Tag Archives: New York Peace Institute

A call to peacebuilders — ‘Let’s shake things up and peace out’

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Sometimes a fellow writer sums up my hopes and goals so articulately, I have nothing else to add. Brad Heckman does precisely that in his posting today.

I wish we in the peacebuilding community could really shake things up, and truly awaken the public to mediation and other nonviolent conflict response approaches. I most definitely felt the ground move beneath my feet when I learned that there is a better way of dealing with conflicts…a way that meant neither giving up, nor giving in. One that promotes assertiveness and improves understanding and heals relationships.

I’ve posted before about how we get it wrong in getting the word out. And while we’re not a unified, standardized, professionalized field, we peacebuilders — mediators, conciliators, facilitators, conflict coaches, violence interrupters, trainers, arbitrators, appreciative inquirers , nonviolent communication practitioners, etc. — are nevertheless a movement. A scattered, diverse, motley movement, but a movement nonetheless.

Let’s shake things up and peace out.

Writing about the tremors that shook his home city, New York, Brad reflects on the street scene he encountered when he exited the subway on Tuesday.  It reminded him of a Japanes monster movie scene.  It’s worth a click just to see the artwork he chose to accompany his post.

Brad Heckman is CEO of the New York Peace Institute.

 

What Professions Make the Best Peacemakers? Maybe Yours!

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. . . regardless of the letters behind your name, your career, your job, your background, you can build peace in your community.  –Brad Heckman, CEO, New York Peace Institute, posted in the blog, The Hecklist.

While wandering the web looking for items that might “help seat-of-the-pants peacemakers see they are not alone,” I stumbled upon The Hecklist.  In a posting which asked the question, “Which professions make the best mediators?”, the excerpt above jumped out at me.

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about the kinds of people who are drawn to the role of peacemaker or mediator.  An obvious way to approach the topic is simply to talk to people already employed in conflict resolution and mediation, but that doesn’t really get to the heart of my hopes for this blog.

I’m certainly interested in learning (and sharing with my readers) all I can learn from professional mediators engaged in conflict resolution.  My real passion, though, is to find people in all walks of life who seem to find themselves in the impromptu role of mediator.  That’s who I mean when I say in the subtitle of my blog, “seat-of-the-pants peacemakers.”

It was enlightening and encouraging to me to read Heckman’s list of professions represented in the mediator pool of the New York Peace Institute:

Hostage negotiator, United Nations diplomat, Broadway producer, judge, NYPD detective, animal rights activist, stand-up comedian, closet space organizer, homemaker, lawyer, doctor, dog trainer, transit worker, mussel farmer, TV producer, journalist, actor, philanthropist, mystery novelist, social worker, marketing executive, stage manager, artist, IT guy, taxi driver, domestic violence advocate, court clerk, limousine company owner, cat breeder, bar owner, glass blower, religious leader, linguist, editor, musician, homeless shelter supervisor…

Just a few moments spent reading “What’s New at New York Peace?” makes it clear that the Institute takes people beyond the “seat-of-the-pants” stage by offering them training and leadership skills to be effective in dispute resolution.  I’m still left with the question:  ”What brings these people from such a wide assortment of professions into formal training?”

My quest continues, and now it will include frequent visits to the Hecklist.  Thanks, Brad, for a delightful read.  I especially enjoyed reading about NYC’s East Greenwich Village Mosaic Man.  I recommend it and your other musings to the readers of Fairnessworks.com.