Letter from Executive Director, Cassie Lively | |
Dear CCR Community:
Welcome to Spring!
CCR is excited to announce many recent promotions and new additions to the team. Please join me in welcoming new staff and in congratulating others on their new roles! I want to particularly recognize the promotion of Whitney Trumble into the new role of Deputy Executive Director.
Thank you, Pari:
I’d like to recognize and thank Pari Karim for her many years of service to CCR. Pari has been on staff since 2010, and was a volunteer prior to joining us on staff. I have felt
personally privileged to work with her for so long, and have learned so much from her. The impact of her time with CCR is immeasurable, particularly when you think about all the mediators she has trained, and all the CCR volunteers she has taught to become
coaches in the work that we do. Pari’s hard work enabled us to grow our annual training revenues by more than $125k – providing more support than ever for our free mediation services, and allowing us to expand the department to three staff members. I am excited to see what she goes on to achieve, and know she will still be engaged with the CCR community.
If Pari has impacted your life the way she has ours, and you'd like to donate to a training scholarship fund in her name, please click HERE.
Best,
Cassie
| On March 21st, CCR staff leadership provided a semi-annual update on the “State of CCR.” This included information about the restructuring of staff positions in light of the departures of long time Directors, Pari Karim and Rae Kyritsi, as well as updates on the recent goings on in each department at CCR. You can view the event HERE using the passcode: DO.f36s4 | |
Jill Tanz, Martha McClintock, and Rae Kyritsi published an article entitled Can early caucus improve a community mediation model? Counteracting stressors prior to joint session. An abstract can be found HERE.
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Center for Conflict Resolution is seeking an Administrative Assistant. The Administrative Assistant is responsible for supporting the organization by assisting the Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director. The Administrative Assistant ensures the office is well-supplied and organized, greets visitors, manages contact lists, assists in external communications, enters data, corresponds with donors, helps to coordinate meetings, and completes other administrative tasks that help connect the organization to donors and the community.
This position is for you if you have an eye for detail, strong organizational skills, and experience with platforms like Salesforce and Constant Contact.
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Core Values
Volunteer Spotlight:
| The Training Department wants to recognize Jennifer LaDuke for exhibiting the Core Value of Commitment to Serving the Community! Jennifer has exhibited incredible flexibility recently as she's answered calls for last-minute training needs, as well as resiliency when navigating internet issues. Thank you, Jennifer, for your ongoing service to the Training Team and CCR community! | |
Jennifer Scott
The Programs Department wants to recognize Jennifer Scott for the Core Value of Commitment to Serving the Community!
Jennifer has been a really generous volunteer over the past few months - taking a number of different cases with short notice and appearing in person for Community-Police Mediations at CCR. We have had a lot of cancelations and reschedules with our in-person cases and we appreciate Jennifer's continued flexibility and resiliency in making the time to mediate.
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Welcome
New Board Members!
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Katie Diggins
Katie Diggins has a background in law and education policy. She now focuses her work as a mediator, arbitrator, and CCR volunteer. Click HERE for a more in-depth bio.
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Betsy Lehman
Betsy Lehman, with a background in law, serves as the Chair of The Moran Center's Board of Directors. Click HERE for a more in-depth bio.
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Have you seen a member of the CCR Community doing a great job demonstrating one of our Core Values? Nominate them to be featured in Caucus!
Do you have general thoughts/comments/ideas related to our Core Values initiative? Let us know!
Share your thoughts HERE.
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We are excited to share that there are now more ways to support CCR! Visit the CCR website HERE to find information about making donations via:
- Qualified Charitable Distributions
- Donor Advised Funds
- Matching Gifts
- Beneficiary Designations
- Bequests through Wills or Revocable (Living) Trusts
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Join us on Thursday, 4/27/23, 5:30pm - 8:00pm for CCR's annual event! Get Tickets HERE. If you are unable to join us but would like to make a donation, please click HERE. | Welcome New Programs Managers! | Lauren Asher is a New Mexican native, born and raised in Santa Fe. In 2017 she earned her MS in Conflict and Dispute Resolution from the University of Oregon School of Law and has used her conflict resolution and facilitation knowledge in her work within tech, healthcare, governmental organizations and for individuals. Before she found her way to mediation and facilitation in 2015 (and career coaching in 2020), she worked as a cook, and owned and operated a therapeutic massage practice in Napa. Her enthusiasm for all things food and her ability to help others in their healing process is still a strong part of her identity. After falling in love with Chicago over a short NYE trip in 2021, she relocated 6 months later and is the Windy City’s biggest fan. She now brings her conflict resolution skills and to the local community as one of CCR’s Case Managers and Mediators. |  | Yehemy Zavala Orozco (they/them/elle-español) joined CCR as a Bilingual Programs Manager in 2023. Originally from Mexico City, Yehemy emigrated to the United States 12 years ago. For the first 11 years, they lived in Utah and focused their work on reducing ethnic and immigrant health disparities related to nutrition, food access, mental health, reproductive justice, access to clinical care, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women empowerment, and access to comprehensive and equal housing for all. They studied Visual Arts at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). They also have an Associate’s Degree in General Studies from Salt Lake Community College. In 2021, they were awarded by the National Association of Community Health Workers with their Equity and Justice Visionary Award. This celebrated their work as first respondent during the COVID-19 pandemic ensuring all Community Health Workers working directly with underserved communities were vaccinated regardless of their immigration status. They love to ride bikes, hike, and listen to music. They moved to Chicago to connect with the lake and continue their gender transition. | Congratulations to the following CCR Staff members on their recent promotions/new positions! |  | |
Dear CCR Community,
“The bittersweet side of appreciating life’s most precious moments is the unbearable awareness that those moments are passing.” – Marc Parent
Fifteen years ago, I came to CCR as a rising 2L at Chicago-Kent, completely unaware of what it would mean for me and for my career. As a volunteer I felt that the work that CCR does was the most important work in our community. It was and is about relationships, connection, empowerment, access to justice, and so much more. Working for CCR has been a dream. I cannot put into words the endless gifts this work has given me or the wisdom I have garnered from each of you. Over the last ten years as Training Director, I led 110 Mediation Skills Trainings, trained over 1500 mediators, conducted over 250 workshops, and worked with clients from all over the world. I must thank all of you for the support and partnership you have provided over the years. I especially need to thank Cassie Lively for being the most supportive supervisor, as well as an incredible leader and friend. I would not be where I am today without her. I also want to thank the staff of CCR, past and present – it’s been an honor to call you my colleagues and my friends. I wish to thank the people that have worked on my team over the years, particularly Larissa Hachinski, who was my partner for 7 years and helped build the training department to what it is today. And of course, I want to thank our volunteers. I’ve learned so much about mediation, service, and the power of community through working with you. It is bittersweet to leave you all.
I look forward to returning to the position I started at with CCR – volunteer. The CCR community is so vital and vibrant. For 44 years CCR has been central to ADR in Chicago. Each of us are stewards of this important hub. I have been so honored to carry the mantle for so long and am so happy to pass it along to the next stewards of the organization. The Training Department at CCR is in such a great position to carry the organization forward. Reach out to them for all of your training needs!
As for me, I will be joining the team at inQUEST Consulting, pursuing my passion for building workplaces that work for everyone. If I can ever be of service to you, you can find me there or perhaps our paths will cross again as we serve the community as volunteers at CCR.
-Pari
| Conflict Management Workshop, May 5th! | |
Date: Friday, May 5th, 2023, 9am-12pm CDT
Location: Virtual, over Zoom
Early bird rate: $125 per participant*
Regular rate: $150 per participant
*$125 early bird rate is available until April 14th, 2023.
MCLE: This workshop qualifies for 2.5 Attorney MCLE credits.
To register, click HERE.
In this interactive 3-hour Conflict Management Workshop, participants will develop skills for managing and resolving conflict.
Attendees will learn: how to negotiate with others to create more durable and meaningful resolutions, and how to communicate more effectively with others to decrease instances of disputes.
Questions? Contact training@ccrchicago.org or 312-922-6464, ext. 215.
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