About The Annual Conference

• The award was designed in 1996 in honor of its recipient Tekaronianeken Jake Swamp, Sub-chief of the Wolf Clan for the Mohawk Nation, and Director of the Tree of Peace Society.  Chief Swamp worked to promote peace both within his culture and across the country, and he was an important activist in peace building. He was at Wounded Knee, the Ganienkeh Land Reclamation, the Longest walk, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Takeover, the Akwesasne Bridge Blockade, the Fourth Russell Tribunal in the Netherlands and was a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Later in his career Chief Swamp traveled nationally and internationally planting trees for peace and enlightening people about the culture and contributions of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Learn More About Chief Swamp →

• The award was subsequently renamed in honor of the 1998 awardee, Andrew Thomas. Mr. Thomas was the first president of the New York State Dispute Resolution Association Board of Directors and a past Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Community Mediation. In addition to having served as the Executive Director of the Center for Dispute Settlement in Rochester, community organizer, mediator, a leader in social justice reform, Mr. Thomas has trained thousands of individuals to become mediators, facilitators and arbitrators for court ADR programs.  

The tree was selected for this award as it has become a symbol of peace in the Haudenosaunee culture. The original five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy had been at war and, in the interest of a peaceful Confederacy, they buried their instruments of war at the base of a tree.  NYSDRA adopted a tree and its roots as a symbol of peace and of the work of those who seek to reduce conflict and to build a peaceful society. 

• Any member of NYSDRA in good standing may submit a nomination
• NYSDRA membership is not required to be nominated
• The award is given in honor of an individual or organization that has:

1. Promoted the welfare of society as a public official, community volunteer, social service organization, or other entity in support of a peaceful community
2. Advocated for the peaceful means of resolving conflict in society
3. Promoted cooperative processes between and among social institutions in our communities 
4. Promoted collaborative relationships between individuals with the goal of achieving peace and social justice
5. Strived to promote justice and equality for all individuals in communities
6. Acted to develop an inclusive society where diversity is valued
7. Inspired others to actively pursue the values of peace and social justice in societies 

2020 Dominick J. Brancato

2017 Susan Herman

2015 Laura and Richard Chasin

2013 Professor Hal Abramson

2011 Charlie Pillsbury

2010 David Kaczynski

2009 Marvin E. Johnson

2008 Marc Gopin

2007 Louise Diamond

2006 Robert Baruch Bush and Joseph Folger

2005 Arun Gandhi

2004 Gillian Martin Sorenson

2003 Dr. Howard Zehr

2002 John Wallach

2001 The Honorable Ann T. Pfau

2000 Lt. Governor Mary O. Donohue

1998 Andrew Thomas

1998 Center for Dispute Settlement

1997 Dr. Thomas F. Christian

1996 Chief Jake Swamp

• Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke was influential in promoting the field of alternative dispute resolution in the NYS Court system. He implemented a plan to clear the backlog by expanding arbitration and establishing mediation in the courts and was instrumental in starting the Community Dispute Resolution Centers program. Judge Cooke was born in Monticello in Sullivan County on October 15, 1914.  After graduating from Albany Law School, he was admitted to the Bar in 1939. He was elected in 1955 as County Judge and Surrogate of Sullivan County and re-elected in 1959. In 1961, he was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court for the Third Judicial District. He was designated to the Appellate Division, Third Department, in 1968 by Gov. Rockefeller and served there until his election to the Court of Appeals in 1974. He was appointed the 20th Chief Judge by Gov. Carey on January 2, 1979. He retired from the Court of Appeals at the end of 1984.

• At the annual NYSDRA Conference, NYSDRA honors an individual or organization that has provided innovative leadership in the field, based upon a local or NYS state-based initiative, innovative in terms of a new practice in ADR or application of ADR practices in a new area, setting or population. Learn More About Chief Judge Cooke →

• Any member of NYSDRA in good standing may submit a nomination
• NYSDRA membership is not required to be nominated 
• Any member of NYSDRA in good standing may submit a nomination
• The award is given in honor of an individual or organization that has provided innovative leadership in the field, based upon a local or based upon a local or New York State-based initiative.
• Innovation is evaluated in terms of a new practice in ADR or application of ADR practices in a new area, setting, or population.

2023 Brad Heckman

2021 Hon. Edwina G. Mendelson

2019 Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks

2018 Senator John Bonacic

2016 Jody Miller

2015 Lisa Hicks-Yackel

2014 Sherry Walker-Cowart

2013 Roz Magidson

2012 John McCullough

2011 Mark Kleiman

2010 Mark Collins

2009 Judy Saul

2008 Maria Volpe

2007 Duke Fisher

2006 Michele Kirschbaum and Lourdes Rivera-Putz

2005 Judge Sharon S. Townsend, District Administrative Judge

2005 Judge Janice Rosa, Supreme Court Justice

2004 Justice Doris Ling-Cohan and Justice Fern Fisher

2003 Sandy Mindell and Herbert Israel

2002 Judge Joseph Lauria