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.) – 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

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/

Consensus Building Institute (Cambridge, MA) – Integrating Mediation Into Land Use Decision Making (2 years): $50,000 to develop the first integrated, multi-level screening program for land use disputes. The program will screen and evaluate land use cases at local, regional, and statewide levels to determine their appropriateness for mediation, analyze the results, and develop a set of best practices. www.cbuilding.org

CUNY Dispute Resolution Consortium (New York, NY) – Make Talk Work Video Competition: Building on the success of two previous JAMS Foundation grants funding the creation of colorful bookmarks featuring tips on conflict prevention and dispute resolution, this $40,000 grant sponsors an international competition and dissemination of short videos based on bookmark themes. The competition will be widely publicized, with winning video submissions featured in a composite DVD and distributed 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

National Association for Community Mediation (Washington, D.C.) – National Guard/Reservist Mediation and Training Program: $50,000 to support the development of a specialized mediation training and service program for National Guard and Reservist troops returning from combat. With the participation of active and veteran National Guard and Reservist members, the program will recruit and train mediators to address conflicts involving returning troops seeking to reintegrate into their communities. www.nafcm.org

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

Policy Consensus Initiative – Educational Package: $28,000 to update the organization’s core educational materials on the use of collaborative problem-solving and dispute resolution to address public policy issues. The updated materials include a comprehensive guide to consensus-building and a training manual and video on the use of collaborative processes in public policy settings. www.policyconsensus.org

Practitioners Research and Scholarship Institute (Riverdale, GA) – Anthology: Diverse People, Diverse Practices: $20,000 to produce and distribute an anthology of writings covering a wide range of cultural approaches to conflict and conflict resolution. The project expands the institutional wisdom of the ADR community by featuring the insights and practices of minority communities. www.crinfo.org/special_projects/hosted_sites/prasi

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

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