Washington, D.C. – The JAMS Foundation’s Fourth Annual Warren Knight Award will be presented to Partners for Democratic Change, along with a $25,000 grant. The award recognizes Partners for effectively managing and resolving conflict and for assisting emerging democracies throughout the world to advance a civil society. The organization will receive its award at the ABA Dispute Resolution Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 20 during the Friday Awards Luncheon.
“Partners for Democratic Change has been at the forefront of conflict resolution for more than 20 years. Their work supporting civil society, family mediation, youth and women’s leadership and local government reform has made a significant impact in a number of countries.
- Hon. H. Warren Knight (Ret.), JAMS Founder
We are so grateful for the support, generosity and recognition that the JAMS Foundation has provided to Partners. This grant will help continue to promote dispute resolution and civil society in countries that are facing democratic transitions.
- Julia Roig, President of Partners for Democratic Change
Partners is an incredibly valuable organization building democratic institutions and a culture of change and conflict management worldwide. The JAMS Foundation is honored to support Partners in its efforts to expand its peaceful resolution and conflict prevention programs.
- Chris Poole, JAMS President and CEO
The JAMS Foundation also wishes to recognize the extraordinary contributions of Raymond Shonholtz, Partners founder and a long-time friend and leader within the dispute resolution community, who passed away earlier this year.
Ray Shonholtz was a friend and an ADR pioneer who founded Community Boards in San Francisco and then moved to the world stage when he created Partners for Democratic Change. He built enduring organizations that facilitated consensual decisions to resolve conflicts and the JAMS Foundation is pleased to honor Partners in memory of Ray.
- Jay Folberg, JAMS Foundation Executive Director
Partners is an international organization committed to building sustainable capacity to advance civil society and democratic institutions. It has built a global network of independent, sustainable local centers led by world-class experts in change and conflict management. Partners and the centers have provided negotiation, cooperative advocacy, consensus-building and other skills to thousands of businesses, societies and government leaders in more than 50 countries.
Hon. H. Warren Knight (Ret.) is the founder of JAMS, which he created in January 1979. Judge Knight is considered a pioneer in the ADR and legal communities and was instrumental in introducing and furthering ADR, including mediation and arbitration, within the legal community in California and throughout the United States.
About the JAMS Foundation (www.jamsfoundation.org)
The non-profit JAMS Foundation is the largest private provider of ADR-related grants in the world. The Foundation was established in 2002 by JAMS, The Resolution Experts, the nation’s premier provider of alternative dispute resolution services, and is funded by JAMS mediators, arbitrators and employee associates who contribute a percentage of their income. The JAMS Foundation has provided more than $4 million in grant funding since its inception. Founded in 1979, JAMS and its more than 280 fulltime mediators and arbitrators are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s most important cases.