Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center

Thursday, December 27, 2007
Youth Coordinator at Jefferson High School is Leaving after 2 Years of Service
Luke Patterson has worked at APADRC for about two years. He recently came across the opportunity to work as a high school counselor at the Media Arts Academy at Centinela where he will oversee discipline and coordinate the mentorship program. Luke enjoys working with the youth and empowering them to become future competent leaders in the community. We will all miss Luke and the contributions that he has made to APADRC and to the youth at Jefferson High School.

June 2007
APADRC Welcomes three new Staff Members
Welcome Kent Zhu, Carolina Garza and Sylvia Luu.Kent Zhu is the new Assistant Program Director. He recently graduated from Pepperdine earning a Master of Law degree at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. He is in the CIC department and will be working with Alhambra High school as well. Kent enjoys martial arts, cycling, and eating. Carolina Garza Villarreal is a program coordinator for CIC and co-coordinates the PM² Thomas Starr King Middle Program. She studied Gender, Ethnicity and Multicultural Studies at Cal Poly Pomona and is a current candidate for her Master’s at CSU Dominguez Hills. She enjoys jewelry making and her new hobby of playing the cello. Sylvia Luu attends CSU Northridge as a deaf studies major. She is currently on break from school as a Public Alley, and she has committed to work as the Development Coordinator and as a Youth Program Coordinator for Alhambra High school. She will be assisting with the 2008 Conversity dinner. She enjoys Pinkberry frozen yogurt, and spending time with her family.

Thursday, May 10, 2007
APADRC attends the California Commission on Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs 2nd Annual Fundraiser & Reception

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Peggy Wu is going International

Peggy Wu has worked at APADRC for a little over two years. She just graduated from the University of Southern California's MSW program on May 11, 2007. We are all proud of her achievements in academia and at the APADRC. She is leaving to Taiwan on May 19, 2007. We wish Peggy well, and she will always be in our hearts. Peggy Wu will be at Lisa Chong's barbeque on May 18th before she leaves to Taiwan, so if you are friends with Peggy and would like to surprise her, send an e-mail to lisa.chong@apadrc.org.

Wednesday, April 26, 2007
Administrative Staff Attends 30th Anniversary Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month

Charles Chang and Lisa Chong attended Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa's opening ceremony to promote and celebrate Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. "Celebrating our Asian and Pacific-Islander Heritage, reflecting back and moving forward."

Charles Chang, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Lisa Chong

Tuesday, April 3, 2007
APADRC Staff has its Annual Retreat

The APADRC would like to welcome new staff members Nancy Menjivar and Lisa Chong. Nancy Menjivar is the newest member in the Peer Mediation Program, and she will be working as a Program Coordinator at Le Conte Middle School. Lisa Chong is the new Administrative Director. A staff retreat was held at Santa Fe Dam to transition the new staff, and to explore the vision of the APADRC.

Left: Luke Patterson, Guisela Gutierrez (former YMU Director), Nancy Menjivar, Thomasina Russaw
Right: Charles Chang, Lisa Chong, Rhoda Francisco

Luke Patterson and Guisela Gutierrez (former YMU Director)

Nancy Menijvar and Rhoda Francisco

YMU welcomes 3 new staff members

The APADRC would like to welcome new staff members Luke Patterson, Joel Gutierrez, and Thomasina Russaw who will be the Peer Mediation Program Coordinators at the newest additions to the Youth Mediators United family: Thomas Jefferson High School in South L.A., William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, and Edwin Markham Middle School in Watts, L.A. The new peer mediation programs at Jefferson and Taft High School are funded by a generous grant by NBC Universal Foundation.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005
YMU Expands with the Addition of Peary Middle School

The APADRC's Youth Mediators United (YMU) unit has recently expanded its conflict resolution services into Peary Middle School in Gardena. Peary Middle School has had a long-term interest in an alternative to traditional discipline on campus. They were referred to us by Senior Officer Borden Olive of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. Several meetings, presentations, and visits to schools that we provide services to resulted in a Peary Middle School's own Peer Mediation Program under the direction of Assistant Principal Terry Green and Counselor Gregoire Francois. The program is coordinated by Jennifer Shar of the APADRC. Peary has an opportunity to improve student relations, achievement scores and to reduce fighting and other conflicts on campus.

Thursday, March 31, 2005
APADRC celebrates its 15th Year Anniversary!

The Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) celebrated its 15th Year Anniversary of "Bridging Communities and Managing Conflicts" by hosting its 4th Annual "Conversity" Awards Dinner, on Friday, March 18, 2005. The event was held at USC's elegant Town & Gown Ballroom, located in Los Angeles. This year, we honored community leaders who empower the ideas of "conversity" by achieving positive human relations through successful conflict resolution and management, and recognized outstanding high school leaders who demonstrate and embody the ideas of "conversity" in the community. Honorees include Jeff Murakami, Director of USC's Asian Pacific American Student Services (APASS); Marcella Low/Southern California Gas Company, and the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. In addition to the Honorees, two high school students, Mamta Patel and Jerod Von, each received a $500 Youth Scholarship for demonstrating, through an essay, their accomplishments in integrating people with diverse backgrounds in their community.

The term "conversity" was coined by Daniel Bowling and is defined as "turning together, with and among others, celebrating and joining our differences". Not only did this year's "Conversity" Honorees embody the spirit of Conversity through their positive contribution to human relations and conflict resolution, but they have also demonstrated their strength to bring both awareness and changes in their community. Jeff Murakami, from USC's APASS, received the Community Leader Award; The City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission received the Community Partner Award; Marcella Low accepted the Corporate Award on behalf of the Southern California Gas Company.

The "Conversity" Awards Dinner featured guest speakers and a dance performance. Each of the APADRC's Board Members were given an opportunity to speak and introduce honorees. Staff directors highlighted the Center's two units: Youth Mediators United (YMU), and Community and Inter-Group Conflicts (CIC). This event also featured the debut performance of a positive youth hip-hop dance group, Future Shock. Award-winning broadcast journalist Susan Hirasuna from Fox 11 News presided as Mistress of Ceremonies.