Letter from Executive Director, Cassie Lively | |
Dear CCR Community:
Welcome to Fall! This is one of the busiest times at CCR, as our Training department has been engaged in working with an excellent new group of law student mediators from
Northwestern, Loyola, and Chicago-Kent. Our Programs team will be busy supporting the group as they start to mediate soon!
We had a wonderful time celebrating our volunteer community at our annual Volunteer Appreciation Party in August – please enjoy some pics from the event in this newsletter.
CCR continues to look for new ways to support both our mediation participants and our volunteer community with more resources, and we are incorporating more technology to assist us in these efforts. I am pleased to announce that CCR has officially implemented text message reminders to clients for their mediation sessions, in an effort to catch attention and ease the way for participants to join mediation sessions. We are also using text messaging to deliver links to fill out our evaluation form post-mediation. The more parties fill out evaluation forms, the easier it is for CCR to communicate about the impact
we make through our services, and to make adjustments based on feedback.
For our volunteers, we have implemented a new online resource section on our website, where mediators can find links to continuing education videos, commonly used forms and more. Please scroll down in the newsletter to learn more about how to access these new volunteer resources.
Thank you for being a part of the CCR community!
Best,
Cassie
| |
Volunteer Appreciation Party
| CCR's Deputy Executive Director Whitney Trumble and volunteers Rick Berman and Gail Rubin Dallas enjoy the evening | CCR Auxiliary Board Member Tynisha Singletary presents an award to fellow AB member Jessica Sullivan-Wilson for outstanding work towards CCR's Annual Event Silent Auction. | CCR celebrated volunteers with 5 years of service – Dmitrie Umbrarescu, Laura McNally, Lisbeth Stone, Matthew Carroll, and Colette Davion-Douglas | Katie Diggins receives the Steve Gilford Distinguished Service Award | CCR VAP attendees enjoy Benchmark's glass-roofed space | |
Core Values
Volunteer Spotlights:
| - The Training Team would like to recognize Una McGeough for consistently Striving for Personal Best. Earlier this year Una helped create a new training program and deliver workshops to middle school students in Skokie. Una’s creativity, desire to learn and grow the quality of the program was instrumental to its success. Thank you, Una! We’re proud of the training program and look forward to offering it again soon!
| |
The Mediation Services Team at CCR would like to recognize our Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) fellows, Mac Benmelech and Reed Silverman, and intern, Gabriela Ramos for their collaborative spirit, inspiring growth and success, and commitment to serving the community. We are so incredibly lucky to have had their support throughout the summer, and look forward to continue working together in the near future! Mac, Reed, and Gabriela quickly learned the ropes and brought in their own unique skills and strengths. They were always willing to pitch in and find ways to support the team and the clients we serve, while managing busy schedules and even studying for the Bar! We are eternally grateful for their dedication and passion. Thank you PILIs, and best of luck!
| Volunteer Experience Survey is Coming Soon! | CCR is excited to announce that we'll be disseminating a survey to current and recently active volunteers in October. It will be a huge benefit to our community for gauging areas of success and opportunities for growth. We are indebted to current and former members of the Volunteer Council, Mike Cohen, Howard Epstein, and Laura Stempel for building this survey. Stay tuned for more info coming to your inbox and please take some time to share your thoughts with us via the survey! | |
Welcome
New Board Members!
| |
Erin Weber has represented large corporations for over 20 years, both public and private, in connection with their full range of employee benefit matters, including qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, corporate governance, and ERISA litigation, among others.
FULL BIO
| |
Cole Eastman is an Associate at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP. Cole focuses on
providing licensing, regulatory, and transactional advice to businesses in cannabis, hospitality, and beyond. FULL BIO
| |
Thank You
Summer 2024
PILI Graduate Fellows!
| |
PILI graduate fellow Machol Benmelech (she/her) is a recent Northwestern Law graduate and will be joining the Chicago office of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP this fall. She received her BA from Northwestern University where she studied psychology and legal studies.
FULL BIO
| Reed Silverman joined CCR as a summer 2024 PILI graduate fellow. After growing up in Toledo, Ohio, Reed spent ten years on the east coast before attending Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he graduated with his JD this spring. FULL BIO | Thank You Summer 2024 PILI Intern! | Gabriela Ramos (she/her) joined CCR as a PILI intern for summer 2024. Gabriela is a rising 2l at Chicago Kent College of Law, she has an interest in international/domestic mediation, arbitration, and litigation. FULL BIO | |
Have you seen a member of the CCR Community doing a great job demonstrating one of our Core Values? Nominate them to be featured in Caucus!
Do you have general thoughts/comments/ideas related to our Core Values initiative? Let us know!
Share your thoughts HERE.
| |
|
CCR Writes!
CCR congratulates Mediation & Training volunteers Rebecca Friedman Zuber and Colette Marie Davion-Douglas, and Training Director Jenna Silver on the publication of their article How Do Winners Resolve Conflict? in the Summer 2024 issue of Common Interest Magazine.
| |
Congratulations
MMP Graduates!
| |
Heather Ronnow has offered ombuds, mediation, and other alternative dispute resolution guidance to community and work-related groups throughout her career of more than 30 years as an attorney and leader.
FULL BIO
| |
Jon Adler is eager to contribute to CCR as a mediator. Originally from New York and now residing in Edgewater, Jon brings a wealth of experience as an attorney. Recently transitioning to mediation, conflict resolution training, and organizational ombuds work, Jon is passionate about fostering resolution and finding common ground.
| In 1981, Laurie Jacker and Mike Jacker moved to Chicago from Cleveland to begin their respective medical residencies; Laurie’s in psychiatry. Forty plus years, two children, and two grandchildren later, they are still here. FULL BIO | |
Cara Olexa is a writer who loves people. She has an MFA in fiction and has facilitated writing workshops since 2013. Her greatest publication success has been writing lyrical Christmas cards to an ever-growing mailing list.
FULL BIO
| |
Lori Wilcox is very excited to join CCR as a volunteer mediator! She recently retired after serving as an elementary school superintendent for the past eight years. Prior to that role, Lori spent 25 years working as a teacher and administrator in a handful of wonderful communities across Lake County.
FULL BIO
| |
New Resource
for Volunteers
| |
CCR is proud to announce an exciting addition to our website. We now have a “Volunteer Log In” option in the upper right corner of the home page. When you click it, you can create an account which, after approval by CCR staff, provides access to role-appropriate resources.
Active mediators will find things like Continuing Ed videos, the CCR Training Manual, Mediator Quick-Start Guide, Agreement Forms, and more. There are unique pages for Coaches and Board Members as well. These resources are still under construction, but we will be adding more very soon.
Please register for your account today and get access to these often-asked for resources all in one central location!
| Former CCR staff member Mariah Levison has co-written a book! After leaving CCR in 2006, Mariah worked in the Minnesota State Office for Collaboration and Dispute Resolution, and now serves as President and CEO at Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. The book provides a framework for helping groups engage in collaborative problem solving. | Kass Greenberg joined the staff at CCR in 2024, after relocating from Dayton, Ohio to Chicago. In Dayton, their focus was on housing justice, serving in AmeriCorps with Montgomery County's Homeless Solutions office and then becoming an eviction defense paralegal at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. FULL BIO | Mairone Alemu, M.B.A., joined CCR in 2024 as the Finance and Operations Manager, bringing with them experience and expertise in financial management and operational efficiency. Prior to joining CCR, Mairone supported a Chicago public charter school, where they played a pivotal role in overseeing the school's accounting, human resources, and day-to-day operations. FULL BIO | Nayla Lee joined the CCR team in 2024 as an Early Resolution Program - Programs Manager. In 2022, she earned her MS in Conflict and Dispute Resolution at the University of Oregon. FULL BIO | Dezarae Garnett brings a wealth of experience in community mediation, nonprofit work, and volunteering to the ERP team. Her commitment to mediation has been instrumental in both her personal and professional life. She believes that “all people are the experts in their own lives” and that conflict resolution frameworks provide invaluable tools of empowerment. FULL BIO | CCR is very sad to share news of the passing of past Board President, Leonard Schrager. Leonard made such a huge impact through his service to CCR and to many other organizations in the Chicago legal aid community, including the Chicago Bar Foundation. Our community will always remember Leonard and the contributions he made to increasing access to justice. Leonard's obituary can be found HERE. | |
We are excited to share that there are now more ways to support CCR! Visit the CCR website HERE to find information about making donations via:
- Qualified Charitable Distributions
- Donor Advised Funds
- Matching Gifts
- Beneficiary Designations
- Bequests through Wills or Revocable (Living) Trusts
| |
