Conflict Resolution of Race & Gender Issues:

Dealing with the Elephant in the Room

Saturday, May 12, 2007 | 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Location: Berkeley Friends Church—located at 1600 Sacramento Street (at the corner of Cedar Street) in Berkeley, two blocks from the North Berkeley BART station. The workshop will be held in Fellowship Hall. Light breakfast and snacks will be provided.

Program Schedule:

8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Registration, refreshments and networking

9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Workshop

Description: This workshop addresses our internal assumptions and our external practices when faced with situations involving race and gender. The program utilizes role-plays and skits to stimulate discussion on how best to address these issues in meaningful ways. The primary goal is to enhance the skills of conflict resolution professionals in dealing with multi-cultural issues and conflicts, in addition to expanding participants’ comfort zones in discussing this common “elephant in the room.”

Other objectives are to:

• Illustrate how common our own unconscious biases and assumptions are

• Discuss skills for dealing with these concepts/biases/assumptions in various contexts

• Practice skills in a live workplace mediation scenario

Presenters:

Claudia Viera, Esq.: Claudia is an attorney-mediator and trainer who develops and teaches dynamic employment law training programs for organizations on topics such as harassment prevention, EEO compliance, and mediation skills programs. She mediates employment disputes for the EEOC in addition to investigating claims of discrimination in the workplace as an outside neutral. In addition to teaching at local colleges, she has taught thousands of managers and employees nationwide on conflict resolution and employment law compliance. She is the President of the Board of Directors of East Bay Community Mediation and the co-chair of the SF Bar Association’s Mediation Committee.

Horace “Alex” Alexander: Alex is an emeritus faculty member of City College of San Francisco’s Department of Engineering and Technology, where he has taught technical subjects for twenty years. He was trained as a mediator, arbitrator, and fact-finder for employment dispute resolution at UC Berkeley. Currently, Alex mediates for East Bay Community Mediation (EBCM), and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) Mediation Program. He has mediated numerous cases under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) for the State of California.

Arline “Sandi” Tyler, Esq.: Arline was trained as a mediator in 1985 and worked continuously for Conciliation Forums of Oakland (CFO) as a volunteer mediator and trainer. She now serves on the Board of Directors of East Bay Community Mediation (EBCM). Arline is also the chair of the Education subcommittee of the California State Bar’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (ADR). Arline has worked as a university professor, an attorney in a private San Francisco law firm and as a staff attorney with the Administrative Office of the Courts. She currently mediates privately and serves on various court panels.

Cost:

$35 for ADRNC Members | $55 for Non-Members