Friday, October 2, 2026
WENATCHEE — A newspaper publisher, a coalition of faith communities and a longtime mediator were honored Oct. 1 as the Wenatchee Valley Dispute Resolution Center celebrated 20 years of helping people find common ground.
Terry Ward and the Interfaith Justice Coalition of North Central Washington received the 2026 Community Peacebuilder Awards. Concie Luna received the 2026 Community Mediation Legacy Award for more than three decades of supporting mediation, training practitioners and helping people navigate conflict.
The annual celebration, held this year at the Hilton Garden Inn, brought together volunteer mediators, nonprofit partners, elected officials and supporters. Thom Kokenge, himself a decades-long community builder through public radio and various organizations, emceed.
Ward, CEO and publisher of Ward Media, which publishes this newspaper, was recognized for columns encouraging kindness, personal responsibility and understanding across differences.
Kokenge described Ward’s more than three decades in local media and his belief that disagreement need not become division. Ward founded Ward Media in 2023, taking over Chelan County’s oldest newspaper, the Lake Chelan Mirror, as well as the 122-year-old Leavenworth Echo and other trusted local publications.
Accepting the award, Ward recounted how his father died in a car accident six months before he was born. His mother, widowed at 28 with four children, supported the family through migrant agricultural work across Western states. His first experience in North Central Washington was picking apples in Cashmere.
“But one thing I learned through that process, it doesn’t matter where you come from as much as it matters where you’re going,” Ward said. “You build upon that history.”
Ward contrasted the easy allure of publishing online outrage with the possibilities of conversation between people with different views and experiences.
“But when you can sit down across the table from somebody and have a conversation, the world opens up,” he said.
The Interfaith Justice Coalition was recognized for building understanding, supporting marginalized neighbors and helping residents respond constructively when tensions rise.
Formed in 2023, the coalition helped organize the Our Shared Democracy series in 2024, including a discussion with Chelan and Douglas county auditors about local elections. Members have advocated on transgender health care, vaccine availability and Pride banners.
Kokenge also highlighted its Rainbow Response Network and a January de-escalation training attended by more than 80 people in person and 20 online, with Spanish-English interpretation and child care provided.
Accepting the award, steering committee member Zoe Jaspers described a confrontation at a gender-inclusive clothing swap hosted by a local church.
After out-of-town people attempting to disrupt the event by filming themselves loudly protesting were asked to leave, Jaspers said, they used a microphone and loudspeaker outside to intimidate visitors. Church members responded with music, dancing and escorts to help visitors reach their cars safely.
When the group threatened to return, more than 60 people gathered to develop a coordinated response rooted in compassion and joy.
“Through these experiences, we have learned that peace building is not just a naive idea, but a skill that we are all capable of practicing,” Jaspers said.
“We continue to find little interest in declaring enemies, but we are invested in the dignity and thriving of one another, especially the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Luna’s award traced a longer history of helping people approach conflict differently.
Sue Thornton, founding director of the Benton-Franklin Dispute Resolution Center, recalled Luna developing student peer mediation as vice principal of Highlands Middle School in Kennewick. Luna later became a certified community mediator and helped teach the center’s first basic mediation course.
After moving to Chelan, she supported the development of the Wenatchee Valley center. Executive Director Jennifer Talbot credited Luna with strengthening small claims mediation and training generations of volunteers.
Luna accepted the award with humor, noting Talbot had ruled out both a PowerPoint presentation and a mariachi band.
She offered three lessons: listen more than you speak, trust the mediation process and recognize that anyone can do good.
“So my last reminder for us all, even little pebbles make ripples,” Luna said. “So please, go out and make ripples, and thank you very much.”
Former Chelan County Commissioner Buell Hawkins recalled helping secure support for the center in 2006. Its first county-provided space was in the courthouse basement, with a table, four chairs, a phone and a computer connection.
Today, the center provides mediation, training, facilitation, restorative circles and community education. Talbot said services expanded into Okanogan County earlier this year following the closure of its dispute resolution center.
“What makes community mediation so unique is that we don’t tell people how to solve their problem,” Talbot said. “Instead, we offer opportunities for people to be heard, to understand one another more clearly, and to develop their own path forward.”
WVDRC’s Paige Ahnemiller recognized that approach in Talbot’s leadership.
“She asks thoughtful questions. She finds points of connection. And she moves forward in agreement,” Ahnemiller said.
Debbie Sperry, senior pastor of Wenatchee’s First United Methodist Church and a 2025 Peacebuilder Award recipient who helped present this year’s awards, emphasized the power of everyday people choosing to act.
“We are the people who are needed in and for our community,” Sperry said.
Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media
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