NEW YORK, NEW YORK, May 9, 2016 –

The AAA-ICDR FoundationTM funds seven grants for its inaugural funding cycle. The Foundation sent out a press release in October 2015 announcing its inaugural round of grant solicitations. In response, the Foundation received 75 Initial Descriptions of Grant Requests. The Foundation, led by its Grants Committee, after a careful review of all of the submissions and the presentation of full grant proposals, approved the following seven grants totaling approximately $150,000 in funding:

• University of California Hastings College of the Law - 2016 Summer International Court ADR Institute: $25,000 to fund five-day training program in court-connected alternative dispute resolution design for non-US lawyers, judges and court professionals. www.uchastings.edu
• Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution Pepperdine University School of Law - Straus Institute Annual Global Summit on Conflict Management, September 2016: $15,000 to supplement the investment of the Straus Institute in supporting the convening of working groups and planners in advance of a summit that will bring together individuals and organizations from all over the world to discuss common issues and concerns associated with complex dispute resolution processes. law.pepperdine.edu/straus
• Prison of Peace 2016 Valley State Prison Mediation Training Program: $25,000 to fund a 40- hour Mediation workshop for 30 – 50 inmates. www.prisonofpeace.org
• Minnesota State Office for Collaboration and Dispute Resolution and Dispute Resolution Institute at Mitchell Hamline University School of Law 2016 Talk with Purpose: Using Dispute Resolution to Engage Communities and Foster Relationships for Constructive Change: $24,998 for OCDR/DRI to conduct a transformative project to produce qualitative change in the type of engagement currently taking place between dominant and non-dominant communities in Minnesota. mn.gov/admin/bms/ocdr
• Mediators Beyond Borders International - Women in Peacebuilding: Enhancing Skills and Practice Training: $25,500 for travel and training scholarships required to enable women community leaders from Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to complete four days of advanced mediation and community leadership training in Djakarta, Indonesia, in the spring of 2016. http://mediatorsbeyondborders.org/
• Consensus Building Institute – Innovative ADR in Groundwater Sustainability to Manage California Drought: $25,000 for CBI to highlight and promote the use and the central role of ADR in connection with the implementation of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. www.cbuilding.org
• American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division – Annual Law Student Arbitration Competition: $10,000 to defray operating expenses making the event more attractive and affordable for law schools participating in the next competition for the 2016-2017 school year as law schools have increasingly reduced discretionary funds available.http://www.americanbar.org/

The American Arbitration Association (AAA®) and its international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR®), announced the establishment of the AAA-ICDR Foundation in May 2015. Since that time, the Foundation Board: James R. Jenkins, India Johnson, John J. Kerr, Jr., Carolyn Lamm, Francis McGovern, Bruce Meyerson, and Board Chair Edna Sussman along with AAA/ICDR support staff have been hard at work in both the areas of grant making and fundraising. The Board continues to establish protocols and procedures and is preparing for the next round of grant solicitations that will be announced in the near future.

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is able to solicit donations and provide grants to fund a range of worthy causes that promote the Foundation’s wide-reaching mission, which is to support the use and improvement of dispute resolution processes in the USA and internationally, including:

• Fostering measures that reduce potential escalation, manage, and resolve conflicts.
• Expanding the use of dispute resolution processes tailored to the conflict.
• Supporting research, education and initiatives promoting high quality, efficient and fair dispute resolution.
• Increasing access to justice in and through alternative dispute resolution.
• Encouraging collaborative processes to resolve public conflicts.
• Sharing expertise across diverse groups and cultures.
• Partnering with others dedicated to advancing the Foundation’s mission.

The AAA-ICDR Foundation will soon be announcing its second funding cycle. For more information on the AAA-ICDR Foundation, please visit www.AAAICDRFoundation.org.