About Us

Peaceful Pathways, Inc. was established by Diane Gilbert in Williamsburg, VA in 1998. We began our work as a fund raising project for a building program at our church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. Members of the congregation were asked to donate a talent or skill to raise funds for a new parish hall. When I explored my talents with my husband, Dennis, we felt that our conflict resolution skills might be of some value in the fund raising effort.

So for the first two years, we donated our services for dispute resolution services to the church building program. When the program ended, we approached the church vestry and asked if we could continue to provide services on a sliding scale based on income to the community. St. Martin's was agreeable and we continue to use space in the new parish hall so that we can offer services at reduced fees.

Diane Gilbert, MA has been a mediator in Virginia for over 24 years. She began her professional career with families experiencing conflict in the court system. Since the early ‘80’s, Diane has assisted parties with disputes involving families, landlord/tenant issues, workplace issues, consumer/merchant issues and neighborhood disputes.

In addition to conflict resolution services, Peaceful Pathways, Inc. also offers adult learning opportunities in a variety of fields. Our adult learning programs, whether for professional development or personal growth, recognize that the experience and history of each individual is uniquely different and respects and incorporates that into the programs. Peaceful Pathways, Inc. has provided services to many community agencies as well as individuals. Among them are:

• James City County JDR Court
• New Kent County JDR Court
• New Kent Circuit Court
• York County General District Court
• York County Circuit Court
• Family Focus/Colonial Services Board
• Colonial Community Corrections
• Peninsula Regional Jail
• WJCC Public School System
• Mary Immaculate Hospital