Upcoming
Events & Trainings
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APRIL 4
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#1:
Wayne Liang, Volunteer of the Quarter
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It all started when my co-worker Matthew asked me if I would like to become a mediator. He told me Community Boards was searching for Chinese speaking individuals to help non-English speaking parties with disputes. At the time, I knew next to nothing about mediation or Community Boards, however I said yes because I wanted to help those with limited English proficiency.
After taking the Basics of Mediation training, I was in awe. The techniques and skills I learned has been very beneficial in my daily life. After the training, I've served as an interpreter/translator for case intake and development, and have served as a mediator on other mediations. Today, I continue to be a volunteer mediator with the Community Boards and I look forward to working with other mediators.
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#2:
Volunteer Mediator Survey & Focus Groups
In honor of Mediation Awareness Week, observed in California during the third week of March, we will be sending out a new Volunteer Mediator Survey on March 20.
With over 400 volunteer Community Mediators, we want to know more about their experiences, needs, and recommendations. We will also be hosting several face-to-face focus groups for more in depth conversations.
Our ultimate goal is make our volunteers' experiences as rewarding as possible by improving our programming and services.
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#3:
Take the Active Listening Challenge!
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Would you take the "Active Listening Challenge"?
On February 2, Community Boards participated in the Exploratorium's monthly After Dark event, an 18+ night at the museum. By the evening's end, over 100 people had taken the "challenge"!
We created this new communication game for the evening's "Sending Signals" theme, challenging guests to learn an active listening skill and stick to it for the rest of the night - and maybe during their next conflict.
We received great feedback, and we're excited to use the active listening challenge as a fun engagement tool for future outreach.
Pictured above are Hope Burns, Mary Strope, Jocelyn Koo, and Wayne Liang. Kyra Millich took the photo.
Check out the activity cards we created:
Take the Active Listening Challenge!
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#4:
Excelsior District Spring Outreach Campaign
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 This spring, we will be focusing our outreach work in the Excelsior District. Our Community Outreach Coordinator, Mary Strope, will be reaching out to merchants associations, local political clubs, religious groups and places of worship, and community hubs.
To start, we'll be connecting with Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth; the Filipino Community Center; Communities United for Health and Justice; Portola & Excelsior Family Connections; the Excelsior and Ingleside libraries; and the Excelsior Action Committee.
Mary has also connected with District 11 Supervisor Ahsha SafaĆ's office for additional guidance and assistance.
If you'd like to get involved with our outreach initiative in the Excelsior, please contact Mary at mstrope@communityboards.
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#5:
Board of Directors, President's Update
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Expansion is the name of our game! We recently onboarded six new Board members. We're very proud to welcome Bonnie Mangels, Brittny Bottorff, Sachin Ganpule, Serena Mau, Geri Lynn Green, and Marvin Stender. Each of them comes with connections and experiences that we're excited to add to our pool of wonderful resources. >> Learn more about them here.
The Board is also eager to recruit new members at The Volunteer Center's
Board Match on April 6. Our goal is to create connections with a handful of fantastic people. We currently have 13 Board Members and we're looking forward to bringing on another 3-5 Board members.
The Board is simultaneously working hard to engage sponsors for Community Boards' major annual benefit, the SF Peacemaker Awards on June 2. We have several levels of sponsorship from $500 to $5,000 that include marketing opportunities and ad space, if any of you are interested.
In addition, the Board is in the midst of gathering many exciting items for the benefit's silent auction. If you have an item or service you'd like to donate to the auction, please email Olivia Sinaiko at
olivia@aiken-sinaiko.com.
We hope to see many of you there on June 2!
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