The organizations listing internship opportunities in the Greater Boston area cover a full range of services. Some organizations work in one specific area (such as the courts or the community), while others cover a range of services.
The organizations listed engage in dispute resolution activities and require the services of experienced and specialized student interns. The purpose of the listing is to help students looking for internship opportunities or short work assignments find the names of likely organizations. The mission and activities of each organization are described, as are the roles and duties an intern might be expected to perform.
Finally, there is information about the conditions of work, including remuneration, reimbursement of expenses, or volunteer status and time commitment required. Students must contact these organizations and negotiate their own work arrangements. Interns may find themselves gaining experience in one of issues involving one or more of these areas: General dispute resolution, environmental and public policy, consumer, labor, community issues, and court-related activities.
Please note that the inclusion of an organization does not guarantee that it will have internship positions available at all times. The information provided about each organization is subject to change without notice.
Each organization’s listing includes the address, telephone number, fax and/or e-mail, and often a website, as well as the name of a person to contact.
Community Dispute Settlement Center, Inc.
60 Gore St.
Cambridge, MA 02141
617-876-5376; Fax: 617-876-6663
www.communitydispute.org
cdscinfo@communitydispute.org
Contact: Gail S. Packer
CDSC is a private, non-profit mediation center established in 1979 which handles both court-related and community disputes in the areas of minor criminal cases, landlord-tenant conflicts, neighborhood and family problems, including divorce/paternity, and workplace conflicts. Special outreach to the gay and lesbian communities.
The Center uses student interns and volunteers to aid in case handling and administration; opportunities are available to observe and discuss mediations as well as to assist with special projects, e.g. diversity, outreach, fundraising. Interns should be able to commit themselves to a minimum of 8 to 10 hours a week for at least one full semester.
CDSC offers basic mediation training (30 hours) each fall and spring and advanced divorce mediation (25 hours) each winter.
408 Atlantic Ave., Suite 222
Boston, MA 02110
617-424-5723
Francis.Amoroso@usdoj.gov
Contact: Frank Amoroso
This agency within the U.S. Department of Justice is devoted to providing conciliators and mediators in community disputes, especially those involving racial difficulties. The agency’s services are employed in a wide variety of community disputes throughout New England. In some cases, the agency enters disputes at its own initiative and in others it is invited in by a concerned party.
The agency occasionally arranges field placements for qualified students. This is done on an ad hoc basis. Students act in a junior conciliator role or as apprentices. Work is not paid and time commitments are negotiable.
238 Main Street, Suite 400
Cambridge, MA 02142
617-492-1414; Fax: 617-492-1919
CBI@cbuilding.org
www.cbuilding.org
Managing Directors: David Fairman and Patrick Field
Founder and Senior Advisor: Lawrence Susskind
Contact: Sossi Aroyan, Executive Assistant and Internship Coordinator, x113; sossi@cbuilding.org
The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) is a not-for-profit organization that provides dispute resolution services and undertakes dispute systems analysis and design activities for public agencies in the United States and overseas. CBI’s public dispute resolution work in America focuses on 1) consensus building in politically-charged value-based disputes concerning matters of public policy, 2) strategies for building agency capacity to employ a full range of neutral services, and 3) the evaluation of agency-sponsored mediation efforts. CBI’s international work is concentrated on 1) preventative mediation in settings in which ethnic conflicts are of great concern, 2) the design of “informal parallel negotiations” in multilateral contexts in which formal negotiations are too highly constrained to be effective, and 3) strategies for building agency and NGO capacity to use a full range of neutral services.
Interns have an opportunity to work directly with senior practitioners and to participate in CBI’s theory-building activities. Please send a resume along with a cover letter stating your specific interests and skills by fax, mail, or e-mail to the attention of Sossi Aroyan.
Framingham Court Mediation Services, Inc.
600 Concord Street
Framingham, MA 01702
508-872-9495; Fax: 508-872-9764
www.framinghammediation.org
info@framinghammediation.org
Contact: Susan Ostberg
FCMS, established in 1979, is a public, non-profit organization serving the metrowest communities, the Framingham, Concord, Marlborough, and Natick District Courts, and the Middlesex Juvenile Court, as well as the Middlesex Probate and Family Court. We provide alternative dispute resolution services in cases involving workplace, family neighborhood, minor criminal, civil,, and business matters, as well as divorce and employment-related disability discrimination.
Student interns with previous mediation training or a willingness to be trained are welcomed to apply for volunteer mediator positions. Basic mediation trainings for volunteers and professionals are held in March and October each year. In addition to basic and advanced mediation trainings, FCMS provides peer mediation trainings to middle and high school students, elder mediation, as well as workshops for organizations, business, and corporations.
002 Austin Hall
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-1854 (phone)
617-496-2294 (fax)
Contact: Maureen Griffin; mgriffin@law.harvard.edu
The Harvard Mediation Program (HMP) is a student practice organization of Harvard Law School. HMP offers mediation training and practice opportunities to a small number of community members in addition to its students. Trainees will co-mediate under the supervision of an HMP court liaison in one of the Boston area’s small claims court sessions every other week for two semesters. Trainees are required to complete HMP’s 32-hour training prior to mediating in court.
Community members may apply to become members of HMP. The first basic training for the 2008-2009 academic year will take place on September 27 and 28, October 11 and 12. The second is scheduled for February 7, 8, 21 and 22. To receive an application, please go to the Harvard Mediation Program’s website, www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hmp. The training fee is $450.00 or $225.00 for full-time students. HMP mediators provide their services on a volunteer basis.
47 Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108
617-948-0006
www.insightpartnersonline.com
Contact: Enid Cherenson, echerenson@insightpartnersonline.com
Insight Partners is a training and consulting firm founded to help individuals and organizations negotiate, mediate and communicate more effectively. From Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and individuals, Insight Partners helps people create value and improve working relationships. For more information regarding Insight Partners and our services please visit our website.
Interns will gain first-hand experience and exposure to conflict management and dispute resolution from a top firm in the field. Each intern will be expected to develop an understanding of the key tenets of conflict resolution, availing themselves of reading lists, networking events and mentorship opportunities. Interns will have the opportunity to learn more about the field of conflict management through various assigned day-to-day tasks as well as project-based work. Specific work responsibilities might include assisting in the development of training materials, making diagnostic calls, business development research, and event coordination. Each intern is guided by an Internship Program Sponsor who, with the intern, will establish detailed goals and expectations.
A commitment of work for an entire semester is preferred. During these months, interns should be available to work 15 hours per week, although the specific hours and days scheduled can be managed on a case-by-case basis. We also offer part-time (15+ hours per week) and full-time summer internships.
Charles F. Hurley Building
19 Staniford Street, 1st Floor
Boston, MA 02114
617-626-7132
Contact: Cynthia A. Spahl, Chief Counsel
The Division is a quasi-judicial, neutral administrative agency that enforces the Massachusetts collective bargaining laws by conducting hearings and investigations of unfair labor practice charges, union representation petitions, and strike investigations. The Division offers unpaid legal internships (with possible course credit). Legal interns are assigned a variety of legal projects and have a diverse work load. It is preferred that interns have taken at least one course in labor law.
University of Massachusetts, Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd., McCormack Bldg. 1st Floor, Room 627
Boston, MA 02125
617-287-4040; fax: 617-287-4049
www.umb.edu/modr
Executive Director: Susan M. Jeghelian (susan.jeghelian@umb.edu)
Deputy Director: Loraine M. Della Porta (loraine.dellaporta@umb.edu)
The Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution & Public Collaboration (MODR), formerly a state agency, is now a free-standing institute of the University of Massachusetts Boston. MODR’s mission is to promote and facilitate the use of conflict management and collaborative practices to address contentious issues related to economic development, environmental resource management, land use, agriculture, transportation, housing, healthcare and other community objectives. MODR works with government agencies, businesses, non-profits, and citizens to establish effective systems to prevent and manage conflict and to facilitate collaboration and consensus-building across sectors, jurisdictions, interests, and issues.
MODR services include mediation, regulatory negotiation, policy dialogue, systems design and research, conflict assessment, convening and facilitating public participation, education and training, collaborative problem-solving, public and private sector consensus building, and public deliberation. Services are provided through highly-experienced, qualified conflict resolution and collaboration practitioners who are staff or affiliates of MODR. MODR practitioners have knowledge, skills and competencies working within legal and regulatory frameworks at all levels of government and in addressing issues at the community level. In addition, MODR works with centers, institutes and academic programs at the University of Massachusetts, including the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, the College of Public and Community Services, the Urban Harbors Institute, the Center for Social Policy, and the Graduate Programs in Dispute Resolution.
From time to time, MODR offers internships for graduate students and law students interested in the field of dispute resolution and collaborative governance. Arrangements for internships are flexible and projects on which interns work may include assisting with: program development and administration; project management; data collection, analysis and reporting; research; preparation of case studies; and special projects.
Charles P. Doran
Mediator / Executive Director
Mediation Works Incorporated
4 Faneuil Hall - Fourth Floor
Boston, MA 02109-1632
617-973-9739 x22
800-348-4888
617-973-9532 fax
cdoran@mwi.org
www.mwi.org
Mediation Works Incorporated (MWI) is dedicated to providing innovative dispute resolution services and training to corporate, institutional and individual clients seeking to resolve difficult disputes.
MWI’s Training Programs include public and private “in-house” basic and advanced mediation and negotiation training programs, a “Train the Trainer Institute” and other dispute resolution workshops and seminars.
Internship opportunities include program development, research and administrative support. Opportunities to observe and mediate cases are available upon successful completion of MWI’s Mediation Training Programs.
The Roger Fisher House
9 Waterhouse St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 354-5444
www.mercycorps.org
Contact: Tamar Palendjian
tpalendjian@bos.mercycorps.org
Mercy Corps is a relief and development organization that works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Our mission is to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Our peaceful change programming is a large part of our approach, and was enhanced by our 2004 merger with Conflict Management Group (CMG), a long-time leader in the conflict resolution field founded by Harvard Law School Professor Roger Fisher.
Mercy Corps’ staff is dedicated to improving methods of negotiation, conflict management, and cooperative decision-making as applied to issues of public concern. We are engaged in training negotiators, consulting, process design, facilitation, consensus-building, and mediation for Mercy Corps program staff, as well as with partners around the world. The merger provided a unique opportunity for integrated programming in conflict affected and developing countries in which we combine methodology developed by CMG based on years of research at Harvard University with practical international experience from Mercy Corps’ extensive track record of working in conflict and transitional environments to provide emergency relief, promote economic development, and encourage civil society and peacebuilding initiatives.
Applications and information about internships at Mercy Corps’ Cambridge office or other offices can be found at www.mercycorps.org/volunteer. Each summer Mercy Corps also selects a small number of interns for overseas assignments; more information can be found at the same website.
Ombudsperson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. 10-213
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-253-5921
Contact: Mary P. Rowe
Non-paid research assistantships are available on a selected basis. Areas of research include: development of intra-institutional dispute resolution systems procedures, scientific and technical disputes within institutions, harassment of all kinds. Particular interest this year: the role of bystanders in conflict management.
Somerville Community Corporation
One Davis Square
Somerville, MA 02144
617-625-6600 X6146; acomack@k12.somerville.ma.us
Contact: Alice Comack
Three internships are available in our peer-mediation programs at Malden, Somerville, and Medford High Schools. These programs primarily handle disputes between students. Intern duties include conducting intake and setting up mediations, as well as assisting in the training of student mediators. An intern with mediation training may co-mediate when needed. The programs in these schools provide a unique opportunity to help decrease violence and teach valuable skills to young adults of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
These are non-paid internships and require a minimum of 10 hours per week each.
Massachusetts Trial Court
2 Center Plaza, 9th floor
Boston, MA 02108
617-878-0372
Contact: Timothy Linnehan, Coordinator of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services
617-878-0372
Timothy.Linnehan@jud.state.ma.us
The Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution has just recently become a committee of the Trial Court and is the successor to the Supreme Judicial Court Committee appointed in late 1993 to advise the Massachusetts courts in the establishment of a statewide, court-connected alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program.
The Committee chair is Probate and Family Court Judge Gail L. Perlman. The Coordinator of ADR Services for the Trial Court provides support to the Committee. The committee is responsible for advising the Chief Justice for Administration and Management of the Trial Court on the implementation and oversight of court-connected dispute resolution services throughout the Trial Court. The Standing Committee is currently working on implementing of Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution and promoting court-connected ADR.
Student interns would assist committee members and staff with conducting background research on pertinent legal and administrative issues, and drafting subcommittee and committee recommendations. The time commitment for an intern would need to be at least eight to 10 hours per week.
512 Pound Hall
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA 02138
Managing Directors: David Fairman and Patrick Field
Founder and Senior Advisor: Lawrence Susskind
Contact: Sossi Aroyan, Executive Assistant and Internship Coordinator, at the Consensus Building Institute (listed above) 617-844-1113; sossi@cbuilding.org
The Public Disputes Program (PDP) seeks to bring together scholars and professionals to improve the practice of negotiation, mediation, and conflict management in the public sector. The Program undertakes basic and applied research, provides advice to public agencies and government organizations, and offers training programs for both students and mid-career professionals. A range of substantive areas is covered including the siting of hazardous and nuclear waste disposal facilities, negotiated rulemaking, negotiated local investment strategies, and the mediation of intergovernmental disputes. PDP is also increasingly concerned with international dimensions of environmental conflict resolution.
The Public Disputes Program is part of the Program on Negotiation, an inter-university consortium based at Harvard Law School.
Interns have an opportunity to work directly with senior practitioners at the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) and to participate in CBI’s theory-building activities. (See CBI entry above.) A list of possible project areas can be found at web.mit.edu/publicdisputes. Please send a resume along with a cover letter stating your specific interests and skills by fax, mail, or e-mail to the attention of Sossi Aroyan.
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