At the time, Steiner was enrolled in , and had taken a few courses at ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř (EMU). But the recurring request for local mediation made him reevaluate his educational path.

Steiner gathered a trusted group to help discern his next step. He decided to transfer into the at ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s . He devoted the required semester-long practicum to exploring mediation possibilities in Ohio.

Two years after earning his master’s degree — and the practicum experience which provided the foundation — Steiner and his community partners have created , a nonprofit organization committed to “transforming the culture of conflict in Holmes and Wayne counties of Ohio.”

Professor , Steiner’s advisor during his practicum, says CJP students typically come in on one of two tracks. Some enter the program unsure of their focus and discover it along the way.

Others, like Steiner, enter with a vision of the work they are called to do. CJP then equips them to achieve those goals.

“That kind of entrepreneurship is what the peacebuilding community needs,” says Brubaker.

Localized needs assessment conducted during practicum

Steiner’s practicum experience was a key piece of the strategic planning process that led to Connexus.

For his four-month practicum, Steiner decided “to flesh out more in depth that question of developing conflict mediation resources for our community.”

Steiner returned to Ohio and began his research. What current and historical resources were available for conflict management and mediation? What did local nonprofits, business leaders, churches and residents lack in this area? How were other mediation organizations operated, such as in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and in Bryan, Ohio?

This research culminated in a “visioning session” in July 2014. Steiner invited key stakeholders from Holmes and Wayne counties to brainstorm how a mediation center might look and function. He also invited Brubaker to facilitate the gathering so that Steiner himself could present on the results of his extensive conversations with leaders from throughout the two-county area.

Steiner says this was “the moment that really helped me coalesce.” The group identified education and training in conflict transformation and networking for existing mediation resources as their primary objectives. They also decided to proceed in “an organic model,” says Steiner, gathering volunteer efforts rather than building an organization from the top down.

Broad community support is more important, Steiner says, than “the injection of a lot of energy, a lot of vision, a lot of money, a lot of building.” This approach means that growth is slow, but hopefully, more sustainable. Twelve individuals continued to meet, forming a steering committee.

Educating the community

Almost three years later, Connexus – the organization that grew out of that visioning session – has conducted mediations, built a network of mediation practitioners, published a website, assembled a board, and gained non-profit status. Steiner volunteers for the organization while working at Venture Products, a small-scale tractor developer based in Orrville.

In November, Connexus began hosting storytelling events to demonstrate mediation to those unfamiliar with the practice.

“I’ve come to realize that people still stigmatize conflict,” says Steiner. “It feels as though, if you ask for help in a conflict, that somehow there’s something really wrong with you … it helped me realize how hard this journey was going to be.”

In the spring, Steiner combined a guest sermon at an area church with a basic communication and conflict management training. By these small steps, an organization is built, as people learn what exactly Connexus could offer their family or community.

One insight Steiner took away from his practicum dealt with questions of efficacy. In general, he says, communities with longstanding not-for-profit mediation centers all had “graduates” who had gone on to develop their own niche practices.

“Our goal is not so much to develop the empire,” explains Steiner. “It’s to build the capacity in our community so that, if there are people who want to develop their own practice, they have those skills. It’s not about Connexus so much as it’s about our long-term community goals.”

The event is also designed to give participants a preview of the community atmosphere and courses offered at SPI, a program of the which hosts five sessions in May and June on a variety of topics including trauma awareness, restorative justice, leadership, program management and responding to violent extremism.

Since 1994, more than 3,000 people have attended SPI from more than 120 countries. While the early years of SPI were geared more towards international participants, there has been a push in the last few years to attract local participants and respond to local situations.

“This is a way to give more focus to the local community,” says , admissions director.

Last year, a middle school teacher, veteran, pastor and community kitchen manager were among the 65 regional peacebuilders in attendance at SPI Community Day. After “such a positive response” last year, Roth Shank says the maximum attendance has been increased to 80.

The event includes a breakfast presentation on community organizing by Dr. , professor of restorative justice; two 90-minute workshops, a lunch presentation and a networking event.

“The underlying focus is going to be community organizing and leading,” says Roth Shank. “In the current political climate … people are looking for ways to build bridges and be engaged.”

Workshop offerings include

• Organizational Use of Circles, with Dr. ;
• Leadership and Management for the Common Good, with Dr. ;
• Conflict Coaching, with Dr. ;
• Program and Project Management, with ;
• Transforming Power of Identity and Dignity, with Dr. ;
• Faith-Based Peacebuilding: Structuring Hope Locally, with The Rev. Roy Hange.

Participants will depart with deeper networks and valuable skills related to organizational leadership, says SPI Director , while also learning more about the resources of SPI and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

“I believe, as do many others, that in the coming years, communities are going to have to increasingly rely on their own organizations and service providers as there will be less help forthcoming from the federal government,” says Goldberg. “SPI Community Day is a great chance for EMU to make better connections with these local providers, give them the skills they need to succeed and help them become better connected with each other.”

The conference is hosted by the (PJSA), dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice and social change.

“PJSA is an important bi-national alliance for peacebuilding research, scholarship, training and activism,” says , executive director of ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s . “It is a great honor that so many CJP and EMU faculty, staff and graduates will be featured in prominent conference roles this year, and allows a rare opportunity to highlight our distinctive contributions to the peacebuilding field.”

Those “distinctive contributions” include both conceptual and practical dimensions to the fields of , , , peace and justice studies pedagogy and the pedagogy of practice within the field, experiential education, reflective pedagogy and the arts and peacebuilding.

Catherine Barnes offers keynote address

Dr. Catherine Barnes, affiliate professor at CJP, will share from more than 30 years of experience working with deliberative dialogue processes in places as varied as the UN General Assembly Hall to village gathering places. Her address is titled “Engaging together: exploring deliberative dialogue as a path towards systemic transformation.”

“Deliberative dialogue” is a process that can empower participants to foster collaborative relationships and perceive the underlying mental models that maintain the status quo with the goal of fostering new approaches to complex challenges.

For the past seven years, Barnes has been working in support of transitional processes in Burma/Myanmar. She has worked and lived in more than 30 countries as a teacher, trainer, researcher, policy advocate and consultant with the focus of helping civil society activists, diplomats and politicians, and armed groups to build their capacities for preventing violence and using conflict as an opportunity for addressing the underlying causes giving rise to grievance. Barnes has worked with numerous peacebuilding and human rights organizations, including Conciliation Resources and Minority Rights Group International.

Focusing on education

·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s on peace and justice guides its educators, many of whom are sharing their pedagogical practices and discussing ways to educate future peacebuilders in the “educator’s strand,” designed for personal and professional development of K-12 teachers, undergraduate and community educators. Themes include pedagogy, curriculum development, building a culture of peace in your classroom or school, alternative education programs, and restorative practices.

On the undergraduate level, professor , who leads the in the department of applied social sciences, leads a roundtable discussion for faculty and administrators of peace and justice studies programs.

, the with CJP’s , joins professor and graduate students in a session on mentoring student peacebuilders and the importance of those mentors being experienced practitioners themselves.

Restorative practices are highlighted by professors and in a “relational justice” workshop on how mindful teachers can prepare and prime “their best selves” in preparation for inviting students into models of restorative justice. Mullet also joins , professor of education at Bridgewater College, for a workshop on relational literacy in multicultural K-12 classrooms.

Cheree Hammond, professor of counseling, leads educators in a workshop on contemplative pedagogies and the cultivation of a just and peaceful self.

Restorative justice, trauma healing, playback theater featured

The conference offers an opportunity to highlight ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s unique peacebuilding initiatives. The brings together practitioners from EMU and JMU, as well as local law enforcement. Collaborators in the initiative will speak: , co-director of the; education professor ; Harrisonburg Police Department lieutenant Kurt Boshart; , restorative justice coordinator at the ; and , director of JMU’s Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices.

Another definitive CJP program, (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience), will be introduced in a workshop by professor and program director .

troupe co-founders and lead a workshop on playback theater as qualitative research. Vogel is a professor of theater; Foster instructs in the applied social sciences department and with CJP. The applied theater method invites dialogue and healing through community-building, as audience members share stories and watch as they are “played back” on the stage. Among other settings, Inside Out has performed on campus with college students returning from cross-culturals, among international peacebuilders and in workshops for and research about trauma and sexual abuse survivors.

, professor of applied social sciences, speaks about social capital networks as forms of resistance among battered undocumented Latinas, sharing just one strand of a .

, assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding, leads a discussion on the film “Vision is Our Power,” a film about black youth ending violence in all its forms. The documentary was created by four young filmmakers participating in a multi-year arts and leadership Vision to Peace Project led by Turner; the film debuted in 2008 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

And more…

, professor of English, presents on life narratives and identity issues in the Balkans with his wife Daria, a CJP graduate who teaches in the counseling department at JMU. The two lived and taught in the Balkans.

, professor of philosophy and theology, explores the recent work in philosophy and science on theory of emotion.

, a new faculty member coming to EMU next semester after concluding his PhD research at American University, participates several panels, with a diversity of topics including transnational solidarity and police brutality and racism in the contested areas of Palestine and Ferguson, Missouri. Seidel is a board member of PJSA.

Among the alumni presenting: Vesna Hart, Sue Praill and Tom Brenneman join a panel discussion on justice and the nature of human nature. Ted Swartz presents the satire with Tim Ruebke and JMU professor of theater Ingrid DeSanctis.

View the . Registration fees will be covered for attendees from the Shenandoah Valley who are affiliated with or sponsored by Bridgewater College, James Madison University, ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř, or Mary Baldwin College. For more information, click .

The answer: (CBD), which describes itself as “a consortium of peacebuilding practitioners, each committed to creating a more just and peaceful world by enabling healthier families, organizations, communities, and societies.” Initially growing out of a network of peacemakers in Arizona in the early 1990s organized by CBD member and ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř graduate Tom Brenneman, the consortium today includes ten members, seven of them with EMU connections.

The congregation contacted CBD member , associate professor of organizational studies at ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s (CJP). Brubaker and a recent CJP alumnus facilitated a conversation that led to a vision statement and a plan to move the congregation from a board-commission structure to a more flexible, team-based model. It was unanimously adopted.

Grounded in faith

Church consultations like that one comprise the majority of CBD’s work, but the practitioners’ diverse skills are also applied in a variety of other settings. Their focus areas include change management, strategic planning, congregational revitalization, conflict transformation, mediation, facilitation, coaching and training.

Brubaker says the work is deeply grounded in faith and spirituality.

“To me it is a reflection of God’s desire for a more peaceful and just world,” Brubaker says. “If we can do it congregation by congregation and organization by organization, then we’re participating in God’s vision, even when we’re doing it imperfectly.”

Much of the work comes from referrals, about one a month on average, but CBD recently formalized one relationship when it entered an agreement to partner with the North Carolina-based (CHC) and assist CHC in its work with congregations in Virginia. Particular attention will be given to proactive initiatives that address conflict before it reaches the crisis stage.

“We encourage people to consider consultants at an early entry point of a conflict or strategic planning,” says CBD member , who also serves as university ombudsman for EMU. “We very much encourage people to be open, transparent and involved—including those who may have a contrary vision. Stepping into (conflict) can be a healthy, normal, practical thing.”

‘Holders of the process, not the solution’

Brubaker says he and Reid recently worked with a “Level 5” conflict in a congregation that had let a problem fester too long, as many congregations and other groups do. “One of the toughest I’ve ever done,” he says. “It’s good when congregations are more proactive. It’s so much more effective at the front end.”

The CBD members emphasize that they are not some sort of peacemaking superheroes who can speed in and solve a conflict. They simply provide an outside perspective, help all voices be heard, and give guidance for the way forward. “Reference teams” composed of key stakeholders in the situation at hand are formed to carry out the desired outcome.

“We are holders of the process, not the solution,” says CBD member Roxy Allen Kioko, a graduate of ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s program and instructor with the and in ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s . “A lot of consultants go in and make a recommendation and the congregation is supposed to implement it. But a lot of times it fails because there is no ownership of it. By collaborating with a diverse and well respected team within the congregation, they take ownership. They are involved from day one, from assessment to implementation and follow-up. It’s a unique thing about our model that can hopefully lead to better success.”