ALL SESSIONS ONLINE      9:00 am - 4:05 pm 

Hot Topics and Debates from the ACR-GNY Resolution Roundtable Blog
Jeffrey T. Zaino, Esq., Steven Skulnik, Leslie Berkoff, Noah Hanft

9:00 - 10:00 am EST

This panel of arbitration experts will explore the leading issues and debates highlighted in the 2025 ACR-GNY Resolution Roundtable Blog. Panelists will discuss key perspectives, examine divergent viewpoints, and present summaries of the blog’s most impactful responses.

Teens Eager to Engage in Non-Violent Solutions
Trudy Junkroski, Alexa Escamilla, Amari Derry, and Anya Garcia

10:10 - 11:10 am EST

For the past four years, students from high schools in Yonkers, New York, have gathered with CLUSTER Community Services to develop skills in circle-keeping and other restorative practices. This session explores the experiences of T.E.E.N.S. (Teen Eager to Engage in Non-Violent Solutions) utilizing restorative practices with family, peers, and community. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from several T.E.E.N.S. graduates about their journey in learning to be circle-keepers, and how they are incorporating restorative practices into their lives beyond high school.

Psychological Dimensions of Impasse-Breaking in Mediation
David A. Hoffman

11:20 am - 12:20 pm EST

David Hoffman will address both the cognitive and emotional barriers to settlement in mediation, with a particular focus on the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. IFS is not about families – it’s about our internal operating systems and the ‘family-like’ relationships our sub-personalities have with each other. David teaches the IFS model in the Mediation and other courses he teaches at Harvard Law School. In addition, David will discuss the ways in which the IFS model can help mediators understand and counteract conscious and unconscious biases that interfere with our impartiality and effectiveness. These techniques are based on material from David's recent book "The Art of Impasse-Breaking in Mediation," published by the American Bar Association, and recent article "Follow the Science: Proven Strategies for Reducing Unconscious Bias," published by the Harvard Negotiation Law Review (with Prof. Helen Winter).

Five Traps for Unwary Mediators
Paul Gupta, Gary Doernhoefer, Jeffrey T. Zaino, Esq., Noah Hanft, Gretta Walters

12:30 - 1:45 pm EST

This session will feature highly-experienced leaders of the ADR community, including a leading mediation provider, a leading technology vendor, and three neutrals. The panelists will focus on established and evolving best practices for mediations in five areas:

1. How to choose appropriate mediators from a growing network of people with varying backgrounds. This segment will be led by Jeff Zaino, Vice President, American Arbitration Association.

2. How to prepare for the mediation conference, in light of evolving best practices. This segment will be led by Paul Gupta, Founder of ConnectedADR LLC and former partner in global law firms.

3. How mediators should conduct themselves, including whether to make mediators' proposals, and related ethical rules. This segment will be led by Noah Hanft, Co-Founder, Acumen LLC.

4. How to handle international issues, including dealing with different forums. This segment will be led by Gretta Walters, Partner at Chaffetz Lindsey LLP.

5. How to use available technologies to help mediators meet their obligations and develop their caseloads, including a demo of ADR Notable. This segment will be led by Gary Doernhoefer, CEO of ADR Notable.

Learning objectives for attendees:

1. Understanding how mediators are chosen, trained, and evaluated.

2. Understanding the practical and ethical issues about preparing for and conducting mediations.

3. Understanding the proper role of mediators, including whether they should make mediators' proposals, and ABA Formal Opinion 518.

4. Understanding how to manage international issues in mediations.

5. Understanding the choices, benefits, risks, and costs for the use of technology tools for mediators.

Peace Professionalism - Explored
Gordon Breedyk, Evelyn Voigt, Dr. Nathan Funk

1:55 - 2:55 pm EST

In this session, the presenters will highlight some of the key findings from a research project funded by SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) and entitled, Peace Professionalism Project (PPP), Developing and Testing New Approaches to Peace Professionalism (https://peaceprofessionalism.com/). The research has engaged hundreds of peace practitioners, academics and policy makers from around the world to discuss values, competencies and skills that contribute to an improved positioning and effectiveness of peace practice. The highlights will be illustrated through stories of success, and at times limits, of past peacebuilding initiatives. The presentation will be interactive, engaging the audience in a conversation about the project's research findings and recommendations.

Led by a Canadian/Kenyan Principal Investigator, the research team includes peace academics and practitioners from Kenya, Colombia, Nepal, Pakistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, the DRC, and the US – with respondents from around the world.

The interactive exploration will begin with a 4-minute video introducing peace professionalism. This will be followed by peace stories, supported by Powerpoint slides injected as required to demonstrate the findings, conclusions and recommendations from the research conducted during the PPP project.

Input from the discussions will provide valuable information for consideration as part of the ongoing Peace Professionalism Project deliberations.

AI & EI: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence and Forgiveness Around the World
Dr. Ani Kalayjian, Lida Asilyan, Gamze Sen, Nairy Bzdigian

3:05 - 4:05 pm EST

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping mental health care by offering scalable and cost-effective interventions. However, its dependence on digital infrastructure and its limited capacity for empathy, meaning-making, and ethical judgment risk excluding vulnerable populations and dehumanizing care. This session examines the critical role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a necessary complement to AI in addressing global mental health disparities.

Drawing on research and fieldwork across nearly 50 countries, the presentation introduces the Seven Step Integrative Healing Model, an evidence-based framework that integrates biopsychosocial and eco-spiritual approaches to strengthen EI and reduce horizontal violence in individuals and communities affected by trauma, oppression, and displacement. Real-world case examples from diverse global regions illustrate how empathy, mindfulness, forgiveness, and meaning-making foster resilience and post-traumatic growth, particularly in contexts where access to AI technologies is limited or absent.

Participants will gain a practical understanding of the benefits and limitations of AI and EI when used independently and explore how their integration can support more ethical, inclusive, and effective mental health interventions in a post-AI world.