Posted on June 29, 2021 by Andy Reimer

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Q: MC3 launched in late 2019.  After 18 months and this past difficult year, how would you characterize where the organization stands?

MC3 has just “scratched the surface” but it is well beyond expectations after its first 18 months.  Almost three dozen mediators in four different states have voluntarily agreed to hold themselves to the highest standards and have become the initial proponents for mediation as a profession.  While we are not a “panel,” it is fair to say that 32 mediators from a variety of different backgrounds and experiences agreeing to the principle of professionalization and putting themselves forward as models for our field is a significant amount of mediators relative to other mediation panels and groups.  When we look back on this, 100 years from now, these initial adopters will have had a substantial influence in our mediation community.  As SCMA President Mark Lemke, a MC3-Certified Mediator notes, “My expectation is that, as more people in our community – mediators, disputants, attorneys, panels – begin to understand the value of certification and the certification standard that MC3 offers, more and more mediators will be seeking out their MC3 certification.”

MC3 has three groups of potential consumers: mediation panels, mediators themselves, and the public (future disputants).  We will not have a noteworthy impact on future disputants until we have greater exposure within existing mediation panels and greater adoption by independent mediators.  It is fair to say that MC3 will continue its efforts to increase its traction with both the panels and the mediators during its initial launch period over the next three to five years.  In 2020, MC3 signed alliance agreements with the Virginia Mediation Network and Mediate.com.  We believe that 2021 will end with more organizational alliances and more MC3-Certified Mediators as we continue to try to grow the profession of mediation.