Mediation experts Barbara Filner (left) and Lisa Maxwell review materials used to train students from around the world.

The National Conflict Resolution Center is in a celebratory mood as it approaches next month both its 25th anniversary and 20th Peacemaker Awards. The organization’s mission and methods of teaching and inspiring the use of mediation for resolving conflicts throughout society have spread beyond San Diego.

At the NCRC’s first Winter Institute, more than 30 attendees showed up, from as far away as Switzerland, Germany and the Sudan, along with locally and across the country, including one potential mediator from the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Leading the group through two weeks of simulated conflicts and mediations were Barbara Filner, director of NCRC’s training institute; Lisa Maxwell, a senior trainer; and eight professional mediators.

“We addressed impasses, ethical dilemmas, how to deal with high-conflict personalities and numerous other barriers to agreements,” says Filner. “Our students learned essential skills for conflict resolution to apply in their own settings and their own countries.”

The inaugural program included both lectures and practical experience through the use of simulated, videotaped situations.

Maxwell says some participants expect to use NCRC techniques as a foundation to change the way their companies or societies deal with conflict while others are planning to become mediators.

The NCRC is best known for its annual Peacemakers dinner. Among those to be honored at the April 3 event are the International Rescue Committee, recognized for its humanitarian resettlement work since 1933, and Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego’s Chicano arts organization that tirelessly sought through mediation to end a seven-year boycott by artists and (former) supporters.

Receiving the award on behalf of the IRC will be Jennifer Brokaw, the daughter of television newsman Tom Brokaw. Jennifer’s work with the IRC in Pakistan aiding Iraqi refugees was an experience that led her to become an emergency room doctor in San Francisco.

Laura Walcher and Sue Kalish co-chair this year’s event while Arthur and Molli Wagner are honorary chairs. More information about the Peacemaker Awards and upcoming NCRC Training Institute activities can be found at ncrconline.com or by calling (619) 238-2400.