Be sure to look at our Other Training Opportunities page to see what great trainings are being offered at other mediation centers this spring.

Each year as part of our partnership with the Community Policing Divisions of our partner municipalties, NDS provides information and a personal presence at the Annual National Night Out (First Tuesday in August - AUG 1, 2011). Volunteers willing to use the information and give-aways provided by NDS to inform the public about our mission and our services should e-mail or call the NDS office (717 233-8244) to volunteer. Requests have already been received from the Boroughs of Carlisle and Duncanon and from Lower Paxton Township.

Cross Cultural Competencies: Mediation and the African American Experience

To help clients reach effective resolutions, mediators must provide a positive, productive environment for all participants. The cultural context of participants in mediation can determine how they understand, interpret, and analyze their circumstances and the alternatives available to them.  Cultural characteristics can be differentiated between several dimensions and aspects; the ability to perceive and to cope with them is one of the basic elements of cross-cultural competence. 

These include but are not limited to how one understands: the individual within the community, the roles of men and women, differences in power, time, space, non-verbal communication, and values orientation.

The workshop will help participants explore their own cultural context and how it relates specifically to the African-American cultural experience in our area. 

Patricia Gadsden - Presenter

Patricia L. Gadsden is the founder and President of Life Esteem, a personal and professional enrichment training/coaching firm. She is a respected workshop and seminar leader who has worked with businesses, state agencies, colleges and universities, educational and human service organizations.

Pat‘s professional affiliations include the American Society for Training and Development, Inscape Publishing Company, and the National Council for Self-Esteem. She is active on several boards of directors and councils in the Greater Harrisburg area.

Mrs. Gadsden was recently named one of the top 50 Pennsylvania Women In Business for 2006, by the Central Penn Journal.  She co-hosts (with husband  Nathaniel Gadsden) a weekly television program called Life Esteem that focuses on community issues (Sunday mornings at 6:00 am, WHP-TV 21).

To register click on this link: http://ndsnov2010.eventbrite.com/?ref=elink