Training Support

We are pleased to offer a variety of trainings tailored to meet the diverse learning needs of our valued community. Each training is carefully designed. A sample of these trainings is detailed below.

• Introduction: Restorative Community Building: This training provides an understanding of the history and practices of restorative justice. It also covers restorative community-building facilitation, active listening to understand harm, brainstorming to address needs, and anti-oppressive facilitation considerations. Duration: 16 hrs / nonconsecutive virtual hours

• Advanced: Circling around Identity, Climate, and Communal Witnessing: Attendees will learn to use the circle as a community accountability practice for healing, addressing identity-based harm, and witnessing communal harm. This training also introduces frameworks for understanding and identifying structural/historical harm. Duration: 16 hrs / nonconsecutive virtual hours

• Advanced Training: Restorative Justice Conferencing for Inflamed Structural / Historical Harm: Participants will learn how to facilitate a Restorative Justice Conference, including preparation, conference, follow-up procedures, and best practices for healing-centered and anti-racist work. Duration: 32 hrs / nonconsecutive virtual hours

• Introduction: Understanding Structural Violence Duration: 24 hrs / nonconsecutive virtual hours

• Introduction: Restorative Justice for Movement Building Duration: 24 hrs / nonconsecutive virtual hours

• Advanced Training: Anti-Racist Considerations Duration: 16 hrs / nonconsecutive virtual hours

• Introduction to: Restorative Justice (sector-specific)

• Introduction to: Restorative Accountability

• Introduction to: Understanding Structural Violence

• Advanced Training: Restorative Justice Conferencing

Strategic Design

Topic experts will guide communities through a detailed design process that incorporates restorative practices. This work will be used by a team of stakeholders to empower institutions in creating and sustaining a restorative justice implementation that is tailored to their unique community.

These sessions aim to assist organizations in crafting strategies to tackle community initiatives or issues. Specifically, the objective is to develop a justice system grounded in equity, accountability, and anti-racism. The consultants will guide the group through the process of identifying both beneficial and harmful behaviors, as well as the structures sustaining them, to support this journey.

• Session I: Roots: This session identifies nourishing and harmful practices, actions, and behaviors within the organization's power structures through a needs-based lens. Duration: 4 virtual hours

• Session II: Trunk: This session brainstorms solutions after identifying opportunities for change. Duration: 4 virtual hours

• Session III: Branches: This session concludes with accountability planning and addressing conditions for follow-through and future replication. Duration: 4 virtual hours

Facilitation Support

Restorative justice facilitators play a crucial role in supporting communities by helping them reconnect with their inherent ability to resolve conflicts in a deep and transformative manner. Through their expertise and support, these facilitators facilitate dialogues that promote understanding, empathy, and healing among individuals involved in conflicts.

• Preparation: This session introduces the restorative justice conferencing process, boundaries, roles, and responsibilities. Following this introduction, facilitators guide the participant in a storytelling and harm identification process.

• Conference: This scripted process guides participants through storytelling, harm and need identification, and solution design.

• Follow Up: This session aims to support all parties in adhering to the agreements concluded at the conference and addressing any lingering needs.

Crisis Management

This process involves addressing incidents of harm, which can occur on both a large scale (macro) and a smaller, more personal scale (micro). This work is multi-faceted, encompassing various elements and responsibilities. It includes providing support for harm that has been publicly witnessed and assisting public figures as they navigate through situations filled with conflict, tension, and harm. Moreover, it also involves coaching individuals on how to publicly acknowledge the harm they have caused and how to offer sincere apologies followed by harmed party informed action. It's about fostering a culture of accountability and understanding, where harm is acknowledged and addressed openly and honestly. This is a process where the needs of those impacted will be central.