Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts

What Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts does

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC) is a Pennsylvania-based 501(c)-style nonpartisan nonprofit organization founded in 1988 in response to Governor Robert Casey's Judicial Reform Commission report. It was the first organization of its kind to support merit selection of appellate court judges in Pennsylvania, and it has operated continuously for over 35 years advocating for judicial modernization, court education, and civic engagement around the state court system. PMC maintains dual offices in Philadelphia (123 S. Broad Street, Suite 2830) and Pittsburgh (Four Gateway Center, 444 Liberty Avenue), covering the eastern and western anchors of the state.

The organization's core programmatic offerings are educational rather than technological: PMC Shares™ workshops (covering Court Basics, Landlord-Tenant Disputes, Estate Administration, Family Court, Criminal Court, Protection from Abuse, and Judicial Elections), a Civics Education Program delivered through partnerships with 15 schools, the One Day Law School for Journalists™ media training program, a Law Student Writing Competition (sponsored by Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP), nonpartisan Judicial Candidates Forums, and Continuing Legal & Judicial Education for legal professionals. Annual benefit events (Spring into Action Benefit, Judicial Independence Benefit) raise funds and recognize contributions to judicial reform. PMC has no proprietary software, platform, or AI/ML components; its distribution relies on in-person workshops, virtual recordings hosted on YouTube, and institutional partnerships with law schools, civic organizations, and bar associations.

PMC's revenue model is donation- and sponsorship-driven, with no fees charged for its educational programs. Programs are funded through individual donations (collected via Zeffy), event sponsorships, and grants from foundations such as the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The organization is led by President & CEO Deborah Gross and governed by a Board of Directors co-chaired by Sarah Gitchell (SVP Content Acquisition, Comcast Corp.) and Joshua W.B. Richards (Partner, Saul Ewing), with Robert H. Heim serving as Board Chair Emeritus after founding the organization and chairing the board for over 25 years. The board draws heavily from senior partners at major Pennsylvania law firms and corporate legal officers, signaling a stable governance and fundraising base. Revenue figures, headcount, and program-level financials are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts

Legal name

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts

Website

https://pmconline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts is a 38-year-old nonpartisan nonprofit that educates Pennsylvanians about the state judicial system through workshops, civics programs in schools, journalist training, candidate forums, and advocacy for merit selection of judges.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Education and Judicial Reform Advocacy

NAICS

Courts (92211)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Judicial Courts & Court Administration (BPAIAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Legal Literacy & Public Legal Education (Know Your Rights) (EDAAAFAI)

Keywords

• Judicial reform advocacy
• Civic education programs
• Court navigation workshops
• Legal journalism training
• Merit selection advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Rochegude

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts is a nonpartisan nonprofit that delivers free educational programs and advocacy focused on Pennsylvania's judicial system. Its core offerings include community workshops on court navigation (PMC Shares™), civics education for K-12 students, journalist training through the One Day Law School for Journalists™, continuing legal and judicial education, an annual law student writing competition, and nonpartisan judicial candidate forums.

Product overview

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that offers a portfolio of educational programs and community engagement initiatives rather than a traditional software product. The core offerings include PMC Shares™ workshops (covering Court Basics, Landlord-Tenant, Estate Administration, Family Court, Criminal Court, and Protection from Abuse), PMC in the Community™ community engagement programs, The Media The Courts & Counsel™ journalist training, Civics Education Program for students, Continuing Legal & Judicial Education, Law Student Writing Competition, One Day Law School for Journalists™, and Judicial Candidates Forums. These programs are complemented by annual benefit events (Spring into Action Benefit, Judicial Independence Benefit) and a resource library of guides, essays, and video recordings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PMC Shares™ Workshops
• Civics Education Program
• One Day Law School for Journalists™
• Law Student Writing Competition
• Continuing Legal & Judicial Education
• PMC in the Community™
• The Media, The Courts & Counsel™
• Judicial Candidates Forums
• Self-Help Resources and Program Recordings

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 15 Pennsylvania SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership with 15 schools for civics education program delivery, involving 28 lawyers and judges as presenters
• Pennsylvania Law SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with 8 Pennsylvania law schools for the annual Law Student Writing Competition, including Drexel, UPenn, Temple, Villanova, Widener, Penn State Dickinson, Pitt Law, and Duquesne. Competition sponsored by Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.
• League of Women Voters of PennsylvaniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsorship of judicial candidate forums including the 2025 Appellate Courts Candidates' Forum
• Committee of SeventycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsorship of 2025 Appellate Courts Candidates' Forum alongside PMC and League of Women Voters
• Philadelphia Bar AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsorship of candidate forums including the 2019 Superior Court Candidates Forum held at Free Library of Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported the publication of the Handbook on Rules and Procedures for Landlord-Tenant Relations in the Fifth Judicial District - Allegheny County
• Lenfest Institute for JournalismminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored the 2021 One-Day Law School for Journalists program
• Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerTelevision broadcast partner for candidate forums including the 2019 Superior Court Candidates Forum

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• American Judicature Society: Long-standing national organization dedicated to an independent, qualified, and ethical judiciary. Highly comparable in mission (judicial independence, merit-based selection) but operates at a national scale rather than a single state.
• Justice at Stake: National nonpartisan organization historically dedicated to keeping courts fair and impartial through merit-based judicial selection. Directly comparable in mission to PMC (merit selection advocacy), though it has had periods of dormancy versus PMC's continuous operation.
• Brennan Center for Justice: National law-and-policy institution focused on voting rights, courts, and criminal justice reform. Overlaps PMC on judicial-reform advocacy and civic education but operates nationally with a much larger budget and policy-research orientation.
• National Center for State Courts: The leading national organization focused on improving state court operations and judicial administration. Comparable to PMC because both centers of gravity are on court-system improvement, but NCSC operates nationally across all 50 states while PMC is single-state.

Emerging players

• iCivics: National nonprofit providing civics curricula and games for K-12 students. Comparable to PMC's Civics Education Program in delivering court-focused civics content to students, though iCivics operates nationally with a digital-first curriculum model.
• National Civic League: National nonpartisan organization promoting civic engagement, democratic governance, and community problem-solving. Adjacent peer in the civic-education nonprofit category with overlapping audiences around democratic participation.
• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW): National nonprofit focused on government accountability, ethics, and ethics reform. Comparable in the civic-reform nonprofit space and in educating the public about government integrity, though CREW's focus extends well beyond courts.

Direct peers

• Committee of Seventy: Philadelphia-based civic-reform nonprofit focused on elections, governance, and accountable government. Directly comparable: PMC and Committee of Seventy are co-sponsoring partners on the 2025 Appellate Courts Candidates' Forum, and both operate as PA-based civic-education nonprofits.
• Philadelphia Bar Association: Regional professional bar association running public-education programs, candidate forums (including the 2019 Superior Court Candidates Forum with PMC), and legal-literacy initiatives. Comparable on candidate forums and court public-education programming.
• League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania: State-level civic-engagement organization providing nonpartisan voter education, candidate forums, and judicial-election information. Directly comparable mission (nonpartisan voter/civic education) and a current PMC co-sponsorship partner.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PA4ModernCourts
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-b60TUfgQmiUjQsBz-x1KQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/CourtReform
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pennsylvaniansformoderncourts
• Instagraminstagram.com/paformoderncourts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts