FMC and AFMS Annual Conference Friday, November 18, 2022
FMC and AFMS are proud to present: Mindful Mediation in a Multi-Cultural World
Friday, November 18, 2022 via Zoom
All times are Eastern Time Zone
11:30am FMC Annual General Meeting – FMC members only, registration required by email ([email protected])
12:25pm Online Conference opens (general log in to Zoom available)
12:30pm Welcome and Opening Statements
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- FMC President Judy M. Beranger
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12:45pm Presentation A: Introduction to cultural awareness in mediation – Brad Mustard (one hour, 15 minutes)
2:00pm Break (15 min)
2:15pm Presentation B: Cross cultural challenges: from war-torn Afghanistan to post-apartheid South Africa, some ground realities – Dr. Mohamed Keshavjee (1 hour, 15 minutes)
3:30pm Break (15 min)
3:45pm Fireside Chat (one hour, 30 minutes) An opportunity for all participants to share their experiences with multicultural mediations to provide additional learning based on all participants experiences.
Up to 4 hours continuing education credits or towards certification where appropriate.
Presentation A: Introduction to cultural awareness in mediation – Brad Mustard (one hour, 15 minutes)
Learning Objectives:
- Acquiring a culturally educated lens
- Recognizing bias
- Understanding cultural patterns- i.e. low and high context communication, low power distance high power distance)
- Learning practical mediation interventions when working with the dynamics of culture
Brad Mustard Bio
Brad practices as a family law lawyer. His practice is solely a dispute resolution practice. Brad acts as an Arbitrator, Mediator, Parenting Coordinator, and Collaborative Lawyer to assist clients in reaching out-of-court resolution effectively.
His practice focuses on solving complex property and support matters, and creating parenting plans for families, to help parents better shelter children from conflict.
Brad received his LLB at the University of Alberta in June 2000, and a Master of Laws (LLM), in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Law School in June 2016. Brad is a regularly invited presenter in negotiation and mediation at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law, and the Legal Education Society of Alberta, and the Canadian Bar Association. He was a sessional instructor in negotiation at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law from 2017 to 2020. He is appointed as a Dispute Resolution Officer at the Court of King’s Bench (Calgary).
Brad has a long history of volunteering and has served on several boards and organizations including:
- Chair of the Association of Collaborative Lawyers
- Chair of the Distress Centre Calgary
- Board Member of the Veterans Transition Network.
- Chair, Canadian Bar Association – Family Law South Subsection
- Member of the Judicial Advisory Committee on Improving Family Law Court Processes
Brad contributes within the Family law profession as member of the CBA Family Law Sub Section, and as a Board Member of the Alberta Family Mediation Society. He was recognized by his peers in 2023 as Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year in Family Law Mediation (Calgary).
Presentation B: Cross cultural challenges: from war-torn Afghanistan to post-apartheid South Africa, some ground realities – Dr. Mohamed Keshavjee (1 hour, 15 minutes)
Learning Objectives:
- Complement Brad Mustard’s presentation by highlighting some real-life experiences.
- Show how the present global model based on a Western, problem solving, satisfaction seeking, individualistic paradigm needs suitable adaptation to work in societies that are more relational.
- Summary of the approaches that were taken to modify and apply the model successfully over a ten-year period in some 25 countries of the world.
Dr Mohamed M Keshavjee Bio
Dr Mohamed M Keshavjee is an international specialist in cross cultural mediation who won the prestigious Gandhi King Ikeda Peace Award for 2016 for his global work on peace and human rights education.
A British trained barrister with law degrees from Queen’s University Canada and the School of Oriental and African Studies London University, Dr. Keshavjee has keynoted major conferences on mediation in France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Argentina, Ireland and Lithuania.
A former member of the World Mediation Forum he has attended certification programs at Harvard Law School, Berghof Foundation in Berlin, and Child Focus in Belgium.
Currently he is on the advisory panel of experts to the Secretary General of the International Social Service of Geneva and a senior Faculty on the Darwin International Institute for the Study of Compassion in the U.K.
Dr. Keshavjee has done pioneering work on International inter-spousal Child Abduction and the application of the 1980 Hague Convention to countries of the Muslim world.
He is the author of 4 books and lectures on mediation at various universities in the United Kingdom.
