Awards & Recognition
The New York State Dispute Resolution Association (NYSDRA) proudly recognizes excellence in the field of dispute resolution through two distinguished awards presented in alternating years at the NYSDRA Annual Conference. Together, these awards honor individuals and organizations whose leadership, service, and innovation have strengthened the practice and impact of dispute resolution across New York State and beyond.
The Andrew Thomas PeaceBuilder Award, established in 1996, honors individuals or organizations that have made significant and lasting contributions to the promotion of peace, social justice, and the field of dispute resolution. The award traces its origins to Tekaronianeken Jake Swamp, Sub-chief of the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation and Director of the Tree of Peace Society, whose lifelong work embodied peacebuilding within and across communities. The award was later renamed in honor of Andrew Thomas, NYSDRA’s first Board President and a nationally respected leader, mediator, trainer, and advocate who helped build and professionalize community-based and court-connected ADR programs throughout New York State.
The Lawrence Cooke Peace Innovator Award recognizes individuals or organizations that have demonstrated innovative leadership in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Named for the Honorable Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, this award celebrates creativity and vision in developing new ADR practices or applying dispute resolution in new settings, populations, or systems. Chief Judge Cooke was instrumental in advancing ADR within the New York State court system, expanding arbitration and mediation, and helping to establish the Community Dispute Resolution Centers program. This award honors innovation grounded in local or New York State–based initiatives that advance the effectiveness and reach of ADR.
Through these alternating awards, NYSDRA celebrates both the foundational values of peacebuilding and the forward-looking innovation that continues to shape the future of dispute resolution.
Andrew Thomas PeaceBuilder Award
The Andrew Thomas PeaceBuilder Award was established in 1996 to honor individuals and organizations that have promoted the field of dispute resolution.
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.
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.
Lawrence Cooke Peace Innovator Award
The Lawrence Cooke Peace Innovator Award was created to honor individuals and organizations that have provided innovative leadership in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). This award was named after The Honorable Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, who was influential in promoting the field of alternative dispute resolution in the NYS Court system.
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 NYSDRA's Annual 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.