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The Mediation Center Executive Director Jill Cardenas to Transition to Advisory Role After 10 Years of Peacebuilding in Savannah, Ga.
The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire – Savannah, Ga.’s leading organization dedicated to helping citizens proactively manage conflict and create a more conflict-resilient community – announced today that Executive Director Jill Cardenas will transition to an advisory role once a new leader is appointed. This change marks the culmination of more than a decade of transformative leadership and community peacebuilding.
While serving in an advisory capacity, Cardenas will ensure institutional continuity and help guide long-term planning as the nonprofit organization prepares to celebrate its landmark 40th anniversary in 2026. A national search was recently launched to identify a new executive director for The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply at this link:
Since joining the Mediation Center in 2016, Cardenas has increased the number of individuals, businesses, schools, and organizations served by 325%, offering a wide range of professional mediation services, conflict-resolution education, facilitation services and de-escalation training.
She has brought positive national visibility to Savannah, Ga. with workshops led by federal conciliation specialists, community-minded events and interactive campaigns, like 100 Days of Intentional Peacebuilding — all of which have made The Mediation Center a go-to resource for other mediation centers across the country.
“I started as a volunteer at The Mediation Center and was immediately captivated by the successful outcomes and focus on resolving conflicts peacefully,” said Cardenas. “Since then, I’ve been deeply honored to work with our team to establish The Mediation Center as a trusted community resource and to expand our scope of services. I know that our talented staff, passionate board members, and dedicated volunteers will build on this earned trust and further our mission to make Savannah a more conflict-resilient community.”
Under Cardenas’s leadership, The Mediation Center earned acclaim as a Best of Georgia Regional Winner for Mediation Services. She and her staff have trained hundreds of volunteer mediators, conducted thousands of mediations, facilitated settlements, and offered conflict-resolution education for community members of all ages. The number of individuals participating in The Mediation Center’s educational opportunities, including civil mediation, domestic and specialized domestic violence mediation, probate mediation and mediation technology training, has more than doubled over the past three years.
A community-minded leader, Cardenas served as the driving force behind Savannah’s annual Peace in the Park celebration. This free event in Daffin Park established Savannah as the first city in Georgia to celebrate the International Day of Peace in an intentional way with opportunities for community members to support peace, counter violence, become conflict-resilient, and celebrate unity.
She also expanded access to justice through her effective management of The Mediation Center’s Family Law Resource Center, which includes Children 1st, a class that helps parents learn to navigate high-conflict situations in the best interest of their children. The Center serves as an information hub and valuable resource to navigate the legal system, especially for those who cannot afford legal representation.
A forward-thinking peacebuilder, Cardenas has established strategic partnerships with local organizations, schools, courts, and community groups, resulting in expanded programming that meets community needs and furthers the nonprofit organization’s impact. Through a special partnership with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS), her leadership has helped make local elementary, middle, and high schools more peaceful places to learn and grow. In the past year, The Mediation Center supported more than 37 SCCPSS schools, advancing restorative learning opportunities and practices across the district.
Cardenas also established training for Peer Mediators to resolve conflicts in their own schools and collaborated with SCCPSS and Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics (CNT) to launch the Positive Peer Influencer program. This innovative peer-to-peer program trains high school students to serve as positive influences on their middle school peers, modeling good decision-making, offering advice about making healthy choices and discussing the negative impacts of giving in to peer pressure.
“From her mentorship of young peacemakers to her innovative programming and collaborations with local organizations and officials, Jill’s legacy is one of deep community care,” said Mediation Center board chairman David Purvis. “This transition has been carefully planned, and we’re working with experienced professionals to ensure a smooth process as we approach The Mediation Center’s 40th anniversary.”
Prior to joining the Mediation Center, Cardenas worked as an organization and human performance consulting manager with Accenture in urban hubs throughout the United States and as a retail solutions manager with Arvato Digital Services in Sydney, Australia. Earlier in her career, she consulted with small business clients and Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, AT&T, Microsoft, Motorola, Sony Music and many more.
Originally from Missouri, Cardenas earned a B.A. in Business Administration and Human Resources from Southeast Missouri State University and is a Registered Civil, Domestic and Domestic Violence Mediator/Neutral. She is also a certified Restorative Practices Facilitator, Associate Certified Meta-Coach, Certified NLP Master Practitioner and Neuro-Semantic Trainer. She currently serves as the Chair of Rotary Peacebuilders of Savannah and Past Chair of the Interagency Oversight Group for The Front Porch.
