Webinar: Restorative Justice Listening Project report
Earlier this year the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice organized a series of listening sessions across the United States and British Columbia with the support of the Porticus Foundation and Open Philanthropy. The intention of the project was to get a feel for “the state of the state” of restorative justice — to take the pulse of where we are now as a movement, create a collective roadmap for the future, and offer recommendations to advocates and donors on how to resource and build the restorative justice movement.
We are pleased to share the final report and a one page summary of what we heard. The report was co-authored by the lead facilitator, Sonya Shah with the Ahimsa Collective, Sarah King with the Victim Assistance and Restorative justice Unit at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, and Carl Stauffer with the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice.
Building on our previous webinar (April 19, 2017), this follow-up webinar conversation will focus on the reverberations and implications of this report. We will highlight the general consensus, tensions and strategies emanating from the discussions we had in these Listening Sessions. All three authors will be guests on the webinar:
- Sonya Shah with the Ahimsa Collective,
- Sarah King with the Victim Assistance and Restorative Justice Unit at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, and
- Carl Stauffer with the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice.
For media coverage on the release of the report see:
In Justice Today who has published an article about the RJ Listening Project Report!
Guest Bios
Sonya Shah (lead facilitator) has 20 years of experience in social justice education and 10 years of experience in restorative justice. In 2016, she initiated The Ahimsa Collective– a network of people creating an alternative way to address violence and heal trauma that is driven by people, not systems, and that is grounded in a restorative justice and peacemaking approach. Shah is also an associate professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Central to her core values is to radically nurture healing and justice as a connected way of being that is led truly by and for the people from process to outcomes. She speaks at national conferences, colleges and on the radio, and occasionally writes articles on the Huffington Post. Shah is committed to the collective building of the restorative justice movement. She has two amazing children who remind her what it means to be in love all of the time.
Carl Stauffer (project coordinator) teaches Restorative and Transitional Justice at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Stauffer also serves as Co-Director of the Zehr Institute of Restorative Justice and the Academic Director of the Caux Scholars Program in Switzerland.
Stauffer entered the Restorative Justice field as the first Executive Director of the Capital Area Victim-Offender Mediation Program in Richmond, Virginia in 1991. In 1994, Stauffer and his family moved to South Africa under the auspices of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a faith-based international relief and development agency. In South Africa, Stauffer worked with various transitional justice processes such as the Peace Accords, Community-Police Forums, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Local Community Development structures. From 2000 to 2009, Stauffer was appointed as the MCC Regional Peace Adviser for the Southern Africa region. His work has taken him to 20 African countries and 15 other countries in the Caribbean, Middle East, Europe, North and South Asia and the Balkans.
Sarah King (project assistant) has 10 years of experience in restorative justice and is a recent graduate of Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. In 2017, King received her M.A. in conflict transformation with an emphasis in restorative justice. During her time at CJP, King served as a graduate assistant for the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice and is currently the restorative justice project assistant. In the latter role, King’s primary responsibility has been to assist with the Restorative Justice Listening Project. Prior to attending CJP, and currently, King is a staff member of the Victim Assistance and Restorative Justice Unit at the Minnesota Department of Corrections. In this role, she is part of a two-person team responsible for coordinating the Minnesota Circles of Support and Accountability (MnCoSA) program. King holds a B.A. in political science and justice & peace studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.
