Annual Report

Section Membership

As of 6/27/2023 the Section had 335 members.

Financial Status

The Section had an account balance of $2,174 as of April 30, 2023.

CLEs & Events

The Section hosted 10 CLEs and 3 Roundtables in fiscal year 2022-23.

Annual Meeting and Election Results

The Section’s Annual Meeting was held on 5/09/23 and 90 people attended.
Officers elected for 2023-2024 bar year:

Chair: Dawn Zugay, ReZolve Conflict, LLC

Vice-Chair: Vildan Teske, Teske Katz, PLLP

Treasurer: Ishmael Israel, Arbitrator and Mediator

Secretary: David Trevor, University of Minnesota Law School - Community Mediation Clinic

Past Chair: Alice Silkey, Emerita Professor, Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Candidates for Re-Election to the Council for a two-year term starting on July 1, 2023 and ending on June 30, 2025:

1. Michael Gregory, Michael Gregory Consulting, LLC
2. Ishmael Israel, Arbitrator and Mediator
3. Kristi Paulson, PowerHouse Mediation
4. Dawn Zugay, ReZolve Conflict, LLC
5. Gregory Bownik, Civil Mediator

New Candidates for Election to the Council for a two-year term starting on July 1, 2023 and ending on June 30, 2025:

1. Hon. Mark Ireland, Ramsey County District Court Judge
2. Joseph Daly, Emeritus Professor, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
3. Jonathan Norrie, Bradford Andresen Norrie & Camarotto
4. Nick Torres, 4L Mitchel Hamline School of Law, R. 114 Qualified Neutral
5. Kaori Kenmotsu, Senior Lecturer Hamline University and Co-Director Conflict Studies Program
6. Ana Sorgenfrei, LL.M in US Law - University of St. Thomas and Collaborative Attorney and Mediator (Brazil)

The following Council members will continue to complete their terms thru June 30, 2024:

1. Alice Silkey, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
2. Katie Arnold, Arnold Law and Mediation LLC
3. Terri Krivosha, Maslon LLP
4. Antonio Robinson, Realize LLC
5. Vildan Teske, Teske Katz, PLLP
6. David Trevor, University of Minnesota Law School - Community Mediation Clinic

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
What diversity, equity and inclusion goals did the Section include in the 2022-2023 work plan, how did you approach these goals, and what was the result?

The ADR Section has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, and our overarching goal is to promote diversity and inclusiveness in the field of ADR. Our principal diversity, equity, and inclusion goal is as follows: Our goal is to purposefully attract, engage, include, and develop members from backgrounds that are traditionally unrepresented and underrepresented in the ADR field and in the MSBA ADR Section, including practitioners from outside the seven county metro area, practitioners who are non-lawyers, ADR students (law and non-law), new ADR practitioners (lawyers and non-lawyers), practitioners from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, practitioners from the disability community, and practitioners from different economic classes.

Our implementation steps for approaching these goals are as follows:

• Assess the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D, E, & I) of our Section;
• Connect with Underrepresented Groups and Visible and Invisible Diverse Groups;
• Focus on Inclusion by Creating Welcoming Environments; and
• Embed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our Section's Educational Programming.

We focused primarily on the last three of these steps. We were very successful in including a diversity, equity, and inclusion component in each of our CLEs. Members of the DEI Subcommittee assisted the CLE presenters to ensure that this goal was met. We made good progress connecting with underrepresented groups and visible and invisible diverse groups, including outreach to the Affinity Bars by members of the DE&I Subcommittee. We also made good progress in focusing on inclusion by creating welcoming environments. We have taken positive steps to ensure that all (including non-Council members) feel welcome to attend Council meetings and contribute. In our grant-making process we encouraged grant applications for projects and organizations addressing inclusivity and diversity in ADR and community mediation work. We updated our grant application process to allow for oral submissions in addition to written submissions to make it more accessible.

Please see our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan for further details. We have tried to adhere closely to the Plan in our Implementation Strategies.

Other Section Accomplishments

Award of Grants to Community Mediation Minnesota, Mediation and Restorative

Services, and the Center for Multicultural Mediation.

Creation of Newsletter for the ADR Section.

Conducted Virtual Roundtables.

Active DEI Subcommittee with in-depth discussions of issues concerning DEI; DEI Reports to Council at monthly meetings.

Excellent engagement of Council members.

Revised Bylaws for Section.

Collaboration Standford Law School IP/Tech Mediation and Arbitration Course.

Share pro bono and volunteer opportunities at each Council and Section meeting.

Excellent outreach work in Nominations Process for Council.

Participated in Meet the Bar Programs -- Law Student Engagement

• October 25^th, at the University of Minnesota Law School.
• February 9^th, at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
• March 22^nd, at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Revised Purpose Statement for ADR Section and Began Revising Mission and Values Statements for the Section.

Outreach to Affinity Bar Associations.

Conducted member engagement survey.

Collaborated with Mitchell Hamline student ADR organization for in-person CLE and member reception.

Submitted By:

s/Alice L. Silkey, Section Chair

Date _7/17/2023_____________