Hi friends,
I hope you are enjoying the holiday season and looking forward to the New Year!
Back when I was in law school I remember learning about various negotiation concepts from books like Getting to Yes or Difficult Conversations, but it wasn’t until I became a mediator that I realized the full impact that those concepts could have in so many different types of cases. I have seen with my own eyes, in real conflicts, two people move from being in a contentious dispute with a broken relationship, to not only resolving that specific dispute, but then going well beyond that and deciding to partner together on new projects and goals—finding ways to create value together with an improved relationship.
This is the power of mediation, as so many of you know, and it is one reason it is such an honor to lead this organization—to get the chance to work with an amazing community of mediators and supporters to try to resolve conflicts in the Greater Boston area. This past year at CDSC we have increased the number of people we serve and set a strong foundation for continued growth. We have continued to receive support from longstanding partners and funders and established new initiatives, while continuing the work we have done for decades.
Our vision at CDSC is to provide community members the opportunity and the tools to resolve their conflicts as the go-to conflict resolution resource in the Greater Boston Area. As we look to the new year, we plan to continue working to expand our services, make mediation available regardless of ability to pay, and provide mediation services in languages other than English. We have also been training mediators to provide restorative sessions and circle facilitations to help put an increased focus on restorative justice in our communities. And we are also working to make sure that more people realize the power of mediation.
As we reach the end of the year, I want to take this moment to thank you all for your support in making this year a success for CDSC and wish you a very happy holiday season!
Onward,
Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez Executive Director
Executive Director Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez, Senator Lydia Edwards and Executive Director Emerita Gail Packer after our May Spring Gala.
CDSC 2024 Year in Review
The Community Dispute Settlement Center had another successful year in FY24 – providing essential conflict resolution services to a wide range of individuals and organizations.
Court-referred mediations continued to be a strong part of CDSC’s work during the past year, representing a majority of our cases. (And we were just re- approved to continue our work in these courts for the next three calendar years!) Additional cases were managed through our community program (including divorce and re-entry cases). Overall, in FY24, CDSC served 767 people with mediation services and 673 community members with training services, totaling over 1,400 people–an increase of over 60 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.
Importantly, we began the foundational work necessary to offer restorative justice sessions in Juvenile Court, expanded our Peer Mediation work to new schools, and reorganized our intake, case assignment and evaluation processes for both our court and community cases. We were able to do this thanks in part to a thriving youth program and bringing onboard an AmeriCorps member this year! We revamped our Practicum program, creating a more effective way of providing new mediators the opportunity to join our volunteer roster. We provided wide-ranging mediation and conflict resolution services thanks to a robust roster of more than sixty volunteers, with services available both in person and virtually. We thanked our volunteers through our annual volunteer acknowledgement, and recognized Joseph Kennedy III and the Chelsea-based organization Roca, inc. as Peacemakers at our annual BASH.
CDSC continued to lead in training work–providing 32-hour basic mediation training to 36 individuals, apprenticeships in mediation to more than a dozen people, and also serving over 500 individuals through conflict skills training workshops. Notably, we updated our Basic Mediation Training curriculum, and our Board took important steps in envisioning CDSC’s future by creating a strong mission statement and reflecting on our core values. We added five members to our Board of Directors, nearly doubling the size of the Board.
Finally, the past year saw growth in CDSC’s ability to engage in strong management practices, from a reorganized Board of Directors, to a menu of effective ways to communicate with our community (including a quarterly newsletter, a growing social media presence and monthly roundtables), to a well- trained and committed staff. All this on top of a full office move down the hall at 60 Gore Street!
We are looking forward to sharing exciting new updates with you all in 2025!
District Court Supervisor and Housing Manager Sooty Heng with students at the Acera School at a refresher training in April.
Community Dispute Settlement Center Staff List
Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez
Executive Director
Sue Marsh
Director of Operations
Grace Ballenger
Office Manager
Sooty Heng
District Court Supervisor and Housing Manager
Emma Knight
AmeriCorps Mediation and Intake Specialist
Daniele Ozeri
Director of Youth Programs
Our Director of Youth Programs Daniele Ozeri and Executive Director Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez at a February training with the MIT REFS.
Community Dispute Settlement Center Board List
Amy Mariani, President
Owner & Mediator, Mariani Mediation Services, LLC
Ellen Waldorf, Vice President
Attorney & Mediator, eWaldorf Mediation
Steve Bardige, Treasurer
Retired
Susan Holden Martin, Clerk
College Educator, Business Management
Akosua Bediako
Human Resource Professional, Mediator, Restorative Justice Practitioner
Jack Esher
Attorney & Mediator, MWI/CBInsolvency LLC
Janet Grogan
Retired HR consultant and mediator
Sheila Hubbard
Consultant specializing in mediation and community civic engagement
Charlotte Iselin
Mediator
Kym Oliver
Project Manager
Madison (Matt) Thompson
Mediator/Trainer/Facilitator, Cross-Cultural Mediation Services
Emma Knight, AmeriCorps Mediation and Intake Specialist, working with a teacher at Chelsea High School in November.