This broadcast will feature a lively discussion of tough issues related to race and conflict. The presenters will posit that much of today's race-based conflicts are rooted in fear. Thus, addressing racism and transforming conflict may depend on creating opportunities for positive interactions across racial lines, with an emphasis on recognition, acknowledgement and understanding. Mr. Johnson will illustrate this view with examples from his extensive experience as a mediator and his lifelong advocacy for diversity and equity in professional and community settings.

Marvin E. Johnson, J.D. is a nationally recognized mediator, arbitrator and trainer with over 25 years of dispute resolution experience. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution and serves on the JAMS panel of resolution experts. Mr. Johnson handles public and private sector disputes in the areas of employment, labor-management, consumer, business, and community relations. He provides diversity and dispute resolution training and lectures extensively on the subject of conflict management. Mr. Johnson serves on numerous national, regional, and local dispute resolution panels. Two Presidents of the United States, a Secretary of the United States Department of State, a Governor of Maryland, and the Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals have recognized Mr. Johnson's dispute resolution expertise by appointing him to various dispute resolution panels and boards. He is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and has served on its Board of Directors. Mr. Johnson is a member of the ABA's Section of Dispute Resolution, the International Academy of Mediators, the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, the CPR Institute's National Task Force on Diversity and the National Bar Association.

Lou Gieszl is Deputy Executive Director of the Maryland Judiciary’s Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO), a statewide resource for conflict resolution programs and mediator excellence. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Baltimore’s Master’s Degree Program on Negotiations and Conflict Management and at the University of Maryland Baltimore County's (UMBC) Department of Public Policy. Lou is the Immediate-Past President of the Association for Conflict Resolution, the leading organization for all conflict resolution practitioners, and he is on the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, the world’s premier center for advancement, practice and study of mediation in the transformative framework. Lou holds bachelor’s degrees in English, Philosophy, and Political Science, and a Masters of Public Policy degree, from UMBC. Lou lives in Baltimore City with his lovely wife Adrienne, their daughter Celia Rose, and her little brother Louie Forrest.

Read Marvin Johnson's article Diversity Resistance

For More Information: Marvin E. Johnson

Diversity Resources:

- National Multicultural Institute

- Harvard's Project Implicit (Take this test to determine what implicit biases you have against certain diverse group such as,the elderly and the black race.)