-institutional support services, (iii) self-help resources, (iv)tools for considering the needs of non-party children, (v)a forward-looking end-of-mediation session, and (vi) post-mediation assistance.
Presenters:
Celina Charania Shariff, Esq., Chairman CAB USA
Judge Kamran Jivani, Member, CAB USA
Shirin Karsan, Member, CAB Northeastern United States
Presenter Bios:
Judge Kamran Jivani believes in the remarkable power of community-based mediation to serve as a tool for healing. Judge Jivani volunteers his time facilitating pro bono mediations through the Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board, on which he serves a national board member.
Judge Jivani serves on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to serving in his current role, Judge Jivani was a partner of the law firm Alston & Bird in Atlanta, GA, where he practiced intellectual property litigation. He holds a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law and a B.S. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was named a Freeman Asia scholar in connection with his studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Ms. Celina Charania Shariff, Esq. has worked for years in a pro bono capacity with the Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board to further the cause of peace-making. A Houston-based attorney and entrepreneur, Ms. Shariff has held various positions within CAB, including her current role as Chairman of CAB USA. Ms. Shariff also serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Mediators and on the Advisory Council of Child Advocates of Fort Bend. In 2015, Ms. Shariff participated on behalf of CAB in a working group conference hosted by the International Social Service in Switzerland to help draft a Charter on International Family Mediations.
Ms. Shariff received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy and Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Shirin Karsan, M.B.E. mediates disputes, pro bono, within the Ismaili Muslim community via the Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board. She is a mentor with the Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program. Ms. Karsan also serves as member of the following Boards of Directors: ConKerr Cancer, Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, and Global Bioethics Initiative.
In 2009, Ms. Karsan received a Fulbright Grant, which she used to conduct research on Muslim perspectives on the ethics of emerging sciences and bionanotechnologies in the United Arab Emirates. She holds a Masters of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an undergraduate degree from Thomas Jefferson University.
Restorative Practices
Overview:
The concept called “Restorative Practices” is a fast-developing field of conflict inquiry
that grows out of Restorative Justice Theory and the profound goals of conflict resolution, relationship repair, and interpersonal reconciliation. In this interactive workshop, we will illustrate how the foundational principles relate to both proactive and reactive Restorative Practices and Restorative Process. An application “toolkit” will be demonstrated and tested. We will debate the future of the field.
Learning Objectives
After attending in this workshop, participants will ...
a) explore the prosocial values behind Restorative Practices
b) understand Restorative Justice Theory
c) recognize the reasons that Restorative Processes are effective
d) have access to practical Restorative Practices methods
Presenters
Dr. Lois Edmund
Practitioners from the ACR Community Mediation and Restorative Practices Section
Presenter Bio:
Lois Edmund is the (contented) Secretary to the Board of Directors of the Association for Conflict Resolution. She was trained as a Clinical Psychologist, and has experience with large group dynamics and conflict. Her interests are particularly with the transformative potential of forgiveness, and the practical applications of restorative justice and processes.
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