Mediation training for a more inclusive and diverse Cedar Rapids

Since September 2014, the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission has had an opportunity to thoroughly review and prioritize activities that fall within the commission's scope of services. In order to further explore opportunities to improve service delivery, the commission staff gathered feedback from partner agencies, the commission's outreach committee, members of the public to develop annual outreach plans.

The commission's outreach Plans for 2015-16 detail the commission's strategic direction for public education that supports its vision and mission. Recent public education offerings include: a 'Selma” movie night for MLK Day, a Jan. 17 diversity public employment job fair held at the Rapids Downtown Public Library and created in collaboration with the City of Cedar Rapids, Linn County, and Cedar Rapids Community Schools. Last week, we held a Fair housing & Lending practices training by the John Marshall Law School, and helped bring a civil rights history display to city hall from the African American Museum of Iowa last December.

We also held a community mediation training on Feb. 9 to provide residents with tools and strategies to seek resolution of conflicts before those conflicts rise to the level of formal complaints to the commission. We received much positive feedback from attendees. In order to keep the momentum going, the commission invites the public to participate in a second free three-hour seminar on mediation on April 22 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Cedar Rapids Police Department Community Room. The training will start with a brief review of the February training session and the remainder of the training will focus on new material. It will be facilitated by Annie Tucker, director of Eastern Iowa Mediation Services.

Participants will learn:

' The mediation process for the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission

' Tools for providing a non-biased space to improve working relationships

' Skills for diffusing interpersonal conflict

' Strategies for using conflict resolution to bolster organization integrity.

The goal of the mediation training is to provide individuals with tools to cope with conflict, avoid or resolve formal complaints and understand the mediation process. The primary target audiences are human resource professionals, housing providers, as well as the general public and organizations alike.

Please join us as we build a more inclusive and diverse city for future generations to come. Registration is free and open to the public but seating is limited. CEUs will be available through Eastern Iowa Human Resources Association.

Register by 5 p.m. April 20 at www.eventbrite.com/e/mediation-seminar-tickets-22738983913

For more information on this training and other programs, please call the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission at (319) 286-5036 or visit our website at www.cedar-rapids.org/CivilRights.

' LaSheila Yates is executive director of the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission. More information: www.cedar-rapids.org/civilrights