We design and implement programs that combine strategies and technologies proven to be the most effective interventions in the field of violence prevention. 

We present seminars and workshops about the opportunity for transformation offered by the emergence of conflict for youth and adults throughout the nation.  

We collaborate with experts and professionals in the disciplines of Dispute Resolution, Law and Law Enforcement,  Psychology, Medicine, Fine Arts, Education and Literacy, Parent Education, Career Planning, Family Health and Community Building. 
 
We incorporate the principles of the martial art Aikido in all of our programs and presentations. Aikido philosophy and practice encompasses the redirection of aggressive energy, the restoration of harmony and respect for the life force within all living beings. 
 

Emerald Chariot is affiliated with Season for Non-Violence and a member of Aiki-Extensions* International, a non-profit organization based at the University of Chicago whose members are actively committed to global Nonviolence. 
  

Emerald Chariot Foundation (ECF) is a non-profit California Corporation created in 1998 to address the nation’s escalating concern about youth violence.  It is our mission to implement a unique, dynamic “intervention” that promotes peaceful resolution to conflict while fostering teamwork, cooperation and leadership.  

The Emerald Program introduces training in the martial art Aikido in addition to conflict resolution education, professional counseling, parent education and the creative and performing arts.  While the program is designed for all youth, our pilot studies will focus on the needs of “at risk” youth between 13 and 18 years of age. 

We plan to implement a series of test pilots to document program effectiveness prior to program expansion.  Our first community-collaborative model pilot in the City of Santa Barbara, California will begin immediately upon completion of initial funding.  Most of the participants are enrolled in an excellent after-school program called “City @ Peace” where they receive training in conflict resolution skills and guidance from professional artists in the performing arts.  

Our second pilot study is scheduled to begin in Venice and Hollywood, Los Angeles where we will collaborate with Inside Out Community Arts and the Los Angeles Youth Network. The Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services for Youth have invited us to collaborate on programs and expand their curriculum.  

Endorsed by the Santa Barbara Pro-Youth Coalition, the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles and the HEAL Foundation, the program will be thoroughly evaluated by the University of California in association with neighboring universities.  This study promises to be one of the most comprehensive in the field of violence prevention.  We anticipate that the results of the study will support program expansion and that it will attract national publicity.  

Representatives of the Courts and members of the medical profession have expressed their support and the 2001 Chair of the Young Lawyers’ Division of the American Bar Association has expressed interest in supporting national program expansion. 

We are actively seeking donations and corporate sponsorship to launch our program.  Contributions are critical - the program is needed and the youth are ready to start.  
We would appreciate any and all donations and will publicize the names of Friends ($50), Supporters, Sponsors, Patrons (to $1000), Benefactors ($5000) and Charioteers  ($10,000).  We welcome Corporate Sponsorship and Business In Kind Donations.  

Thank you for your interest and support. 

  
Shelley Wax,  
President 
Emerald Chariot Foundation  
 

September, 1999 – Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland.  “Harmony, Nonviolence and Transformation: Aikido and Peacemaking.” 

October, 1999 – Southern California Mediation Assocation 11th Annual Conference, Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Malibu, California.  “Empowering the Mediator through Storywork and Aikido: A Transformative Approach.” 
  
 

 Shelley Wax, President 

 333 Washington Blvd., Suite 437 

 Marina del Rey, CA 90292 

 (310) 827 - 2806 

 Email: emeraldchariot@earthlink.net 

Our new website is in design and will soon be ready.