The Center is pleased to introduce its newest team members of Pat Clark, Sophia Rodrigues, Michelle Mosner, and Lacotref Bibbs. Pat joins the Center from her former position as Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. For the Center she will lead program and development initiatives from her office in New York. Sophia, a native of South Africa, brings administrative and bookkeeping skills as well as her educational background in Education and Human Resource Development. Michelle, a graduate student at the Humphrey Institute, will coordinate mediation and conflict resolution training programs, and Lacotref assists in day-to-day administration for the Center.

The Center for Policy, Planning, and Performance has just signed a memorandum of agreement with Western University in Kakamega, Kenya to provide a new 4-year undergraduate program in NGO management. In conjunction with this program, the University will create a new NGO Department. The Center will develop the curriculum, provide the instructors, and — in partnership with the University — promote and develop the new Center for NGO Management on the University campus.

The Center and LEAD (a Minnesota nonprofit committed to building the capacity of African NGOs) are co-developing a pilot project (funded in part by the Phillips Family Foundation) to increase understanding and thereby improve the relationship of Somalis with American institutions, such as mainstream schools, the child welfare system, and the criminal justice system.

This will be achieved chiefly through the traditional Somali values of Zeer and the western principles of restorative justice. By leveraging the assets of traditional Somali culture, we can create more effective responses and interventions for Somali youth and families in the Twin-city Metro area.

The Center and CDR Associates present a forty-hour seminar on the best practices in mediation and adult learning. By means of exercises and dialogue, participants will learn theory, history, tools, contexts, and challenges of effective mediation while receiving feedback and coaching from experienced practitioners.

Today we debut the first column by Evans Mirieri, coordinator of Daraja, our program of international development in Kenya. In this inaugural article Evans gives us a report on the progress and results to date of the Kenya Hunger Appeal to which many have so generously donated. In addition, we have changed the format of our Consulting and Training Services Directory for more depth and easier navigation.

The biggest news to report is the redesign of this web site itself. It features a new layout which should be cleaner and easier to navigate, and it includes new content as well, such as a new blog entitled. "From the Director," a regular open letter from Barbara Raye about Center news, developments, plans, etc. We also now provide updated information about our programs. For this and other new information, visit the links on the left, and continue to watch this space for postings of the latest Center news.