Past Events

October 15th, 2009 - Cultivating Common Ground - Restoring Our Communities

On this year’s National Conflict Resolution Day, October 15th, 2009 and, coincidentally on the same day that President Obama visited the Bay Area, SEEDS Community Resolution Center gathered a distinguished audience of over 100 government and community leaders, judges, attorneys, and professional and volunteer mediators in honor of Judge Gail Bereola, Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court in Alameda County. SEEDS' Cultivating Common Ground event is an annual series of programs and workshops open to the community in celebration of National Conflict Resolution Day. This year's event was held in historic Preservation Park in Oakland, California.

Nina Senn, SEEDS' Board President, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the breakfast event. She said that, “It is auspicious that our Nobel Prize-winning President is in the Bay Area today. He ran on a platform of change and challenged us to be more active in our communities. Last week he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as “a call to action” for change. SEEDS’ call to action entails providing high quality conflict resolution services to our community in order to facilitate more positive and constructive change.”

The program included an overview of SEEDS’ mission and conflict resolution services by Shar Etebar, SEEDS’ Executive Director; a moving presentation by Bob Dorsey, one of several participants in SEEDS' first Restorative Restitution Circle; an inspiring acceptance speech by Judge Bereola and an informative keynote address by Alameda County Supervisor of the Fifth District, Keith Carson.

Judge Gail Bereola was honored because of her leadership in integrating Restorative Justice practices and principles into the Alameda County juvenile courts. “With her leadership, we are now establishing restorative justice programs at juvenile court along the whole justice continuum from police officers diverting youth to Restorative Group Conferences to Restitution Circles post adjudication to Circles of Support and Accountability to help youth move forward in a positive direction,” said David Yusem, SEEDS Community Mediation Program Manager.

Judge Bereola’s heartfelt and eloquent acceptance speech described the vital role of Restorative Justice practices in the juvenile justice system. She said that, "We have a very huge recidivism rate [in our juvenile justice system] - it's better than 70 percent. Something is not working. It's time to look at other tools." She went on to describe how Restorative Justice practices invite the victim, the offender, and their respected communities to identify and address the harm done to the community and the ways in which the community can be fully restored following an offense. Matt Golde of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, echoed Judge Bereola’s sentiments, with his statement that, “Restorative Justice is an important arrow in the quiver of the juvenile justice system.”

Following the breakfast, SEEDS showcased Restorative Justice practices in a lively, interactive seminar that demonstrates how constructive dialogue between offenders and their victims often provides healing for both parties and reduces recidivism. The seminar included a viewing of “Meeting with a Killer: One Family's Journey”, a powerful documentary on the implementation of Restorative Justice practices for the family members of a murdered woman and the offender. SEEDS also provided conflict resolution training taught by Shar Etebar, Claudia Viera, former SEEDS Board President, and SEEDS volunteer coaches that was open to the public on a sliding scale.

This all-day event was not only a chance for supporters of Judge Gail Bereola and SEEDS Community Resolution Center to celebrate National Conflict Resolution Day, but it was an invitation for the audience to begin instituting restorative practices in their personal and professional lives and to strengthen their conflict resolution skills. Restorative Justice is a natural extension of SEEDS conflict resolution services in cultivating common ground among victims, offenders, and community members.

The program is dependent on the contributions and support of the community, private foundations, donors and volunteers. Funds raised for this event came from corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, as well as numerous donations that were made in honor of the event.

2009 Annual Breakfast Honorary Committee

Claudia Albano, City of Oakland

Judge Wayne Brazil, Magistrate Judge, Federal District Court of California

Millie Burns, Catholic Charities of the East Bay

Fania E. Davis, Ph.D., Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth

Michael Hannigan, Give Something Back

Ron Kelly, Professional Mediator

May Lee, City of Fremont

Grande Lum, UC Hastings College of the Law

Edith Ng, University of California

Jean Quan, Oakland City Council

Tom Surh, Alameda County Superior Court

Claudia Viera, Mediation Law Offices of Claudia Viera

2009 SPONSORS

SEEDS LEADERS

Give Something Back, Inc.

Kaiser Permanente

SEEDS BENEFACTORS

Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons,

Greenwood, Harley & Oberman Foundation

Michael Woodbridge

Mo Morris, Paul Steckel and Van Mulder Sheet Metal, Inc

Jane Gottesman & Geoffrey Biddle

SEEDS PARTNERS

Bob Bailey & The Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund

Kim Garrett & Kaiser Permanente

Diana Gray & Oracle Corporation

Nina Senn, Mediator

Barbara Steinberg

SEEDS FRIENDS

American Friends' Service Committee

Bohbot & Riles, LLP

Lieff Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Dr. Misa Hosohama

Lynn Cooper

Arline "Sandi" Tyler

Lyn Kendrick

Judy Gordon Mediation Services

Payne & Fears, LLP

Mediation Law Offices of Claudia Viera

Barry Winograd, Arbitrator & Mediator

Lynn Cooper

Rudy, Exelrod & Zieff

Lois Kadosh, Broker/Consultant

Hon. Linda Maio, Councilmember, City of Berkeley, District 1

In Kind Donations:

Give Something Back, Inc.

Rick Lowe Design

Tim White Photography

D'Jour Floral

Claremont Hotel Club & Spa.

May 2nd, 2009 - SEEDS Volunteers had fun "Cooking with Naomi" - a cooking class offered as part of SEEDS' grassroots SEEDS of RESOLUTION fundraising campaign! For more photos and information about this wonderful way we raised money for SEEDS, click here...

October 25th, 2008 - SEEDS Celebrates 25 years of Community Mediation in Alameda County! We celebrated our 25th Anniversary of providing community-based mediation, facilitation and conflict resolution training programs in Alameda Count . Everyone had a fantastic time! See a photo slideshow of the event and watch the video celebrating our honorees. A special thanks to our event sponsors who helped make our event a great success and support our critically needed services.