Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

What Louis D. Brown Peace Institute does

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1995 and headquartered at 15 Christopher St in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts. It operates as a center of healing, teaching, and learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss, with a service footprint covering the New England region and 11-50 staff. Its work is organized around a proprietary methodology called the Principles of Peace — Love, Unity, Faith, Hope, Courage, Justice, and Forgiveness — which guides program design, training, and community engagement.

The organization delivers a portfolio of trauma-informed services at no cost to participants. Core service lines include Survivor Outreach Services and Community Reentry Services, complemented by therapeutic programming such as the Healing & Recovery Support Group, the Healing Lab (an 8-week afterschool healing arts program for youth ages 14-21 delivered with Children Healing by Expression), Men's Bond-fire, Planning with Purpose (monthly virtual workshop), and Dance, Sweat, Meditate in partnership with SOULFIRE MVMT. Memorial and awareness programming includes the Memorial Button Project, the Peace Trail public art initiative featuring survivor-led Legacy Poles, and the annual Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month. Signature annual events are the Mother's Day Walk for Peace (30th anniversary in 2026) and the Louis D. Brown Day of Civic Engagement, alongside a Champions for Peace gala.

Revenue is generated almost entirely through donations, grants, and fundraising events; supporting the operations is a small ancillary stream from training services, publications, and merchandise sales via an online shop. The organization is currently executing a $25 million Campaign for Peace to construct a National Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning in Boston's Four Corners neighborhood, its largest capital undertaking to date. Its go-to-market is community-embedded: direct service delivery through the Dorchester facility, partner venues (e.g., Fields Corner Yoga Studio, BCYF Vine Street Community Center), Zoom-based virtual sessions, and partnerships with arts, faith, and reentry organizations that extend reach and donor surface.

Name

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

Legal name

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

Website

https://ldbpeaceinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Founded in 1995 in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free trauma-informed healing, survivor outreach, and reentry services to families and communities impacted by murder, grief, and loss across New England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community-Based Trauma and Bereavement Support Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Reentry & Justice-Involved Support Services (BPAGAEAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD), Mental Health Counseling & Therapy Services (K–12) (EDAJALAG)

Keywords

• Trauma-informed support services
• Violence prevention programs
• Grief and bereavement support
• Community reentry services
• Peacebuilding education

Headquarters

HQ city

Dorchester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute provides free, trauma-informed healing, support, and peacebuilding services to families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss. Its core offerings include Survivor Outreach Services, Community Reentry Services, the Memorial Button Project, youth healing programs, recurring support groups and workshops, professional training and publications, and signature annual events such as the Mother's Day Walk for Peace. All services are delivered through in-person programming in Dorchester, Boston, partner venues, and virtual Zoom sessions.

Product overview

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute operates as a Center of Healing, Teaching, and Learning offering a portfolio of trauma-informed services for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss. The core service offerings include Survivor Outreach Services and Community Reentry Services, complemented by therapeutic programs such as the Healing Lab (youth healing arts), Men's Bond-fire (men's support group), and Healing & Recovery Support Group. The institute runs signature annual events including the Mother's Day Walk for Peace (celebrating 30 years), and operates the Peace Trail public art initiative with survivor-led Legacy Poles. Currently, the organization is executing the $25 million Campaign for Peace to build a National Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning. Additional offerings include training programs, publications, and an online merchandise shop.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mother's Day Walk for Peace: Annual fundraising walk event celebrating 30 years of peace activism
• Peace Trail
• Generation Peace
• Campaign for Peace

Products and services

• Survivor Outreach Services Outreach and case-level support to families and individuals who have lost a loved one to homicide, providing guidance through grief, trauma, and loss. Targeted at survivor families across the Greater Boston / New England region.
• Community Reentry Services Support for individuals returning to the community after incarceration, focused on successful reintegration, employment assistance, and stability. Targeted at returning citizens and reentry case managers.
• The Memorial Button Project A memorial initiative that creates commemorative buttons honoring victims of homicide, used in healing circles and the Mother's Day Walk for Peace. Targeted at survivor families and the broader peacebuilding community.
• Training Programs Professional training services for organizations and individuals working with violence-impacted populations, covering the institute's peacebuilding methodology. Targeted at nonprofits, agencies, and practitioners in bereavement and violence prevention.
• Publications Training materials and peacebuilding publications available for purchase to spread the institute's methodologies. Targeted at practitioners, students, and partner organizations.
• Online Shop (30 Years Strong Apparel) Online store selling merchandise, including 30 Years Strong apparel, to support the organization's mission. Targeted at supporters, walkers, and community members.

Quantifiable outcome

• $600,000 fundraising goal for Mother's Day Walk for Peace supporting families, youth programs, and healing initiatives

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Devonshire FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Devonshire Foundation hosted the 'Setting the Table: Beyond the Grant' event series, bringing together organizations to listen, share stories, build understanding, and imagine a future centered in peace and healing. Executive Director Clementina participates in conversations about building authentic, sustained relationships that transform organizations and communities.
• Open Theatre ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created 'Weighting the Wait,' a community-built theatre work developed through story circles with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. The production gives voice to mothers confronting the loss of a child to gun violence through movement, language, and shared ritual, honoring real stories and building bridges between art, activism, and community care.
• Children Healing by ExpressioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization delivering 'The Healing Lab,' an 8-week afterschool healing arts program supporting youth ages 14-21 navigating grief, loss, or heavy life experiences. Program uses artmaking, storytelling, and real conversations to build community support while turning expression into empowerment and healing.
• SOULFIRE MVMT (Michelle Turner-Young)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed the free 8-week 'Dance, Sweat, Meditate' series helping survivors make new connections, build community, and heal through movement and mindfulness at Fields Corner Yoga Studio.
• HEARTplay (Good Shepherd Community Care)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative youth and family workshop focused on calming and coping techniques with grief, making snow globes and promoting relaxation and peace through a heart-centered bereavement program supporting children, teens, young adults, and families navigating grief and loss.
• My Brother's Keeper 617minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered for Father's Day Community Brunch creating a welcoming space for fathers and their children to come together, enjoy brunch, connect with other families, and celebrate community.
• Angelena & The UnitminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPerformed at the Mother's Day Walk for Peace post-walk concert and rally, providing live entertainment to celebrate the community event.
• Victory Point Marina BayminorOthersVenue host for Champions for Peace gala event featuring Matthew Slater, New England Patriots captain.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Osborne Association: The Osborne Association is a New York-based nonprofit operating reentry, housing, and family services for people impacted by incarceration and the justice system, mirroring the Institute's Community Reentry Services and survivor-support model in a different but adjacent geography.
• Crime Victims Treatment Center: CVTC provides trauma-informed counseling, advocacy, and support services to crime victims in New York — overlapping directly with the Institute's Survivor Outreach Services and Healing & Recovery Support Group offerings.
• The Fortune Society: The Fortune Society is a New York-based reentry and alternatives-to-incarceration nonprofit with comprehensive supportive services for justice-impacted individuals and their families — directly comparable to the Institute's Community Reentry Services and survivor-outreach approach.
• Roca: Roca is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that delivers violence-interruption, reentry, and trauma-focused services to high-risk young people and returning citizens — directly comparable to the Institute's Community Reentry Services and youth Healing Lab work, and overlapping in Dorchester/Boston geography.

Broad incumbents

• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD): MADD is a large national victim-support nonprofit serving survivors of drunk-driving homicides with advocacy, victim services, and signature fundraising events — structurally analogous to the Institute's survivor-services mission, Mother's Day Walk for Peace event model, and $25M-style national campaigns.
• National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA): NOVA is a national 501(c)(3) providing training, crisis response, and advocacy for crime victims — directly comparable in mission, training-program product surface, and survivor-services delivery, at a broader national scale.

Emerging players

• Center for Justice Innovation: The Center for Justice Innovation operates community-based justice, violence-prevention, and youth-development programs — overlapping with the Institute's Generation Peace youth program, Community Reentry Services, and peacebuilding methodology work.

Regional players

• Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia: Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia is a Pennsylvania-based survivor-services nonprofit offering crisis response, counseling, and advocacy for victims of homicide and other violence — directly comparable mission to the Institute in a different regional market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/photo
• Facebookfacebook.com/ldbpeaceinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/peaceinstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/louis-d-brown-peace-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Louis D. Brown Peace Institute