Dear CCR Community:

Happy Summer!

CCR is excited to welcome a number of new volunteer mediators and staff members –please join me in welcoming them, and enjoy learning more about them in this edition.

Last month, CCR was proud to complete our strategic planning process. In this issue, please find a link to the overview of our new plan, focusing on: strengthening our organizational structure in the wake of tremendous growth; centering diversity, equity and inclusion; growing awareness and connection in the community to our mediation and

training programs; and building on our funding base to ensure we can continue meeting the needs of the community. A link to an overview of the plan can be found later in this issue.

Best,

Cassie

Welcome New VC Chair, Jack Kande

(2022-2024)!

The Volunteer Council (VC) holds monthly meetings to consider how to support the execution of CCR Strategic Plan and leverage the many talents and broad expertise of its volunteers. Some of the ongoing VC's projects include the implementation of the New Mediator Support Program, hosting continuing education events on a regular basis, and developing initiatives that support CCR's Core Values and its diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.

If you’d like to learn more about how to get involved with the Volunteer Council, please reach out to VC recruitment chair, Bob Lipton, at: boblipton708@yahoo.com

Kate Haarvei, Lynn Murphy, Jonah Orlofsky, and Jill Tanz

This group of experienced mediator volunteers and trainers has collaborated with CCR’s Training team to build a new 1-day training for Foreclosure Mediation, as CCR anticipates the return of Foreclosure Mediation.

The team has engaged with and involved each other, problem-solved, sought out feedback and implemented it, and celebrated and supported one another. Over the next year, the team will train mediators statewide, made possible by funding from the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation.

Thanks to this amazing group!

An Overview of CCR's New Strategic Plan

CCR’s strategic plan is the product of months of work by a committee of Board members, volunteers, staff, Volunteer Council members and Auxiliary Board members, and was shaped by insight gathered from those stakeholders. Thank you to all those who played a role and shared their ideas.

CCR's Stalking/No Contact mediation program was featured in the Women's Bar Association of Illinois' Newsletter this spring in an article by past CCR President Jackie Lustig.

Read the article on page 14 of the newsletter, available HERE.

New Ways to Give!!

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

Congratulations to CCR's Training Director, Pari Karim, and her husband, Jordan Hoisington, on the birth of Berivan Leigh Hoisington!

Congratulations to CCR volunteer Jenna Silver and and her husband Ryan Lambert on the birth of Ari Michael Lambert!

Congratulations to CCR Programs Manager, Elliot Heilman, and his wife, Andreea Micu, on the birth of Leo Armand Heilman-Micu!

Welcome

New Volunteer Director Israel Putnam!

CCR welcomes Israel Putnam as our new Volunteer Director.

Israel grew up in the Ozark foothills of southwest Missouri, graduated with a degree in Communications from Wheaton College in the western suburbs of Chicago in 2002, and worked for several years in the Outdoor Retail industry in the Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina.

Having first been introduced to the world of mediation through a Center for Conflict Resolution volunteer during college, Israel eventually decided to pursue graduate studies in Alternative Dispute Resolution. In 2008, he graduated from Pepperdine University with a Master's in the field.

Israel entered the Mediation Mentorship Program at CCR in 2013 and volunteered for about a year before eventually landing a staff position. Spending seven years as a Program Manager, he was fortunate to mediate or supervise other volunteer mediators in thousands of cases across highly diverse areas of conflict.

In 2021, Israel departed CCR to take a position with the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice as the Senior Program Manager for Forms. In this role, he was responsible for the development and publication of hundreds of statewide standardized court forms, designed to support the ability of under-resourced self-represented litigants to advocate for themselves within the justice system.

Welcome Erin Woolard, CCR's New Administrative Assistant!

Erin Woolard joined CCR in June 2022 as Administrative Assistant. She first became interested in non-profit administration while attending Southern Illinois University, where she obtained her B.A. in Anthropology and B.A. in International Studies. Erin is passionate about using her organization and communication skills in service of others, and prior to joining CCR, she worked in administrative roles for healthcare, environmental sustainability, community building, and education organizations.

Welcome Dominque Fenichell, Programs Manager - Early Resolution Program!

Dominique joined CCR in 2022 as a Programs Manager for the Early Resolution Program. Prior to joining CCR, they worked at 9to5, National Association of Working Women, an economic justice organization where they focused on developing their climate justice campaign. Dominique has a background in design, having graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016. Additionally, they are a certified trauma-informed yoga instructor whose interest in conflict resolution is born from a deep commitment to love, justice, and liberation.

Welcome

New Volunteers!

Read about some of CCR's newest volunteers!

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.

Help Us Plan an Upcoming

Continuing Ed Program!

Do you have a great idea for

a speaker or topic for an upcoming Continuing Ed Program? If so, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Please email Continuing Ed Committee Chair, Patricia Mace.