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Introducing the CDS Training Institute!
We are thrilled to introduce our new CDS Training Institute, dedicated to promoting peaceful conflict resolution through trainings, professional development, and technical support throughout the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes Region. Our trainings are designed to meet the gold standard in adult learning and professional development, drawing on cutting edge, state-of-the-art research and best practices in the field.
From basic to advanced offerings, our trainings are designed to meet the most pressing concerns of our communities. We work closely with our clients to tailor our services to meet your unique needs. All of our services are voluntary, confidential, and designed to be inclusive, equitable, and accessible to all.
The Training Institute has just published our 2024 Training Catalog. We invite you to take a moment to view our training offerings at this link: https://www.cdsadr.org/?q=training
Please share this information with your professional network!
Upcoming Trainings:
April 18: KAIROS Blanket Exercise/Witness to Injustice
Facilitated by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation
Location: Crouch Hall, Onanda Park, Canandaigua
Cost: $100
Contact Maia Taub: mtaub@cdsadr.org
May 8, 9, 10, 21, 22: Basic Mediation Training
Location: Notre Dame Retreat House, Canandaigua
$200 for approved CDS volunteers, all others $1,000
Contact Ronalyn Pollack, Director of Training and Community Engagement: rpollack@cdsadr.org
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Interested in Sponsoring a Training?
If you or your organization would like to sponsor an event through the CDS Training Institute, please contact Julie Burke: jburke@cdsadr.org. Sponsors will be acknowledged in our training materials, website, and social media.
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Meet Our Anti-Bias Training Team
CDS is proud to introduce our Anti-Bias Training team members: Kim Reisch, Michelle Mitchell, Ronalyn Pollack, and Shirley Thompson.
This current cadre of trainers has been working as a team since the summer of 2023, when we were contracted by the Unified Court System to provide Anti-Bias Trainings for court-affiliated ADR professionals, which is required every two years.
Our Anti-Bias Training is designed to empower participants to recognize their own biases, become aware of the impact of their biases in their work environment, and take steps to reduce the harmful impact of biases.
Over the years, CDS has provided Anti-Bias Training to numerous organizations, including government agencies, workplace teams, and school staff.
Participant evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive. Below are some of the comments we've received:
"I learned how easy it is to be oblivious to our own biases and to be mindful of those blind spots."
"[This workshop was] a reminder to not get stuck or shut down. This is important
work. Keep learning, checking in, and asking questions"
"Well worth the time. Thank you!"
For more information, contact Ronaly Pollack: rpollack@cdsadr.org
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Meet Our Board Member, Amy Stornello
Tell us what you do outside of CDS.
I work at RIT/NTID as the Title IX Deputy coordinator, supporting our campus community as it pertains to all forms of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, gender-based harassment, and discrimination and stalking. I’ve spent 23 years at RIT/NTID in various positions in student affairs. I’m married to my high school sweetheart who is a physics teacher at Fairport HS and a mother of two teenaged daughters: Natalia (college freshman at Hofstra U) and Olivia (junior at Webster Thomas HS). I am hard-of-hearing and am currently thinking about how to raise visibility of our Deaf community in Rochester, since we have the largest amount of Deaf people per capita anywhere in the world. I have a lot of ideas on how to connect the Deaf/Hearing worlds together!
What is your favorite part of board service at CDS?
I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting people and really listening and being attentive to the challenges and dilemmas that our communities face. We are excited to be able to share our knowledge with the CDS staff to share with the community about how important and useful mediation can be in everyone’s lives. I also took the Basic Mediation Training myself and learned a lot about the techniques and challenges in a mediation setting. I very much look forward to expanding my knowledge in this area!
What connects you to the mission of CDS?
I am typically not a confrontational person, disliking conflict. However, I interact with students, faculty/staff who experience very personal conflicts and the processes that we have in place are from a conduct/policy violation perspective. I am currently working with our team to see how we can implement restorative justice/transformative mediation approaches in our work. I often see students struggling with resolving conflicts but may not have the skills to do it in a healthy way. I often tell our students that it is my hope that they develop healthier relationships down the road and continuing to support them in any way that I can, so that they can grow in a positive way.
What else would you like us to know about you?
I earned my 200-HR Yoga teacher training certificate at TRUYoga. I really like learning about the different yoga/meditation techniques since we all could slow down and reduce our stressors in our daily lives. I enjoy anything paranormal and enjoy doing paranormal investigations – mostly because I enjoy learning about history and appreciating people’s stories. And of course, having a good time and seeing if the truth is really out there…
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Confronting Privilege
by Martha Chazanoff,
Case Manager, Livingston County
I might not be exaggerating when I say you can’t get more white than me. I’m the great (X10) granddaughter of William Brewster– the famed Mayflower leader who presided over prayers at the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
My ancestral lines trace back to Ireland, to Scotland, to England. I was raised in a small town in New England– a wonderful town where neighbors helped neighbors, and the community looked out for each other. It was a town where everyone looked like me, was raised in the same (Christian) faith in which I was raised, and shared in the same relatively stable economic foundation and belief system– work hard, save for the future, and you’ll be fine.
What I never realized growing up, because why would I, was that the limited world view I possessed– where if you work hard and save for the future you’ll be fine because that is all it takes– was not, in fact, a truth for all people.
As a staff member at CDS, I participate in the RELC committee– which stands for Racial Equity Leadership Committee. We recently purchased a curriculum, called “Transforming White Privilege,” which is in current review for future training purposes. As a member of the subcommittee working alongside Michelle Mitchell and Alise Mahr who are also leaders in this project, I’ve spent many hours in recent weeks digging into and digesting this curriculum.
And I’m going to be vulnerable and say what is hard to say– it has been HARD.
It has been hard to process the advantages I’ve had as a white, cisgender woman who, although I no longer identify as “Christian,” continues to possess the cultural knowledge to navigate and exist in that community as if I belong there. It has been hard to process that I’ve turned a blind eye to systems of inequity– systems from which I’ve benefitted simply because of what I was born into.
But what I’ve realized, thanks to this curriculum dive, is that this awareness is not admission of fault within me. Rather, it is an awareness that the system I was born into limited my ability to recognize ANY of the inequities that exist in society. And, as Peggy McIntosh, Founder of the National SEED Project explains in a video clip from this truly amazing curriculum: “You did not invent the systems you were born into. They are there, and you were taught not to see them. And you were a very good student of what you’ve been taught.”
And now, now that I am able to take a step back and learn what I wasn’t taught, I have an opportunity to engage in the work that needs to be done to correct systems of inequity. Like Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” I am ready to learn. I am ready to do better.
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March Equality and Diversity Calendar 2024
If a holiday begins the evening before, we will mark it with an asterisk (*) below.
March is Women’s History Month, which highlights contributions that women have made in history and in society. It is celebrated every March to correspond with International Women’s Day on March 8. The first Women’s History Month was celebrated in 1987.
March 2 – Granting of U.S. Citizenship to Puerto Ricans
On this date, Congress passed the Jones Act, which gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship and the right to elect representatives to the House and Senate.
March 8 – International Women’s Day
This global holiday is celebrated as a means to bring gender issues to the forefront such as reproductive rights, violence against women, and equal pay.
March 10 – Harriet Tubman’s Birthday (Observed)
The Moses of her people, this American abolitionist helped others gain freedom as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. She also served as a spy, scout, guerrilla soldier, and nurse for the Union in the Civil War despite only being paid $200.
March 10 – Ramadan*
The arrival of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, brings forth a month of fasting, praying, and reflection.
March 21 – World Down Syndrome Day
This global day of awareness can be supported by wearing fun socks, which is a tradition that started because Chromosome 21 strands look like socks and are unique looking.
March 24 – Purim*
This holiday celebrates the rescue of Jews by Esther from a plot to kill them. Fasting the day before Purim honors the fasting of Esther before her plea to the king for the Jewish people.
March 25 – Holi
This Festival of Colors, Love, and Spring is an important Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil. It also celebrates the arrival of Spring and the blossom of love and hopes for a good harvest.
March 31 – Easter
Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion and the end of the 40-day Lent period with nearly two billion followers worldwide.
Source: Diversity Calendar 2024: DEI Inclusion Events, Cultural Months (diversityresources.com)
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