Dear ACR Houston Members and Friends,
As a chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), I wanted to take a moment to commemorate Conflict Resolution Day which has been celebrated each year since 2005 on the third Thursday of the month in October. This year, Conflict Resolution Day will be celebrated on October 20th.
Conflict Resolution Day was created by ACR to:
• Promote awareness of mediation, arbitration, conciliation and other creative, peaceful means of resolving conflict;
• Promote the use of conflict resolution in schools, families, businesses, communities, governments and the legal system;
• Recognize the significant contributions of (peaceful) conflict resolvers; and
• Obtain national synergy by having celebrations happen across the country and around the world on the same day.
October has become a time to promote and celebrate peaceful conflict resolution practices worldwide. Dedicated dispute resolution practitioners are helping to educate the public about mediation and other innovative conflict management processes. The American Bar Association (ABA) declared the third week of October, “ABA Mediation Week,” in part building on the efforts of many other national, state, and local organizations, including the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), which celebrate conflict resolution during the month of October. The ABA and ACR, as well as numerous other organizations, are working to raise awareness of the importance of mediation and peaceful conflict resolution.
To celebrate Conflict Resolution Month, ACR Houston has partnered with the Dispute Resolution Center of Montgomery County for the Annual Peacebuilding Community Awards which aims to honor people and organizations who work to spread peace in Montgomery and Harris Counties by establishing/promoting local peace initiatives, promoting peaceful conflict resolution practices, or providing peace training for any age group. This year’s Peacebuilding Community Champions are listed below with their winning category. Congratulations 2022 Peacebuilding Community Champions!
• Caney Creek HS Peer Mediation Team, K. Mahnke, Sponsor, K-12 Grade
• Teresa De Ford, Community Member
• Varvara Lazaridis, New Generation (18 – 25 years old)
• Leadership Montgomery County (LMC), Exemplified by Class of 2022, Organization
We hope that all of you commit to actively building peace, especially throughout this Conflict Resolution Month. You can start by signing the Conflict Resolution Day Peace Pledge Here. Don’t forget to share a peace message after you sign the pledge.
Diana Pino, Ph.D.
2022 President, ACR Houston
