Raymond Shonholtz J.D. (June 8, 1943 - January 7, 2012) was the founder of two community mediation organizations;

Community Boards Community Boards is a community based mediation program, established in 1976, in San Francisco, California, United States by Raymond Shonholtz. The program utilizes volunteers from the neighbourhoods of the city, who work with people involved ...

in 1976 and Partners for Democratic Change in 1989.

Early life

Raymond Shonholtz graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

, University of California, Los Angeles, and UC Berkeley School of Law. During the Summer of 1964, following his sophomore year at UCLA, Shonholtz took part in the Mississippi Freedom Summer as an American Field Services bus chaperon. While there he smuggled Aaron Henry of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party out of Clarksdale, Mississippi, so that Dr. Henry might attend the

1964 Democratic National Convention The 1964 Democratic National Convention of the Democratic Party, took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey from August 24 to 27, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a full term. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnes ...

Professional life

In 1976 after serving as a Public Defender in California, Shonholtz established and served as President of

one of the first community and school mediation initiatives that brought conflict resolution skills and processes into neighborhoods and schools throughout the U.S. and internationally. In 1989, Shonholtz established and served as President of Partners for Democratic Change, an international organization committed to building sustainable capacity to advance civil society and a culture of change and conflict management worldwide by establishing the first of Partners national Centers for Change and Conflict Management in Poland. Up to his retirement on September 30, 2011 Partners for Democratic Change had established 18 independent Centers for conflict resolution and change management throughout the developing world which are all part of the international network

Partners for Democratic Change International Partners for Democratic Change International (PDCI) is a global partnership of Partners for Democratic Change (Partners) and the nineteen independent, local organizations partners founded in Europe, the Americas, Middle East, and Africa that wor ...

. In 2008, Shonholtz served as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., working on foreign assistance recommendations for the incoming Obama administration. In November 2011, he delivered the keynote address to the Oregon Mediation Association 25th Annual Conference.

Legacy

The Association for Conflict Resolution’s International Section (ACRIS) presented Partners for Democratic Change with the Outstanding Leadership Award in 2007 in recognition of that organization’s work building sustainable local capacity to advance civil society and a culture of change and conflict management worldwide. Partners for Democratic Change received the

JAMS Jams or JAMS may refer to: *Plural form of jam, a type of fruit preserve *Jams (clothing line) *JAMS (organization), United States organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services *The JAMs, former name of The KLF, a British band ...

Foundation’s Fourth Annual Warren Knight Award in recognition of Partners effectively managing and resolving conflict and for assisting emerging democracies throughout the world to advance a civil society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shonholtz, Raymond Mediation UC Berkeley School of Law alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni