Concord-Related Events

CONCORD-RELATED ACTIVITIES
In the UCLA School of Public Affairs

Current Activities:

Concord LA: Program Launch - Fall 2008

  • Concord LA is a new community-based, multi-year violence prevention program in South Los Angeles. Graduate students from the School of Public Affairs engage with community partners (Los Angeles Urban League, Centinela Youth Services), stakeholders, and residents of the South Los Angeles community through
    • Direct service delivery - student/parent/teacher and staff/victim-offender mediation facilitation in schools
    • Policy evaluations and analyses related to community-defined problems.
    Additional program partners include the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development Concord LA also provides a series of short-course leadership training sessions to community leaders.
       
  • Course: “Community Engagement and Policy Research for Violence Prevention in South Los Angeles” - Fall Quarter 2008
    • This experiential independent study course provides participants with an opportunity to become involved with the community of South Los Angeles and to conduct primary and secondary research related to violence prevention in South Los Angeles.
    • Instructor: Alexandra Lieben, MPP
          
        

The Senior Fellows Program:

  • The Senior Fellows Program, the premier public engagement program of the School of Public Affairs, seeks to connect the world of political and policy action to education for the public interest. Each year accomplished leaders volunteer their time and expertise for the Policy School and its students. They deliver a policy briefing in their area of expertise and mentor one or more students.
  • 2007-08 School of Public Affairs Senior Fellows Program - “Concord Fellows”: Mr. Tufail Ahmed, Mr. Steven Goodman, and Mr. Robin Toma
    • TUFAIL AHMED, a Pakistani-American community leader and president of the international trading company Euro-American Shipping & Trade, is the co-founder of the Montgomery County Muslim Council and the Maryland Muslim Council. Mr. Ahmed’s peace building work focuses on enhancing dialogue among different ethnic and religious communities, from India and Pakistan to the U.S. Muslim and Jewish communities. STEVEN GOODMAN serves as vice president and inter-group outreach chair of the American Jewish Committee’s Washington Chapter. He is also an international authority on college and graduate school admissions. Mr. Goodman develops initiatives and spearheads outreach to various ethnic groups, including to the Maryland Muslim Council.

      • Mr. Goodman and Mr. Ahmed co-chair an interfaith Muslim-Jewish dialogue group in the Washington area. They have engaged in a series of joint activities, from holding fund raisers for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake to jointly celebrating Jewish and Muslim holidays and performing joint Jewish-Muslim community service.

    • ROBIN TOMA has been the Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations since 2000. He was a member of the US Delegation to the UN World Conference Against Racism, held in South Africa, in 2001 and lead attorney in seeking redress for over 2,200 Japanese Latin Americans who were forcibly brought to the U.S. and imprisoned by the US government during World War II. He is also part of an ongoing gathering of leaders known as the Executive Session on Criminal Justice and Human Rights organized by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Toma completed a three-year Kellogg National Fellowship Program studying how genuine democracies can be built in culturally diverse societies around the globe. He is co-author of the manual: "Day Laborer Hiring Sites: Constructive Approaches to Community Conflict," and authored "A Primer on Managing Intergroup Conflict in a Multicultural Workplace."

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Robin Toma

Courses:

  • Intensive Course: "Learning to Resolve Disputes: Mediation, Negotiation, and Facilitation in Theory and Practice" - 3/24/2008 - 3/28/2008 and 4/6/2008
    • An introduction to alternative dispute resolution theory and practice with an emphasis on mediation. It is intended for those interested in acquiring the skills necessary for successful mediation of conflicts in the public and private realm. This course will teach participants how and when to use dispute resolution tools to prevent, manage, or resolve a variety of disputes and conflicts. The course will focus on facilitative, evaluative, and transformative mediation approaches and will introduce students to negotiation theory and consensus-based facilitation theory.
    • Instructor: ANNA SPAIN, J.D. and a series of guest speakers.
  • Conflict Mediation and Peace Building – Spring 2006 and Spring 2000
    • Graduate-level course designed to equip students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the area of conflict resolution and peacemaking. The training enables them to participate meaningfully in conflict analysis, and the design and implementation of a plan to manage conflicts successfully and to resolve disputes.
    • Instructors: Mr. CRAIG ARENDSE, Prof. ADRIAAN MULLER, Prof. BARBARA NELSON, Prof. STEPHEN COMMINS
   

Conferences:

  • “Cross-Community Leadership Education in Divided Societies” – Spring 2006
    • Participants: an international group of experts on leadership education, divided societies, cross-community work, social capital, and economic development. Featured speakers: STEWART KWOH, President and CEO, Asian Pacific American Legal Center and SPA Senior Fellow; MICHAEL MAHDESIAN, former USAID Assistant Secretary for Post Conflict Transitions in the Clinton Administration and SPA Advisory Board Member; and The Honorable INOCENCIO F. ARIAS LLAMAS, Consul General of Spain in Los Angeles. Organized by The Concord Project: BARBARA J. NELSON, Dean of the UCLA School of Public Affairs; KATHRYN A. (MANDY) CARVER, Executive Director, The Concord Project, UCLA School of Public Affairs; and Dr. LINDA KABOOLIAN, Lecturer, Kennedy School of Government and Director of the Labor Institute at Harvard University.
    
    
  • “Leadership in Diverse Communities: The Changing Faces in Public Policy” - 4/7/2007
    • Keynote speaker: CURREN D. PRICE, California State Assemblymember, 51st District. Presented by the Department of Public Policy.
Talks:
  • “PAKISTAN: Potential Global Catastrophe?” - 11/29/07
    • A panel discussion focusing on evaluating events unfolding in Pakistan and their wider implications from the perspectives of one of the West's great Pakistan scholars, a leading journalist whose work focuses on Asia, and a senior US Diplomat with a background in South Asian studies just returned from service in Pakistan.
    • Panelists: PETER KOVACH, Senior Fellow, Diplomat-in-Residence, & former Counselor for Public Affairs in the American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan; TOM PLATE, Adjunct Professor of Public Policy, Syndicated Columnist, & Founder of Asia Pacific Media Network; and STANLEY WOLPERT, Professor Emeritus of History (Pakistan and India)
  • “Policing and Conflict Resolution” - 10/25/07
    • The Honorable ROBERT PEIRCE, British Consul General in Los Angeles, helped launch a new series of talks that will bring members of L.A.’s Consular Corps to UCLA. The British Consul General discussed his experiences since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was signed, shared insights on police reform efforts in the troubled area and drew parallels to other problematic regions around the world, from Iraq to Los Angeles
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  • Commencement - 6/15/2007
    • Commencement Speaker: The Honorable NORMAN MINETA, former U.S. Congressman and U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton. At the ceremony, Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams awarded Secretary Mineta the UCLA Medal, the university's highest honor, in recognition of his lifelong leadership and public service.
  • “The Politics of Hate: The State of Intergroup Relations in Los Angeles” - 5/31/2007
    • Policy briefing by RICHARD VERCHES, Senior Fellow, Chief Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations and former International Human Rights attorney with the United Nations, discussed the results and underlying trends of the recently released Hate Crime Reports for the county of Los Angeles.
  • “The Future of U.S.-Turkish Relations” - 1/29/2007
    • Policy briefing by IAN O. LESSER, Senior Transatlantic Fellow of the German Marshall Fund and President of Mediterranean Advisors, LLC. Prior to his affiliation with the German Marshall Fund, Dr. Lesser was Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, Vice President and Director of Studies at the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles, and adjunct staff member at RAND specializing in strategic studies and Mediterranean security.
  • Senior Fellow Breakfast - 10/24/2006
    • Breakfast with 2006-07 class of Senior Fellows and their student mentees. Welcome address by BARBARA NELSON, Dean, UCLA School of Public Affairs and remarks by TOBI INLENDER, Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Services, Inc.
  • “Addressing Conflict in Urban Settings: Mediation as a Community Resource” - 5/18/2006
    • Policy discussion moderated by Senior Fellow TOBI INLENDER, Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Services, Inc., with panelists: ERIC STEPHENS, Coordinator of the STARS Program at Centinela Youth Services; JOUMANA SILYAN-SABA, Policy Advisor for the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission; and BRIAN BUCHNER, Policing Specialist at the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC).
  • “War-Affected Children and the Dilemmas of African Conflict” - 5/11/2006
    • Lecture by OLARA OTUNNU, President of the LBL Foundation for Children and former United Nations Under-Secretary general and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Part of the School of Public Affairs’ Spring 2006 Lecture Series on National and Human Security Worldwide. Co-sponsored by the UCLA African Studies Center.
  • “Beyond Black and White: Race Relations in the 21st Century” - 5/8/2006
    • Leadership Lecture by ANGELA OH, Attorney and former Presidential Advisor on President Clinton’s Initiative on Race.
  • “California Counter-Terrorism UNCLASSIFIED: Everything You Thought you Heard on CNN, but Didn't” - 4/20/2006
    • Policy briefing by Senior Fellow ERROLL SOUTHERS, Deputy Director of California Homeland Security. Part of the School of Public Affairs' Spring 2006 Lecture Series on National and Human Security
  • “From a Kurdish Perspective: Iraq, the World, and the Futures of Kurdish Peoples” - 2/6/2006
    • Panel discussion featuring Dr. REBWAR FATAH, Director and Co-founder of KurdishMedia.com and HIWA, NEZHADIAN, Kurdish activist from Southern California; Dr. KAMAL ARTIN, Kurdish National Congress; and NYMA ARDALAN, Kurdish National Congress.
  • “Human Rights Advocacy, NGO’s, & International Development” - 11/14/2005
    • Presentation by RICHARD VERCHES, former Senior Fellow and former international human rights lawyer for the U.N. and SPA senior fellow and ANDREA KISTEN CAPACHIETTI, a humanitarian aid consultant. Sponsored by the Center for Globalization and Policy Research, Canadian Studies Program at the UCLA School of Public Affairs.
  • Commencement - 6/18/2004
    • The Honorable GEORGE J. MITCHELL, former United States Senator; chairman of the board, Disney Company was the featured UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research Commencement Speaker. Senator Mitchell received the UCLA Medal from Chancellor ALBERT CARNESALE in recognition of his unwavering commitment to peace and humankind.
  • Getting Past Conflict: “A Workshop on Diversity Challenges in the Planning Process” - 3/11/2004
    • Lecture by KEVIN TAMAKI and CHAR GHIVAAN, co-facilitators from the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). Presented by the UCLA Department of Urban Planning and SPA.
 
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