Advoz Mediation and Restorative Practices

What Advoz Mediation and Restorative Practices does

Advoz is a community-based nonprofit organization headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that provides mediation, restorative justice dialogue, and conflict resolution training services. The organization was formed in 2017 from the merger of Lancaster Mediation Center (founded 1981) and Center for Community Peacemaking/LAVORP (founded 1994), combining more than three decades of community conflict resolution work under a single entity. Services span three program areas: Restorative Justice Practices (victim-offender dialogue, Making Peace workshops, and restorative circles), Mediation (family custody/divorce, landlord-tenant, and rapid police referral), and Education & Training (a curriculum stack including a 40-hour Basic Mediation Training, Restorative Justice Conferencing, Circle Process, and trauma-informed coaching using Dr. Bruce Perry's 4Rs framework). Delivery relies on a small paid staff of approximately 7-8 people supported by volunteer mediators and facilitators who complete at least 40 hours of training, in-person at the Lancaster office and via Zoom for virtual training.

The business model is hybrid: fee-for-service for mediation and training (e.g., $50 per family for Making Peace workshops, $40 CLE credits for attorneys, CEU-bearing courses for clinical professionals, and corporate consulting for workplace conflict), supplemented by donations and grants. The customer base is concentrated in Lancaster County and includes the Lancaster County Juvenile Courts and Probation (approximately half of caseload), Lancaster City Bureau of Police, McCaskey High School, Franklin and Marshall College, and a small set of corporate and nonprofit clients such as the Animal Rescue League of Berks County and Housing Development Corp. Mid-Atlantic. Technology is non-proprietary (standard office tooling plus Zoom), and the organization's competitive position is built on community trust, deep justice-system referral relationships, and a credentialed volunteer facilitator bench rather than on software or AI capabilities.

Name

Advoz Mediation and Restorative Practices

Legal name

Advoz

Website

https://advoz.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Advoz is a Lancaster, Pennsylvania nonprofit providing mediation, restorative justice dialogue, and conflict resolution training to families, schools, courts, police, and businesses in Lancaster County through a small staff and trained volunteer facilitator corps.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lancaster

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Service Fees - Making Peace Workshops: Standard rate of $50 per family for 4-hour Making Peace workshops with limited scholarships available
2. School-Based Restorative Services: Phased implementation consulting and training programs for schools and districts over 3-5 years
3. Corporate Training and Consulting: Customized workplace conflict resolution training and organizational consulting including individual coaching, team building, and intervention services
4. Professional Training Programs: Fee-based professional training including CLE credits ($40) for attorneys and CEUs for social workers, psychologists, and marriage/family therapists. Training fees support volunteer certification programs.
5. Mediation Services: Low-cost, high-quality facilitated conversation services for family, neighbor, and business disputes. Financial assistance available through fee assistance program.
6. Donations and Grants: Community support through donations, event fundraising (Around the Table annual event), and grant funding

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Advoz is a community-based nonprofit that provides facilitated mediation, restorative justice dialogue (including victim-offender conferencing), and conflict resolution training programs. Services cover family/custody/divorce mediation, landlord-tenant disputes, neighborhood conflicts, school-based restorative practices, workplace conflict resolution, and professional training for attorneys, social workers, educators, and community members.

Product overview

Advoz is a community-based nonprofit organization offering mediation and restorative justice services in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The organization operates three interconnected program areas: Restorative Justice Practices (including Victim-Offender Dialogue, Making Peace Workshops, and Restorative Circles), Mediation Services (covering family, custody, divorce, landlord-tenant, and rapid police referrals), and Education & Training programs. Advoz provides direct service delivery through trained volunteer mediators and facilitators, complemented by professional development and organizational consulting services. The organization functions as a service-based entity rather than a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Restorative Justice Dialogue (Victim-Offender Conferencing) Face-to-face dialogue process addressing harm caused by crime or violation, connecting victims with offenders for healing and accountability. Includes programs for those who have been harmed and those who caused harm. Primarily serves juvenile offenders and crime victims referred through Lancaster County Juvenile Probation, Courts, and law enforcement.
• Making Peace Workshops Four-hour interactive workshops for youth and parents to practice conflict management and communication skills, held on second Saturdays every other month. Standard rate of $50 per family with limited scholarships available.
• Restorative Circles (Circle Process) Group facilitation method drawing from indigenous traditions to address harm and conflict in schools, workplaces, congregations, and communities through inclusive structured dialogue using a talking piece to ensure every participant has a voice.
• Family Custody & Divorce Mediation Voluntary confidential mediation services for child custody, co-parenting, divorce, and family restructuring, including preparatory meetings and joint sessions. Serves families facing divorce, custody disputes, co-parenting challenges, and elder care conflicts.
• Landlord & Tenant Mediation Mediation services connecting tenants with resources and facilitating respectful dialogue between landlords and tenants to prevent eviction and resolve housing disputes. Serves property owners and renters in Lancaster County.
• Rapid Referral Mediation Program Police partnership program enabling officers to refer neighborhood conflicts directly to mediation services for immediate resolution as an alternative to formal charges.
• Restorative Schools Phased implementation program helping schools build restorative culture over 3-5 years through professional development, classroom circles, and disciplinary alternatives to suspensions.
• Restorative Workplace Conflict Solutions Two-pronged workplace service offering proactive capacity building (Rehab Approach) and crisis intervention (Surgery Approach) including individual coaching, team building, and mediation. Serves businesses and organizations seeking to address workplace conflict, improve culture, and build restorative practices capacity.
• Conflict, Communication & Culture Training Nine-hour experiential introductory workshop building skills in healthy conflict resolution and restorative practices, prerequisite for other Advoz trainings. Offers CEUs for social workers, psychologists, and marriage/family therapists.
• Basic Mediation Training Forty-hour training preparing participants to facilitate mediation using the facilitative method for community disputes including neighbors, workplaces, families, and landlord-tenant conflicts. Required for Advoz volunteer mediators.
• Restorative Justice Victim-Offender Conferencing Training Interactive training equipping facilitators to coordinate restorative conferencing dialogue involving those impacted by harm and crime, with focus on juvenile justice systems.
• Circle Process Training Three-day in-person training teaching facilitation of Circle Process for groups of 5-20 people, covering preparatory steps, opening/closing circles, talking piece use, and coached role plays.
• Family Custody and Divorce Mediation Training Twenty-hour training covering elements of mediating separation, custody, divorce, and co-parenting negotiations.
• Restorative Practices Toolkit Training Three-day immersive training providing practical strategies and tools for applying restorative practices in schools, organizations, and community settings.
• Restorative Conflict Coaching for Trauma-Informed Leaders Six-hour workshop teaching one-on-one restorative conflict resolution coaching using Dr. Bruce Perry's neurosequential trauma-informed framework (Regulate, Relate, Reason, Restore).

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of participating crime victims report satisfaction and closure
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Lancaster County Juvenile Probation and CourtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary referral source for restorative justice victim-offender conferencing cases. Advoz coordinates with probation officers and juvenile court judges for cases primarily involving youth who have caused harm. Approximately half of Advoz's caseload comes through this partnership.
• Lancaster City Bureau of PolicecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLaw enforcement rapid referral partnership where police officers refer neighbor disputes and minor conflicts directly to Advoz's mediation services, expanding access to facilitated dialogue for community conflicts.
• Participating Police DepartmentscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of police departments partnering with Advoz's Rapid Referral Mediation Program to connect citizens involved in minor disputes with mediation services as an alternative to formal charges.
• Youth Aid PanelscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCommunity-based diversion panels that refer youth involved in first-time offenses to Advoz's Making Peace workshops and restorative justice programs as an alternative to formal court processing.
• McCaskey High SchoolmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership implementing peer mediation programs and hosting donor events. Students trained as peer mediators; Advoz staff present for restorative practices and conflict resolution support.
• Mix at Arbor PlaceminorOthersVenue partner for Making Peace workshops at 520 North St, Lancaster, PA 17602. Community space hosting the twice-monthly parent-teen workshops.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mediate.com: Mediate.com is the leading online directory and resource hub for the mediation profession, hosting practitioner listings, training content, and articles on mediation practice. It is a peer in the mediation training and professional-development space that competes for attention from Advoz's training audience.
• International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP): IIRP is the leading global organization providing restorative practices training, professional certification, and consulting to schools, workplaces, and criminal justice systems. It is directly comparable to Advoz's training and consulting arm, with significantly broader geographic reach and a graduate-school structure.
• Peacemaker Ministries: Peacemaker Ministries provides faith-based mediation, conflict coaching, and training services across the U.S. Its delivery model — combining mediation services with structured training and credentialing — closely parallels Advoz's blended service-plus-training approach.
• National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM): NAFCM is the membership association for community mediation centers across the U.S., providing standards, training, and support to programs like Advoz. It is a direct peer at the organizational-model level, representing the network of community-based mediation centers to which Advoz belongs.
• Mennonite Central Committee (MCC): MCC operates international peacebuilding and conflict transformation programs with deep roots in Anabaptist peace traditions — directly aligned with Advoz's Restorative Circles, Restorative Justice Dialogue, and volunteer-driven facilitation model. Board member Jon Rudy is a long-time MCC facilitator, evidencing direct overlap.
• Resolution Systems Institute: Resolution Systems Institute works to build court-based alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems and provides training to court ADR programs. It overlaps with Advoz's Restorative Justice Conferencing Training and Mediation Training offerings on the justice-system integration dimension.
• Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking (University of Minnesota): Operated out of the University of Minnesota, this center advances restorative justice research, training, and practice — including victim-offender conferencing models very similar to those Advoz delivers. It is a peer on methodology, training content, and the victim-offender dialogue value proposition.
• Community Boards San Francisco: Community Boards is a long-running community-based mediation nonprofit serving San Francisco with neighborhood dispute resolution and police-referral programs. Its operating model — community mediation with strong police partnerships and volunteer mediators — is a direct structural parallel to Advoz.
• Victim-Offender Mediation Association (VOMA): VOMA is the primary professional association for victim-offender mediation and restorative justice practitioners in North America. Advoz's flagship Restorative Justice Dialogue / Victim-Offender Conferencing service operates in VOMA's core domain, making it a direct peer at the practice and methodology level.

Regional players

• Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County (Maryland): CRCMC is a community-based mediation center serving Montgomery County, MD with mediation, restorative justice, and training services. It operates a very similar regional nonprofit model to Advoz — serving one county with a comparable mix of family, community, and school mediation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/advozpa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCP3RKPx3CaeAHgTkDK4oRwQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/advozlancaster
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/advoz-mediation-restorative-justice
• Instagraminstagram.com/advozpa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

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 Advoz Mediation and Restorative Practices