Event Venues

World Changers at Baltimore’s Community Conferencing Center

The Center uses the process to help resolve conflicts in neighborhoods and workplaces, as well in criminal cases.

 
When psychologist Lauren Abramson talks about “conferencing” in her work as executive director of the Community Conferencing Center in Baltimore, she’s not talking about the kind of meetings with registration desks and cocktail receptions. But, by creating a space where both the victims and perpetrators of crime can come together to try and reach a common understanding by talking with each other, her work intersects with what’s at the heart of most meetings: communication, learning, and engagement with others.Abramson has had remarkable success in creating an alternative to courts — the Community Conferencing Center has a roughly 95 percent success rate for the cases that come through its doors.
 
 

Barbara Palmer

Barbara Palmer is senior editor and director of digital content.