IAM Committee Overview

COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH

Purpose of Committee: The purpose of the IAM Communication & Outreach Committee is to effectively communicate IAM’s vision and accomplishments to IAM members, potential members, and consumers of commercial mediation through social media, blogging, and other media.

Name of Chair/Email: Jeff Trueman – jt@jefftrueman.com

Names of Committee Members/Email addresses:

• Christine Masters
• Lynne S. Bassis
• Vance Cooper
• Joe Hassinger
• James Mang’erere
• Marisa Ratinoff
• Todd Smith

Committee Goals:

• IAM Blog – Over the past few years, 60 blogs from over 35 different IAM members have been published.  The articles focus on the concerns of practicing mediators and those interested in using mediation.  Please contact Christine Masters or Jeff Truman if you would like to submit a blog for publication.
• IAM Member Updates – Member Updates provide members with an opportunity to stay connected and informed about what is going on with other members, both personally and professionally.  Each year every member will be requested to complete a short update which will be posted in the Member Portal of the IAM Website.  Ideally, we would like to post Updates about once a week to introduce (or reintroduce) members to each other.  The IAM is grateful for the dedication of the Committee, this year chaired by Christine Masters, for the hours spent in reaching out to members to collect, review, and edit the Updates.  The committee is always looking for folks to help with these tasks.  It’s a great way to build relationships with your colleagues and give back to the IAM.  Send an email with your interest to Christine or any committee member.
• Social Media – The Communications & Outreach Committee works to promote the mission of IAM and commercial mediation in general on three social media platforms: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IAMtweetsADR-public page and https://www.facebook.com/groups/211572338865050-private page.  We welcome members who are familiar with social media (or are interested in learning) to join the committee and help us spread the word about the IAM and mediation.  Tim Corcoran and Scott Marcus are essential to our Facebook and ListServ activities. Contact Tim (TimC@CorcoranMediation.com) to post on our public and/or private Facebook pages.  Contact Scott(Marcus@Agreement.com) if you have questions/suggestions about the Listserv.
• Book Talks – Jeff Kichaven has organized a wonderful Zoom opportunity for members to discuss books they are reading, or have recently read, or would recommend.  If you are interested, contact Jeff Kichaven
• Mediator’s Reflections – Jan Schau has created a new Google Group: “IAM Mediators’ Reflections” where those who wish can continue to express themselves as we have with our IAM Happy Hours. The group will allow those who “opt in” to share poetry, observations, songs, prayers, musings, frustrations, fears, and triumphs.  It will give us a chance to express gratitude and brainstorm about ways we can “give back” or to help in meaningful ways.  If you’re interested, contact Richard Rejino or  Jan Schau.

CONFERENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE

Name of Committee:  Conference Planning Committee

Purpose of Committee:  To plan meaningful conferences that challenge and educate the world’s most sophisticated mediators while providing a forum for the collegial exchange of ideas and fellowship.

Name of Chair/Email:  Doug Murphy.

Names of Committee Members/Email addresses:
Barb Cornish

Goals:  The continued development of conferences that are relevant, interesting, and valuable to all IAM members, regardless of their jurisdiction.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE

Name of Committee:  Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

Purpose of Committee: The International Academy of Mediators recognizes that differences in perspectives, experiences, capabilities, and style are crucial to managing organizations and to providing mediation services in our diverse, complex and evolving global community. In this spirit, IAM is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in its membership structure and organizational work regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status.

Name of Co-Chairs/Email: James Mang’erere  & Afsana Gibson-Chowdhury

Names of Committee Members:

• Orit Asnin
• Earlene Baggett-Hayes
• Zaza Elsheikh
• Prachi Mehta
• Joyce Mitchell
• Andrea Morrison
• Paul Monicatti
• Beryl Ouma
• Steve Paul
• Marcelo Perlman
• Gail Wright-Sirmans

Goals:

The mission of the newly launched International Academy of Mediators Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity is:

“…to recognize that difference in perspectives, capabilities, and style are crucial to managing organizations and to providing mediation services in our diverse,  complex, and evolving global. community. In this spirit, IAM is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in its membership, structure, and organizational work regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual. orientation,  gender identity, marital or veteran status.”

MEMBERSHIP

Name of Committee:  Membership Committee

Purpose of Committee: Responsible for vetting prospective members who meet the qualifications established by the Board for joining the IAM, while also coordinating with the Executive Committee and the Board.

Name of Chair/Email: Joe Hassinger – joe@maps-adr.com

Names of Committee Members/Email addresses:
Jeff Hand
Tat Lim
Jody Sin
Fernando Navarro
Steve Paul

Goals:

• Prepare final recommendations to the Board for implementation of the Membership Task Force action items
• Staff and assist with the organization of the Recruiting and Member Services Committees
• Implement proactive recruiting, membership and member services protocols
• Maintain and improve collegiality, participation in IAM and quality of the membership
• Improve age, geographic, gender and cultural diversity of IAM

MENTORSHIP

Name of Committee: Mediator Mentorship Program (IAM MMP Committee)

Purpose of Committee:  To identify and encourage appropriate candidates to apply for the IAM MMP program, to review and approve mentee applications, to monitor the progress of MMP members, and to assist in the development and oversight of programing tailored to IAM MMP members.

Name of Co-Chair/Email: Lisa Amato – lisa@amatomediation.com
Name of Co-Chair/Email: Wendy Kramer –wkramer@adrservices.com

Names of Committee Members/Email addresses:
Claude Amar
Johanna Bracy
Jennifer Egsgard
Joe Hassinger
Alicia Kuin
Tagore Subramaniam

Committee Goals:

• Growth: To attract diverse qualified candidates for the creation of new IAM mentee/mentor teams and provide support for each mentee’s mediation practice development
• Web Presence: Create a separate listing of Mentor/Mentee teams on the IAM website.
• Programming: To continue to create innovative content for the MMP’s Wednesday Professional Development Webinars and continue to encourage MMP members’ and IAM members’ participation in IAM Conference attendance and webinars.
• Accountability:  Continue to assess yearly progress of each mentee through the Annual Questionnaire.

For more information and an application, please visit Mentorship Program page

PRO BONO

Name:  Pro Bono Committee

Purpose: The IAM Pro Bono Committee affords an opportunity for members to provide access to high quality mediation services on a pro bono basis in which counsel are dedicating themselves to resolving disputes involving needy individuals and causes.  The program also affords an opportunity to members and the Committee to expose the work of the IAM and individual members to a range of law firms and public interest groups which might otherwise not be familiar with their work.

Chair: Rande Sotomayor 

Committee Members:

• Lynne Bassis
• Steve Cerveris
• Gig Kyriacou
• Judith Meyer
• Cynthia Remmers
• Jan Schau
• Todd Smith
• Jeff Trueman
• Steve Paul
• Lee Jacobson
• Michael Young

Goals:

• Expand our relationship with public interest organizations;
• Grow committee membership, especially in our satellite test areas (i.e., Baltimore, Philadelphia) to see if the program can gain traction;
• Publicize the work of the committee (e.g., Los Angeles Daily Journal) to attract more users;
• Reach out to IAM Members on the ListServ to encourage (a) membership on the committee and/or willingness to take cases; and (b) publicize the availability of the program to appropriate clients.

 SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE (SIR)

Name of Committee:  Scholar-In-Residence Program Committee (SIR)

Purpose: The purpose of the SIR Program is to help bridge the gap between the theory and practice of mediation. Interaction between the SIR and members can help practitioners learn more about prevailing theories and studies, while exposing academics to the environments and challenges facing professionals who make mediation their day-to-day business. The SIR program provides an opportunity to test current practice models while subjecting emerging academic theories to the pragmatic rigor of every-day practice.

Chair: Jennifer Egsgard – jegsgard@egsgardmediation.com

Committee Members:
Allan Stitt
Nina Khouri

Current SIRs: Douglas Frenkel and James Stark

Scholars-in-Residence Selected Works

Professor Hal Abramson (2014 – 2016):

Hal Abramson, Bennett Picker, Bill Marsh, Birgit Sambeth Glasner, and Jerry Weiss: “Are Legal Disputes Just About the Money? Answers from Mediators on the Front Line”, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2017

Professors Dwight Golann and Lela Love (2017 – 2020):

Dwight Golan: “How Mediators Evaluate, Through Words, Participants’ Gestures and Sometimes Silence”, Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation, Vol. 38, No. 10, Nov. 2020

Dwight Golan: “I Sometimes Catch Myself Looking Angry or Tired…”: The Impact of Mediating by Zoom, Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation, Vol. 3, No. 5, May 2021

Lela Love, Eric Galton, and Jerry Weiss: “The Decline of Dialogue: The Rise of Caucus-Only Mediation and the Decline of the Joint Session”, The Newsletter of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, Volume 39, No. 6, June 2021

Professors Doug Frenkel and Jim Stark (2021 – 2024)

Douglas Frenkel and James Stark’s upcoming revision of  “The Practice of Mediation: A Video-Integrated Text” (4th Edition, anticipated publication date, February 2025) contains new chapters, “ Preparing for and Conducting Remote Mediations”, and “Pre-Mediation Conferencing”, which benefited greatly from IAM members’ input during the IAM SIR webinars the authors conducted, IAM survey responses, and IAM members’ service as mediators in video recorded for the new edition.

Goals: This description provides illustrations of the sorts of activities the SIR might engage in. The opportunities can be expanded as the SIR program develops and evolves under the oversight of the SIR Committee.

Contribute to IAM Conferences: The SIR can assist in designing workshops for IAM Conferences. Workshops might include programs based on the expertise that the person brings to the position or hosting an academic speaker on a subject that might be of interest to the membership. IAM Conferences are held twice a year and have historically been cutting edge, with top tier presenters and panelists.

Contribute to the IAM’s ListServ Discussion Group: The SIR can participate in the IAM confidential List Serv by posing questions of theory, ethics, and strategy and commenting on threads. The threads provide a lively exchange of ideas. However, no member content may be distributed or republished by the SIR without express permission.

Engage in Scholarship that Draws on the Expertise of the Membership: The SIR can prepare an article or other work that will be informed by discussions or collaboration with members of IAM.The SIR also is available to help members prepare articles and speeches by serving as a sounding board and offering advice on the timeliness of topics and options for publishing. The mutual enrichment of such a dialogue is an intangible, but significant benefit.