The JAMS Foundation Board of Directors reviews and approves new grant proposals on a quarterly basis. Grants are typically approved for a one-year period or less, though in some instances the Board will consider funding multi-year projects. The following projects are currently receiving financial support from the JAMS Foundation.

American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution (Washington, D.C.) – International Mediation Leadership Conference: $10,000 to fund the compilation, publication, and distribution of papers and articles developed in conjunction with a 2008 international summit in the Hague, bringing together leading international ADR organizations and practitioners to discuss current trends, develop new collaborations, and advance the field. www.abanet.org/dispute

American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution (Washington, D.C.) – Pro Bono/Legal Services ADR Project (Year 2): $35,000 to fund a second round of mini-grants to pro bono and legal service agencies seeking to integrate ADR processes into their existing programs, including training and technical support for recipients competitively selected from applications received nationwide. www.abanet.org/dispute

American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution (Washington, D.C.) – “Words Work” Program: $37,000 to promote and teach leadership and communication skills to youth, enabling them to become leaders and productive citizens. The program emphasizes skills, including conflict prevention, rather than particular processes, demonstrating how these skills can turn information into power and conflict into opportunities for greater understanding and meaningful solutions. www.abanet.org/dispute

Association for Conflict Resolution (Washington, D.C.) – Peer Mediation Youth Conferences: $10,000 to help support two regional youth conferences bringing together peer mediators from throughout the region and successful professional mediators attending ACR’s annual conferences in Austin, TX and Atlanta, GA. www.acrnet.org

Center for Citizen Peacebuilding (Irvine, CA) – Training Materials for Gang-Intervention Workers: $48,000 to develop a training manual and DVD of simulated mediations for counselors and other dispute resolution providers working in communities with high levels of gang violence. The materials will offer constructive approaches to addressing violent conflict between gangs, at-risk youth, and other individuals in troubled areas. www.citizenpeacebuilding.org/

Community Mediation Maryland (Glen Burnie, MD) – Prisoner Re-Entry Mediation Program: $10,000 to support the development and growth of a pilot program providing re-entry mediation services to inmates preparing for release from Maryland prisons. The program will serve inmates, their families, and other support people by helping them develop a mutually agreeable plan for re-entry into the family and community before inmates are released. www.marylandmediation.org

Community Mediation Services (Jamaica, NY) – Intercultural Peacemaking Project for Youth: $10,000 to help fund a program providing communication and conflict resolution training to youth from diverse cultural backgrounds and assisting them in becoming trainers of diversity and conflict resolution education for others. www.mediatenyc.org

Consensus Building Institute (Cambridge, MA) – Workable Peace Teachers Guide DVD and Website: $50,000 to develop a training DVD preparing teachers to teach conflict management and dispute resolution using the organization’s Workable Peace curriculum, integrating conflict resolution training into existing history, social studies, and humanities curricula. www.cbuilding.org

CRU Institute (Bellevue, WA) – Conflict Resolution Story Books: $10,000 to produce a series of animal stories teaching conflict resolution, cultural awareness, and anti-bullying to pre-school through first grade children. The stories will be adapted from an existing series for older children and printed in full color to appeal to younger children. www.cruinstitute.org

CUNY Dispute Resolution Consortium (New York, NY) – Make Talk Work Video Competition (Year 2): Building on the success of previous JAMS Foundation grants funding a series of colorful bookmarks featuring tips on conflict prevention and dispute resolution and a video competition based on bookmark themes, this $40,000 grant funds a second year of the video competition, with winning submissions featured in a composite DVD and distributed online through YouTube and other online resources. http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/dispute

Educators for Social Responsibility (Cambridge, MA) – Expansion of Conflict Resolution Education Program: $50,000 to help fund a series of training institutes introducing educators nationwide to ESR’s successful and recently revised conflict resolution education curriculum for elementary school students. The updated curriculum includes linkages to national learning standards established under the No Child Left Behind Act as well as state-based standards for social and emotional learning. www.esrnational.org

Hamline University (St. Paul, MN) – International Conference on Negotiation: $30,000 to help fund an international conference on negotiation in Rome, providing members of the international business, legal, and academic communities with state-of-the-art training in the theory and practice of cross-cultural and trans-national negotiation. This grant funds the publication and dissemination of conference training materials and post-conference training critiques. www.hamline.edu/law/adr

Indian Dispute Resolution Services (Sacramento, CA) (2nd Year) – Tribal Dispute Resolution Training: Based on the success of previous workshops, this $26,000 grant helps fund two additional series of 3-day training workshops for Native American tribal leaders seeking to include mediation and peacemaking into their tribal justice systems, providing extensive training in cross-cultural communication, negotiation, peacemaking, and advanced mediation techniques. www.indiandispute.com

Institute for Local Government (Sacramento, CA) – Inter-Governmental Dispute Resolution Project: $44,000 to fund an educational and promotional campaign to encourage and develop public sector demand for, and experience with, the mediation of inter-governmental disputes. This pilot program will serve as a model for local governments and public entities nationally. www.cacities.org/index.jsp?zone=ilsg

Partners for Democratic Change (Washington, D.C.) – Symposium on Corporate-Community Diplomacy: $25,000 to help fund an invitational Symposium exploring opportunities for managing conflict and resolving disputes in evolving democracies. The Symposium will bring together corporate and governmental leaders to develop effective strategies for implementing dispute resolution systems supported by public policy and professional standards. www.partnersglobal.org

Peace Learning Center (Indianapolis, IN) – Peace Navigator: $20,000 to develop and launch an innovative, computer-based and DVD learning tool, incorporating live action video, animation and gaming to provide peacemaking and conflict resolution education that is interactive, accessible and fun to children aged seven to twelve. www.peacelearningcenter.org

Rand Institute for Civil Justice (Santa Monica, CA) – Conference on Transparency in the Civil Justice System: $15,000 to support a conference and related research regarding transparency in the civil justice system, including issues affecting public policy, data availability, and legal reform. www.rand.org/icj

Resolution Systems Institute (Chicago, IL) – Court ADR E-Newsletter: $7,800 to fund the design, implementation, and promotion of a free monthly electronic newsletter for court administrators and others in the field, providing up to date news and research related to court ADR. www.aboutrsi.org

Seattle University (Seattle, WA) – Out of the Ashes: Beginning as “Solomon’s Dilemma,” a documentary film about the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Fund, the project was extended to a series of educational films on various aspects of the law related to this tragic event. This $40,000 grant will fund the production of the film focusing on alternative dispute resolution. The project has received the enthusiastic support of Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the Victim’s Compensation Fund and recipient of the JAMS Foundation’s first Distinguished Public Service Award. http://www.law.seattleu.edu

Suffolk University Law School (Boston, MA) – Mediation Training Video: $10,000 to fund the production of a video demonstrating specific mediation techniques used by professional mediators at each stage of the mediation process. The video will be available at no cost to law professors and others through the JAMS Foundation website. www.law.suffolk.edu

Temple University/Educators for Social Responsibility/Creative Response to Conflict – Conflict Resolution Training For Teachers: An ambitious initiative to substantially increase the number of public school teachers provided conflict resolution education and training. In partnership with graduate level departments of education and school districts nationwide, this two-year, $300,000 grant will provide conflict resolution training to pre-service and in-service teachers and administrators and develop support services intended to build capacity, sustainability, and a expanded culture of conflict prevention and resolution in schools. www.temple.edu/education; www.esrnational.org; www.crc-ny.org