Thu 24 Sep 2015
2015 Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation
Posted by Heverton.Oliveira
Recognizing an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of mediation in BC.
On Friday, September 18th Brian Gibbard (the new Mediate BC Board of Directors Chair) and Monique Steensma (Mediate BC CEO) presented Joyce Bradley, QC with the Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation.
Joyce has been mediating since 1984, after having been called to the Bar in 1979. She had a hand in the establishment of several mediation organizations (SPIDR, FMC, MDABC) and developing standards of practice. Joyce went on to become one of the first Certified Comprehensive Family Mediators through FMC. She was the first lawyer who had restricted her practice to mediation (1989) to be named Queen's Counsel in 2003. Joyce has always made herself available to other mediators formally through coaching and mentoring (Mediate BC, JIBC, CLE, CoRe Clinic, Child Protection Mediation Program) and informally as well.
On receiving the award, Joyce commented:
One of the things I think was most exciting about having watched this field develop is the many areas it’s moved into, the many ways it’s been adapted - people have found so many things to do with it!
...I think when I got my QC (which heaven knows having given up the practice of traditional law in ’89 I never expected THAT to happen!) I regarded it as a sign that mediation had come of age: in the courts; in the legal community; in the mental health community; and all the other areas where these new initiatives were springing up.
Congratulations Joyce!
About the Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation
The Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation, established in 2009, is an annual award acknowledging a person who has made a significant contribution to the field of mediation in BC. Previous recipients include Ron Tucker, Gordon Sloan, Sharon Sutherland, Peggy English, Lee Turnbull, Carole McKnight, Sally Campbell, and M. Jerry McHale, QC.