Mediators Beyond Borders

Hurricane Katrina Project

MBB is deeply committed to building conflict resolution capacity not only overseas, but in the US as well.  In response to Hurricane Katrina, MBB has formed a project to work in the Gulf area.  We will partner with the Mississippi Mediation Project founded by Laurel Kaufer of Los Angeles, CA; and the Family Mediation Council of Louisiana, based in New Orleans and directed by Susan C. Norwood.

In March, 2008, MBB will send its first Project Team to Mississippi and New Orleans to work with local community based mediators to improve their skills in a variety of areas. A first-class Project Team consisting of MBB Founding Members:

Nan Waller Burnett, Director, Golden, Colorado, USA
Louise Phipps Senft, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Marvin Johnson, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Joan Goldsmith, Director, Santa Monica, California, USA
Ken Cloke, President, Santa Monica, California, USA

will celebrate the first anniversary of Mississippi Mediation Project Workshops and present a diverse set of skill-building workshops for local mediators in both states. 

MBB Project Team member Louise Phipps Senft wrote an excellent article published in the ACR magazine, ACResolutions in 2005, titled “ Katrina: Turning Problems into Opportunities. We have also posted an Update on the Mississippi Mediation Project written by Laurel Kaufer (see below).

We are asking all MBB members who are interested in joining this project team and either traveling to Mississippi and/or New Orleans to continue our work or supporting our efforts in other ways to contact the National Office by email.  No funds are available for travel, but local mediators have volunteered to put people up in their homes. 

We believe that the true purpose of mediation is not merely to settle or resolve conflicts, but prevent them by building the capacity of people and communities to transform their suffering into learning, development, and change.  Through the work of Laurel Kaufer and Susan Norwood, the Mississippi Mediation Project, and Family Mediation Council of Louisiana are doing precisely that, and deserve our full support.  They are turning hopes and dreams into action.  Join us.

More Info about the Mississippi Mediation Project:

Mississippi Mediation Project - Our First Year
by Laurel Kaufer,Founder and President, Mississippi Mediation Project

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