Author: Owen Tamamoto

“The Conflict of Politics and the Politics of Conflict: How to Think about Political Conflicts and Design Political Dialogues.” Thursday, December 15, 2016 7:30 AM Hawai‘i Time (12:30 PM ET) Kenneth Cloke will be hosting a fundraising webinar – all proceeds are tax deductible and will go to Mediators Beyond Borders International’s Dialogue Process Project (DPP). The US has just gone through an exhausting election, filled with hostility, hatred and personal attacks; and while half the country is upset and disappointed that they lost, the other half understands that it could have gone the other way, and that they might now be the ones feeling upset and disappointed.  The problem is, citizens haven’t figured out yet how to talk to each other about our political ideas and beliefs, or discuss our disagreements in ways that might lead to learning, win/win outcomes, increased empathy, mutual understanding and joint problem solving. Yet we are all citizens of the same country and we all care about its future. The webinar will address how we begin to talk to each other about difficult and dangerous issues—the ones that we all feel strongly about and argue passionately over. Kenneth recommends open, honest, skillfully-designed, capably-facilitated dialogues as a method to thinking about political conflicts and decisions. Kenneth Cloke is a mediator, arbitrator, coach, consultant and trainer, specializing in resolving complex multi-party disputes, including marital, divorce, family, grievance and workplace disputes, collective bargaining, organizational, public policy, and school conflicts, and designing preventative conflict resolution systems. He has worked in over 20 countries, and is founder and first President of Mediators Beyond Borders International. He has published 10 books—most recently Conflict Revolution: Designing Preventative Systems for Chronic Social, Economic and Political Conflicts. Your ticket ensures that the DPP team can continue to respond rapidly to requests to train local…

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The non-profit Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center will be hosting a free and open to the public talk on November 17 . This month’s speaker is Tim Hansen on “Restorative Justice: Ways to Restore Victims, Offenders, and Communities.” A ShoreTel conference call has been created for folks who cannot attend in person.   Use either of the following to join the call: Local dial in:  +1 (808) 934-3678 (Local dial in) and enter this participant code: 01974243 and press # Mobile Auto Dial:                 VoIP: voip://+18089343678;01974243#                 iOS devices: +1 (808) 934-3678,01974243 and press #                 Other devices: +1 (808) 934-3678×01974243# Interested ACR-Hawai‘i members are encouraged to attend either in person or by conference call.  Tim Hansen, MSW, has worked with victims, offenders, and communities for nearly 30 years.  He has a Masters in Social Work from UH-Manoa and degrees in Psychology, Speech/Theatre Arts, and Sociology from the University of Minnesota-Winona.  Hansen is currently adjunct faculty at UH-Hilo in the Sociology and Political Science Departments and is working on his Clinical Social Work Licensure.  As a survivor, he is passionate about the work of healing. This lunch-and-learn series is made possible thanks in part to funding from the Atherton Family Foundation.  For more information, contact Ku‘ikahi Administrative & Program Assistant Jenifer Aveiro at 935-7844 x 1 or jenifer@hawaiimediation.org.  Or visit www.hawaiimediation.org.

Thursday & Friday, December 1 & 2, 2016 8:00 am – 4:30 pm (morning & afternoon snacks provided; lunch on your own) UH Hilo Campus, UCB 127 $400 tuition $3 daily parking fees apply To register, call 932-7830 or visit http://hilo.hawaii.edu/academics/ccecs/FacilitativeSkills.php   ABOUT THE WORKSHOP This is a unique, two-day workshop developed and presented by retired UH specialist Donna R. Ching, Ph.D. She has deconstructed the concept of collaborative leadership and created a very practical program for helping individuals lead from within their organizations or groups, starting with the planning and conducting of successful meetings. Meetings represent only one venue where collaborative leadership can be demonstrated, but they serve as a microcosm of an organization’s dynamics and provide a useful place to practice and master one’s leadership skills, whether in the role of participant or in-house facilitator. At a time when organizations are seeking to leverage their existing resources, training people in facilitative skills is a highly efficient way to ensure that 1) meetings are productive; 2) critical conversations are well managed; and 3) individuals at every level are working in a collaborative manner. With its emphasis on practical skills and its real-life examples, this workshop provides a roadmap for adding to one’s toolkit a set of skills and practices that are foundational to collaborative leadership. ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR Donna Ching is a recently retired University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Extension Specialist and the founder of the Pacific Center for Collaboration. She is an advocate for collaborative leadership and one of Hawaiʻi’s premier practitioners of group facilitation. Donna’s workshops on leadership, facilitation, group process, and strategic planning are very popular with participants from non-profit, for-profit, and government organizations. In her role as a practitioner, Donna facilitates a variety of meetings in community and organizational settings. She is sought after for…

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From the Virtual Mediation Lab: “Introduction to Online Mediation” Free 30-min Webinar/Demo November 29, 2016, 7:00 am Hawai’i time Are you a mediator, mediation center or ADR organization interested in online mediation? If so, you can attend “Introduction to Online Mediation”, and in 30 minutes you’ll learn: – What Online Mediation means and how it works – Benefits of Online Mediation – How mediators can do online everything they are used to do in-person: e.g. Joint and private meetings (caucus) with the parties; “Shuttle Diplomacy” in multi-party disputes; Information (documents, pictures, worksheets, videos) sharing and annotation; Writing up the parties’ “Memorandum of Understanding” or agenda for their next meeting – Which cases are suitable for Online Mediation – When and how to blend face-to-face and Online Mediation – Which video conferencing software works best for Online Mediation – How to get hands-on training in Online Mediation – How to try Online Mediation for FREE PRESENTER – Giuseppe Leone, founder of Virtual Mediation Lab, an online mediation project sponsored by the Association for Conflict Resolution Hawaii Chapter. SIGN UP – For more information and to sign up click here Please Note. In order to make this “Introduction to Online Mediation” 30-min free webinar as interactive as possible, seating is limited.

Dear ACR-Hawai‘i Members You are all cordially invited to the ACR-Hawai‘i Annual Dinner and General Membership Meeting Friday, December 2, 2016, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Da Spot Restaurant, 2469 S. King Street, Honolulu, HI 96826 Free for ACR-Hawai‘i members, $25 for guests Guest speaker will be Chris Miller Trainer and Practitioner of Nonviolent, Compassionate Communication. Chris also has a passion for Restorative Justice.   His interactive presentation will be fabulous. Membership renewals will be accepted at the December 2nd event. Please RSVP on or before Monday, November 28, 2016, to Lisa Jacobs, at email: Lisa@PonoDivorce.com, with the number of persons attending. ACR-Hawai‘i – Nominees for 2017 Officers and Directors President (automatically elected): Lisa Nakao is the Director of Operations at Hawai‘i’s Better Business Bureau. She oversees all public services of the organization, including dispute resolution (conciliation, mediation and arbitration) for marketplace related issues, business / charity reviews and accreditation, advertising review, marketplace investigation, database management and consumer education. After graduating from high school in Japan, she obtained Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing and International Business from University of Hawai‘i. President-Elect: Amrita Mallik currently serves as a Program Officer within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UH, where she helps the University address workplace conflict. She was a Senior Trial Attorney with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She holds a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.  Vice President: Tom DiGrazia is a Peacemaker, Lawyer and Director of Mediation Center-Windward Oahu. He holds a JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School, and a MA in Political Science from Rutgers University. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Law School at UH, and the author of Peacemaker: A Sicilian American Memoir (2013) and Light on Peacemaking – A Guide to Appropriate Dispute…

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November 10, 2016 – The non-profit Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center hosts a free and open to the public talk on November 17 as part of their “Finding Solutions, Growing Peace” Brown Bag Lunch Series.  Talks are Third Thursdays from 12 noon to 1 pm in the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney at 655 Kilauea Avenue in Hilo. This month’s speaker is Tim Hansen on “Restorative Justice: Ways to Restore Victims, Offenders, and Communities.” “In honor of Restorative Justice Week 2016, come learn about restorative responses to harm that honor victims, hold offenders accountable, and strengthen communities–leaving them stronger, rather than weaker, after crime occurs,” said Hansen.  “Restorative Justice (RJ) is not a ‘new way’ of looking at crime but is based on the values that many indigenous cultures have practiced for centuries.” Tim Hansen, MSW, has worked with victims, offenders, and communities for nearly 30 years.  He has a Masters in Social Work from UH-Manoa and degrees in Psychology, Speech/Theatre Arts, and Sociology from the University of Minnesota-Winona.  Hansen is currently adjunct faculty at UH-Hilo in the Sociology and Political Science Departments and is working on his Clinical Social Work Licensure.  As a survivor, he is passionate about the work of healing. This lunch-and-learn series is made possible thanks in part to funding from the Atherton Family Foundation.  For more information, contact Ku‘ikahi Administrative & Program Assistant Jenifer Aveiro at 935-7844 x 1 or jenifer@hawaiimediation.org.  Or visit www.hawaiimediation.org.

Dear ACR-Hawai`i Members, You are cordially invited to the upcoming ACR-Hawai`i Annual Dinner and Meeting, scheduled for Friday, December 2, 2016, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., at Da Spot Restaurant, 2469 S. King Street, Honolulu, HI 96826.  Cost of the dinner is free for ACR-Hawai`i members, and $25 for guests.  Our guest speaker is Chris Miller, who is a Trainer of Nonviolent, Compassionate Communication.  Chris also has a passion for Restorative Justice. Please RSVP on or before Monday, November 28, 2016, to Lisa Jacobs, at email: Lisa@PonoDivorce.com, with the number of persons attending. We hope to see you there. Best – Lisa Jacobs, 2016 President, ACR-Hawai`i