NEW YORK, N.Y.—September 1, 2021—The American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation® (AAA-ICDR Foundation®) announces it has created a Rapid Response Fund for awarding grants, beyond its regular grant cycle, to programs that apply dispute resolution processes to address pressing current events. The first Rapid Response Fund’s primary goal was to support conflict-resolution efforts aimed at fighting the surge in anti-Asian hate.

The AAA-ICDR Foundation allotted an initial sum of $100,000 from its unrestricted funds to the Rapid Response Fund. The Fund will award grants, capped at $25,000 each, outside the Foundation’s normal annual grant cycle.

“Current events don’t follow a set schedule. Now more than ever, our Rapid Response Fund is crucial for allowing us to quickly deliver grant money to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) initiatives addressing urgent community issues,” said James R. Jenkins, Chair of the AAA-ICDR Foundation. “One of the many negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an uptick in hate directed against Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders throughout the country. We are proud to be able to fund innovative programs which give these vulnerable communities the resources and support to protect themselves, and fight the hate using education, dialogue, and conflict and dispute resolution.”

The Rapid Response Fund’s inaugural grants have been given to four programs supporting the country’s Asian-American/Pacific-Islander communities:

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC): The Foundation has awarded $25,000 to Washington, D.C.-based Asian Americans Advancing Justice, which deploys a three-pronged approach to combating anti-Asian hate. First, the organization utilizes community outreach, documentation, and advocacy to raise awareness of anti-Asian hate. Second, AAJC seeks to prevent anti-Asian hate crimes and hate incidents through bystander intervention and conflict de-escalation training, and other educational programs. Third, the initiative ensures local Asian-American communities receive the necessary support they need—in coordination with federal, state, and local governments—to effectively respond to hate crimes and hate incidents. For more information, please visit https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/.
• Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC): The Foundation is providing $25,000 to this multicultural conflict resolution center, founded in 1989 to serve the diverse and historically underserved Asian communities of Los Angeles. The Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center seeks to facilitate peace through culturally relevant ADR services designed to improve interpersonal and community relations. The Foundation’s grant will go toward supporting programs and increasing dialogues led by Asian community members aiming to strengthen understanding of what it means to be Asian-American, and build intra- racial and interracial compassion. For more information, please visit https://apadrc.org/.
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Law Foundation: The Foundation is giving this Washington, D.C.-based organization—established to promote the development, advancement, leadership, and public service of Asian and Pacific Americans in the legal profession through fellowships, scholarships, education, and community partnerships— $25,000 to develop an anti-COVID-19 bullying toolkit. This resource will seek to equip and train local National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) affiliates on legal and non- legal responses to bullying and interacting with school officials. The NAPABA Law Foundation’s anti-COVID-19 bullying toolkit will include template advocacy letters and press releases, digests of applicable federal and state laws and resource guides (such as counseling options) for students and their families. Please visit https://www.napabalawfoundation.org/ to learn more.
• National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA): This Washington, D.C.-based coalition of 38 Asian-American/Pacific-Islander organizations around the U.S. is a project of the Tides Center. NCAPA represents the interests of Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders, who comprise the nation’s fastest-growing racial group, and seeks to provide a national voice for issues of importance to Asian-Americans and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders. The Foundation’s $25,000 grant will support NCAPA’s existing response framework, enabling member organizations to convene, strategize, and share information on responding to anti- Asian racism and encouraging cross-racial solidarity. More details are available at https://www.ncapaonline.org/.

“These four organizations embody our Foundation’s mission to improve community relations and heal division through the tenets of ADR,” said Mr. Jenkins. “Their efforts are urgently required all over the country, and we are glad to help them expand their impact at a time when Asian-Americans and Pacific- Islanders need to know they are not alone.”

The AAA-ICDR Foundation has awarded more than $2.8 million since its inception in 2015. To learn more about the Foundation’s mission to fund high-quality, innovative programs which advance arbitration, mediation, and other ADR processes, visit https://www.aaaicdrfoundation.org/aboutus.

About the AAA-ICDR Foundation
The American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation (AAA- ICDR Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that is able to solicit donations and provide grants to fund a range of worthy causes that promote the Foundation’s wide-reaching mission, which is to support the use and improvement of dispute resolution processes in the United States and internationally.

Its focus includes fostering measures that reduce potential escalation, manage and resolve conflicts; increasing access to justice in and through alternative dispute resolution; and encouraging collaborative processes to resolve public conflicts.

The Foundation is a separate 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization from the AAA®, and the Foundation is not involved in any way in the oversight, administration or decision making of the AAA-ICDR® cases or in the maintenance of the AAA-ICDR's various rosters of arbitrators and mediators.

For more information on the AAA-ICDR Foundation, please visit: www.aaaicdrfoundation.org.