I’m often asked where to find more information about the practice of mediation, so I’ve compiled a short list of websites I find to be the most helpful: 

My first recommendation is the website mediate.com. This well established resopurce is perhaps the most complete with everything from mediator listings to a library of articles and videos about mediation.

To see if there is a community mediation program near you, visit the “Locate a Member” page at the National Association for Community Mediation.

For accessible and useable information on all aspects of family mediation, visit the “Resources for Families” page at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

State courts offer information on state divorce law, court rules and family law forms. To find your state’s website, start at the National Center for State Courts.

For help finding a family mediator, visit the Academy of Professional Family Mediators.

For large business and legal disputes, visit JAMS, which provides retired judges and retired and practicing attorneys as mediators. Also visit the American Arbitration Association.

These days I’m also asked if one can still get trained to be a mediator during Covid-19 restrictions. I am just now completing a class for new volunteers at a community mediation center so, yes, it can be done. 

In 1975 there were about a dozen community mediation programs; today there are an estimated 450 or more mediation centers handling some half a million disputes annually. Another important service community mediation programs provide is mediation training, which is available to anyone in the community. Like their services, the classes are low or no cost. Be sure to check your state’s requirement for being a mediator. Most likely the requirements will include a 30 or 40 hour basic mediation course of training to get started. Many of the community mediation programs are now offering that training via Zoom. After you find a program, but before you start, I highly recommend becoming competent using Zoom. The Zoom Help Center is good place to start.

Because of Covid restrictions much of today’s mediations are conducted on Zoom. Mediators and disputants alike are finding it easy to use and the mediation process adapts well to the platform. Even when Covid is in our history, there will still be many mediations conducted via Zoom, as it has so many advantages with comparable success and satisfaction ratings to face-to-face mediations. 

I shared with the group completing my mediation class on Zoom that they have an advantage over people who have completed the training earlier. They not only have the training, but they also have the skills to conduct mediations remotely.

The recent U.S. election focused our attention on the presidency, but most are unaware that the office has a strong connection to mediation. One president who held the powerful position stabnds out—Jimmy Carter because of his foreign policy accomplishments, such as the Camp David Accords, which was the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel.

After being elected, Carter restarted the Middle East peace efforts. He sent Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to each country with handwritten notes inviting Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat to meet at Camp David.

Begin and Sadat first met face-to-face with Carter to discuss a framework Sadat had proposed. U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski recalled that the meeting, “went better than expected.” But a joint meeting the next day was much less cordial, so after that Carter relied only on individual meetings.

Carter made use of what became known as the single negotiating text. After individual meetings, Carter developed a draft document which the parties reviewed. This document went through 18 drafts as the parties reviewed it and made changes.

Carter also reminded the parties of the consequences of not reaching an agreement. He took the parties on an excursion to the Gettysburg battlefield. As a military cadet, Sadat had studied the battle and knew its history. While Begin was unfamiliar with the battle, he did recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg address from memory. Some feel that the cemetery was a reminder of the horror of war.

Carter also made use of deadline pressure. By the end of the 10th day, there was still no firm agreement on anything. Carter said to the parties, “I have to go back to Washington on Sunday. Either we get something by Sunday, or it’s a failure.”

When Sadat became frustrated and decided to withdraw from the negotiations without any agreement, Carter went alone to Sadat’s cabin and said that if he left Camp David, “our friendship was severed forever.” Sadat walked to the corner of the room, came back, and said, “I’m staying.” When Begin had decided to withdraw, Carter brought Begin a group photograph inscribed to each of Begin’s grandchildren signed by Carter, Sadat, and Begin. Carter knew the impact that photograph would have on Begin. Recognizing the impact the negotiations would have on his and his grandchildren’s generations, Begin returned as well.

Later enroute to the Capitol to address Congress on the accords Carter added to his remarks, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” The Camp David Accords returned the Sinai to Egypt, established diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, and set the stage for subsequent negotiations.

Perhaps no international negotiation has been as fully and as openly documented as the Camp David Accords, which provide insights into a president’s use of mediation skills.