Thank you for making our FamilyKind 2021 Autumn Event a success!
October 28, 2021
12PM EST – 2 PM EST
With a tribute to Tziporah Pronman z”l and readings from her forthcoming book, Golden Threads of Wisdom
The program will examine the role cultural diversity plays in our relationships, families, and communities, especially when families experience separation or divorce. Speakers will explore ways matrimonial professionals and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practitioners can develop cultural empathy and understand how culture can add value to or limit the dispute resolution process. This program will help professionals be better equipped to establish culturally-sensitive and culturally-supportive structures that facilitate access to and effective participation in family dispute resolution, improving negotiation and increasing the likelihood of achieving reasonable compromises in divorce.
Patient Samukelo (Pepsi) Thuto
Founding Partner and Attorney at Law, Chibanda Makgalemele & Company
SPEAKERS
Bathabile K.S. Mthombeni, J.D.
Founder and Principal, Untangled Resolutions, Mediator and Board Member, FamilyKind
Maurice Q. Robinson, Esq.
Adjunct Professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Kukin Program in Alternative Dispute Resolution
GUEST SPEAKERS AND READERS
*Event Committee
​
Judge Vanessa Aufiero Da Rocha
Helene Bernstein, Esq.*
Shari Bornstein, Esq.*
Mark Kleinman, Esq.
Sheila Robinson-Kiss, MSW, LCSW
Joy S. Rosenthal, Esq.
Jennifer Safian, MA*
Sarah Samuels, MA, MSc*
Isabelle Wallace, Esq.*
and
Lesley Friedland, Esq.*
Executive Director, FamilyKind
Tziporah Pronman z”l was a talented mediator and dedicated FamilyKind teammember who helped shape FamilyKind into an organization that embraced families unable to access high quality services. For several years Tziporah worked as the Mediation Manager for the New York State Unified Court System, first in Brooklyn, then in Manhattan Family Court. In addition to her experience as a New York State Certified Mediator, Tziporah had over fifteen years of professional leadership experience in community development, training, parenting and youth-focused initiatives. She worked at Community Mediation Services, Inc. as Program Director for the Parents Count Program assisting non-custodial parents in establishing stable relationships with their children, along with supervised visitation. She also served as the Program Director for the Jamaica Homebase Homeless Prevention Services for children and families. Tziporah served as a board member for the International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation (ICERM), and most recently was a cherished volunteer at OU Israel. At the time of her death in early 2021, she was completing Golden Threads of Wisdom: Voices of the Past from Women Warriors of African Descent, 1773-2012, a book distilling her thoughts, observations, and values — and setting forth new ways of understanding families and their contexts.
In memory of Tziporah, FamilyKind has established the Tziporah Pronman Fund to Embrace Families. Contributions will support programs and services, including mediation and parenting coordination, for families that cannot otherwise afford them.