menu
Menu
- Home
- Our Mission
- About Us
- Podcast Archives
- Offerings
- Resource Hub
- Connect!
- James O'Dea: Support RJOTR Now
close
In this episode, we hear from the founder of The Circle Keepers, Martin Urbach, and three youth keepers, centering their voices and ideas about restorative practices, how to build unity across divides, and more.
RJOTR believes strongly in this program and was deeply honored to host this very special episode that you won't want to miss. Listen in now to hear how youth -- directly from their voices and lived experiences -- are advocating and practicing on-the-ground!
The Circle Keepers started in 2017 as a volunteer-run after school program for high school students to learn restorative justice practices such as peer mediation protocols, conflict resolution circles and community building activities as well as to hone their leadership skills, engage in political education, civic participation and produce community service/social justice projects and thus, create change in their school and in their neighborhoods.?
100% of student participants surveyed report that The Circle Keepers program made their school experience more meaningful
Started youth-led restorative justice cohorts in 8 different public schools, across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx.
Helped reduce suspensions by 95% at one Manhattan borough school in District 2 in the span of 4 years (2019-2023)
Testified for City Council to successfully restore over $32M of funding cuts towards restorative justice justice programming in NYC Public Schools from 2022-2024.
Developed a comprehensive Restorative Justice Curriculum for grades 6-8 and grades 9-12, currently offered as semester long electives in a D2 and a D15 school.
Trained over 1000 students as restorative justice peer mediators,
Trained over 100 NYC Public School staff in school based restorative justice practices.
Traveled to Austin, TX to present a sold-out workshop at the SXSWedu 2023 conference of over 100 guests.
Traveled to Washington, DC to meet with Leader Charles Schumer to learn about federal policy and explored the National Museum of African American History and Culture to develop a stronger sense of Black epistemologies and ontologies.
Produced a “Green New Deal for Public Schools” roundtable with Congressman Jamaal Bowman at Sarah Lawrence College.
Produced youth led conference for 250+ NYC youth, rooted on the theme of “peace and justice”, bringing together 50+ stakeholders, including youth development organizations, city agencies, elected officials and even private businesses donating food and supplies!?
HOSTED BY: Founder & Executive Producer Molly Rowan Leach (she/her), and Social Media and Marketing Manager Logan Ward (he/him), who is also an accomplished Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker (Remarkable, 2024)
ABOUT MOLLY: https://restorativejusticeontherise.org/about-us/host-executive-producer/
Molly’s writing: https://medium.com/@mollyleach
ABOUT LOGAN: https://www.loganward.net/about
Logan’s portfolio: https://www.loganward.net/
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
Support 15 years of global independent restorative media efforts here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Salzburg Global Fellow and Founder of Restorative Justice on The Rise Molly Leach knows from experience that storytelling has the power to restore human connection
*This op-ed article originally appeared at the Salzburg Global Seminar's Media Academy site and is credited thus.
This op-ed was written by Molly Leach, who attended the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change in July 2024.
The central theme of this year's Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change was exploring the deep human need for belonging and the obstacles we face as artificial intelligence (AI) encroaches into every aspect of our lives. Titled “Belonging in The Age of Machines: Reimagining the Soul of Media”, participants from across the world collaborated for two weeks in Salzburg, fueled by the heart and spirit of the 40,000 Salzburg Global Fellows before us who have aspired to make our world the one we know is possible.
During the second week of our intensive and extremely generative space, faculty member Roman Gerodimos invited us all to participate in the "Living Library", a project that was inspired by his long-time attendance at the Media Academy. He offered a space for people to choose to be either a “book” or a “reader” to share personal stories of social exclusion and disconnection. This project is an example of the many life-changing initiatives that have resulted from the Media Academy and continue to this day.
This experience was profoundly moving for me and everyone involved – “books” and “readers” alike. I heard how meaningful it was for “books” to feel listened to deeply, some for the first time, and for “readers” to feel the transformation in themselves through this common humanity across real and perceived barriers.
I participated as a “book” alongside seventeen other people. My title was “Daughter of A Monster”, as I recounted the details of when my mother became criminally insane and was incarcerated; my written essay elaborates on my experience.
The concept of belonging and its interrelationship with the power of storytelling has been at the heart of my work, much of it inspired by my own lived experiences in the United States as the daughter of what society would term a violent criminal. I have experienced the implications of how that impacts life in very subtle and very overt ways and the role media plays in perpetuating destructive narratives.
I have seen firsthand how our criminal justice system destroys lives, profits off of people’s mistakes, categorizes and discards individuals, takes voices away from the already voiceless, and perpetuates a state of discord and destruction.
At the heart of our humanity resounds the deeply important need of belonging - to be seen, heard, and truly understood. Feeling safe in one’s storytelling is unequivocally one of the most urgent and important aspects of creating spaces of connection. We underestimate the power and impact of micro-spaces that are fugitive, and free, and bridge people back from isolation and exclusion. Throughout the Media Academy, we returned to the quote of Salzburg Global Fellow Margaret Mead, who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
We asked tough questions and dove deep into the challenges and discomforts of our current media hemisphere. If we think of media as a reflection of our current state of connection, or disconnection, we see some challenges. We must simplify and return to the ground level of our hearts, minds, and being-ness, in order to understand the solutions to the gargantuan problem of AI and the way many technological devices have in fact taken us away from each other and out of presence.
The art of presence requires us to be with one another in deeply meaningful ways, like only humans can do. We have imagination, we have creativity, we have will, and we can manifest these key qualities that are not characteristics that come from machines.
The "Living Library" experience offered a space for human connection that reveals a sense of connection and understanding, and a potential to bear witness to the shame and pain of others and find common seeds of experiences. It may seem like there needs to be a more intellectual approach to the answers that we are seeking around how we push back, how we stand for one another, how we defend humanness, and how we rediscover the deeply connected experiences we have as human beings through the stories of the “other”.
One of the keys to our power in retaining our humanity in these times is to return to simple and profound spaces that are intentional; this can include spaces online, in podcasts, libraries, lounges, or coffee houses where people feel heard. These spaces create an unquestionable feeling that it’s safe to be real, human, and vulnerable.
When we ask the question of how to create meaning and belonging in such challenging times, the answer may simply be that we must prioritize slowing down enough to create intentional spaces that allow time for people to be heard, seen, and valued. More than ever, technology offers us a global space to do that and I’ve seen it change lives. I encourage people to consider the possibilities of technology’s role in uniting us, while acknowledging that it can also potentially divide us further.
I’ve had the honor of hosting spaces online and in person where people can build connections, mobilize, be creative, emote, and be real. What comes out of these spaces is beyond any expectation when they are well held; this is the way towards imagining a world we know in our hearts is possible.
Leaving the intensive space here in Salzburg a different person than when I came, and knowing that many Salzburg Global Fellows have come and gone before me, has incited in me what my colleague and teacher in the field of restorative justice, Fania Davis, calls us to rise up to:
“Today, I believe there is nothing more subversive than helping to midwife a new evolutionary shift of the human species into an era where we will no longer be entranced with socioeconomic formations and ways of being and thinking that produce disconnection, domination, and devastation. Instead, we can be present upon the Earth in ways that bring healing, wholeness, and a sense of the sacred in our connection with one another and with all of creation.”
Molly Leach founded the first known restorative-justice-focused podcast in 2011, Restorative Justice on The Rise, a publicly accessible live forum and itunes/spotify stream, which uniquely records interviews with a live, interactive audience. She also has partnered with media companies such as CNN and supported HBO Documentaries in efforts to reach grassroots organizers and communities working to transform systems and lives. Molly is an essayist, researcher, educator, and visiting lecturer and presenter in the USA and worldwide.
This webinar was recorded on May 9th, 2025.
In this episode, social anthropologist and experienced mediator Deborah Heifetz will explore her groundbreaking Map to Compassion — a non-hierarchical framework recently published in MIT’s Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change. She will guide us in understanding how we can sustain curiosity in environments dominated by fear and distrust. Drawing on over 30 years of global peacebuilding experience and somatic education, Heifetz illuminates how our developmental needs, culture, and tribal affiliations shape our emotional responses. Her emphasis on fairness over punitive justice aligns with Restorative Justice principles, inviting inquiry through the question: “What can be done to feel fairly treated?” This focus on fairness elicits deeper, more feelingful inquiries and reveals choices that support repair with the intent on rebuilding relationships and communities. Over many years, Heifetz has worked at the nexus of inner and outer peace. In this webinar, she will offer compassionate approaches to conflict resolution, providing practical tools for balancing emotionally charged needs during challenging times.
ABOUT DEBORAH:
Deborah Heifetz (she/her) is a social anthropologist, mediator, and professional facilitator with over 30 years of experience in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and somatic education. She developed the systems-based model – the Human Needs Map, a circular matrix representing the interconnections between human needs at different levels of scale and reflecting the synergies and tensions between needs. Her model has been considered a breakthrough framework by founders of Human Needs Theory for its non-hierarchical approach to human needs and for the way human needs and emotions are tied to human development. A co-founder of BraveHearts International, she has worked globally in mediation, sustainability, and leadership training, integrating movement-based and somatic practices like Laban Movement Analysis and Somatic Experiencing with her knowledge and sensitivity for culture and community building. A Chevening Scholar, she recently published The Map to Compassion in MIT’s Journal for Awareness-Based Systems Change. Heifetz works at the nexus of inner and outer peace.
Website: https://heifetzmatrix.com/
HOSTED BY: Founder & Executive Producer Molly Rowan Leach (she/her), and Social Media and Marketing Manager Logan Ward (he/him).
ABOUT MOLLY: https://restorativejusticeontherise.org/about-us/host-executive-producer/
Molly’s writing: https://medium.com/@mollyleach
ABOUT LOGAN: https://www.loganward.net/about
Logan’s portfolio: https://www.loganward.net/
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Author (Being Restorative, April 2024) and restorative practitioner Leaf Seligman invites us to the tenderness of humility, listening, and towards the values and principles that unite us as a humanity, as we face intense and urgent polarization and violence in our world. Our host Jabali Stewart of Huayruro, himself a martial artist of nonviolence and unification, weaves us in conversation to implore deepening inquiry into what this thing we call ‘restorative’ really is, how it makes its way into the world, and how it ameliorates connection and context.
Tenderness is often considered weak or scary, and yet it is itself a revolutionary act. Leaf’s work within prisons and communities, as well as her personal experiences as a partially sight-impaired person, illuminate the “lens” and approach to this work that grounds individuals much beyond the field of restorative justice, in times of great upheaval and disconnection. Tenderness is a powerful bridge that acknowledges the other, that asks also of accountability of self first, and of others, yet from an understanding of our global interrelationship as a baseline for life, and life well lived. And alongside her perspective, we keep in mind the indigenous of our world who came long before this movement, knowing we are related to all life, humans and animals, trees, waters, skies, and cosmos. With this there is honor in having responsibility to all. This awareness is welcomed throughout our dialogue.
Oftentimes it is easy to misunderstand restorative as only relating to conflict and the modern justice systems in our world, yet it is a much larger scope of practices that center our common humanity and ask us to hear from one another in ways that build or rebuild, reshaping trust and meaning, offering powerful and sustaining agency for change on every level imagined.
ABOUT
Leaf Seligman
Leaf Seligman is the author of Being Restorative which was published in April 2024 and is available from the publisher, Bauhan Publishing, and online retailers. Leaf considers herself a daughter of the trees, grateful to live in Maple Nation and be close enough to spend time among beloved copper beeches. She has taught in colleges, prisons, and community settings since 1985. As a restorative practitioner, Leaf draws on her experience as a jail chaplain, prisoner educator, congregational minister, college instructor, and human being. She facilitates peacekeeping circles, immersive learning experiences, and restorative processes of accountability, healing, and transformation. Leaf delights in bringing tenderness everywhere. Her previous books include Opening the Window: Sabbath Meditations, A Pocket Book of Prompts, and From the Midway: Unfolding Stories of Redemption and Belonging. She lives in New Hampshire.
Jabali Stewart
Jabali is an organizational consultant, a leadership coach, a public speaker, a youth worker, and a circle keeper. He has kept Peacemaking Circles in schools (K through College), businesses, families, government, and community settings. He has trained in and practices the lineage of Circle Keeping connected to Mark Wedge, Kay Pranis, Barry Stuart and Tahnaga Myers for over a decade. Besides Circle, he also practices other Art of Hosting and Participatory Leadership modalities. Jabali is a former independent school administrator, a public speaker, and has also cultivated a practice of one-on-one counsel. He enjoys collaborative problem-solving, and his work is deeply informed by his belief and practice of sensible, love-based leadership.
Find Jabali on Linkedin
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
>>>We need your help! Support 15 Years of Global Independent Restorative Media Efforts Now
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
This episode features Dr. Tema Okun who gives us a brief rundown of the characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, which can be understood in-depth on her website: www.whitesupremacyculture.info
Dr. Tema Okun offers her knowledge of relationships that people may have with White Supremacy Culture as well as suggestions to dismantle this broken system. We welcome listeners to step outside of thinking that these systems are working for us in any shape or form.
The live webinar was recorded on January 23rd, 2025 and it is hosted by Molly Rowan Leach, founder of RJotR, and Logan Ward, Restorative Justice on the Rise’s new Social Media Manager.
Logan then relates a statement from the website to his recently released documentary, Remarkable, Voices from the Trans Community, which covers the similar topic of objectivity’s irrelevance when in dialogue with oppressed (marked) and non-oppressed (unmarked) groups.
Logan’s film can be found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PpjhMnVsFk
And the subsequent discussion space can both be found on his website: https://www.loganward.net/film
Key notes from this episode:
Dr. Tema Okun recommends that if we are going to engage in restorative justice work we need a:
The instructions from Tema’s mother are:
ABOUT
Tema Okun
Dr. Okun has spent over 40 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as an educator, facilitator, and coach focused on issues of racial justice and equity. She currently facilitates, consults, mentors, and offers talks for and with leaders and organizations locally and nationwide.
She is the author of the award-winning The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don’t Want to Know (2010, IAP) and the widely used article White Supremacy Culture. She has published a revised version of this article on an extended and expanded website at www.whitesupremacyculture.info
Tema is a fierce Jewish advocate for Palestine solidarity as a member of the Triangle Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. She is on the board of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and belongs to the Bhumisphara Sangha under the leadership of Lama Rod Owens. She is a graduate of the Spiritual Guidance Training Institute. She is an artist, a poet, and a writer. She lives in Durham NC where she is fortunate to reside among beloved community. Her current project is deepening her ability to love her neighbor as herself. She is finding the instruction easy and the follow through challenging, given how we live in a culture that is afraid to help us do either or both.
Reach her on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tema-okun-0a14311a1
Logan Ward
Logan Ward (he/him) is an illustrator, writer, and filmmaker who values dialogue, challenging societal norms, and mutual respect. He graduated with a master’s in Media Design in August 2024, where he studied community-centered and participatory approaches to research and design.
Reach him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-ward-860620218/
Check out his illustrations on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/l.ward.draws/
And also on his website: https://www.loganward.net/
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
>>>We need your help! Support 15 Years of Global Independent Restorative Media Efforts Now
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
**Disclaimer** Audio was recorded with limited resources, please listen with good headphones to properly hear the valuable information in this episode.
recorded at Expanding Restorative Justice in Oregon in 2021.
In 2021, the Criminal Justice Commission created rules regarding the administration of the Restorative Justice Grant Program. Those rules require applicants to propose community based restorative justice programs that serve as alternatives to prosecution. This requirement is in alignment with best practices from across the country that speak to the importance of community held restorative justice programs.
This panel discussion will explore the importance of keeping restorative justice programs based in community and separate from the criminal legal process. Panelists will provide background on their experiences with community based restorative justice programs and will speak to the critical differences between the restorative and punitive approaches to harm.
Danielle DeCant
Deputy District Attorney in Hood River County
Member of Circles of Peace Advisory Team in the Columbia River Gorge
danielle.decant@hoodrivercounty.gov
Debra Pennington-Davis
Circles of Peace Program/Six Rivers Dispute Resolution Center
Restorative Justice Coordinator
Laura Diamond (She/her)
Conflict Artistry LLC
Co-owner, Coordinator, Facilitator
Emily B. Naylor
Emerging Adult Program / Community Solutions of Central Oregon
Restorative Justice Specialist & Lead Facilitator
In Partnership with:
Restorative Justice Coalition of Oregon
RJCO is a coalition of Oregon restorative justice practitioners and programs.
We promote and support the implementation and practice of restorative justice principles and models in Oregon’s justice, law enforcement, educational and other community institutions.
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
with Shaylie Pickrell
Director of Operations & Infrastructure, RJ Facilitator - Restorative Roots Project (PDX, OR, USA)
In this 1:15h episode, we drop deeply into the concept that our greatest losses might just be our greatest powers to serve our communities, and our world.
We explore key topics such as:
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
For anyone questioning the viability of restorative justice as an alternative to violent crime prosecution, here's your evidence. Join us for a conversation that is inspiring and informative.
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Joe and Marg hit the ground running in their typical fun, informative style that has won the hearts and minds of thousands worldwide, sharing potent insights as they discuss the birth of their new book, and the reasons for its existence.
Tune in to hear all about the following key points and more:
Behavior development not behavior management
The role of the brain
Allostasis
Brain as predictor not as responder
Sensory input and past experiences as self-perpetuating
Fight flight freeze faint are preparations
Responding, not reacting, to trauma
Unlearning our socialization of punishment
“PBIS”: what’s wrong with it, where it came from (Levoss)
Managing each other’s body-budget
Connection-orientation as driver
Co-Regulating or Co-Escalating
Code Switching and adaptation to environment
The myth of lowered expectations when RJE is introduced
Neural pathways and brain re-structuring
Transactional or Transformational
If you are in the problem, you should be included in the decision making
Restorative starts with us
Ako, the teacher is also the student (New Zealand word)
Prevention-focused instead of trained as conflict/behavior system
Cues of relationship
Cues of safety
Relationship block - 20 m comm building circles
Shame’s role...and much more
ABOUT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON THE RISE
The world's first restorative justice podcast and public lives platform, since 2011
The Redemption Project Discussion Series in alliance with Van Jones & REFORM/CNN
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
This feature panel discussion is in collaboration with the Restorative Rainbow Alliance, Restorative Justice on The Rise, and Director and Producer Logan Ward to uplift the incredible film: Remarkable: Voices From The Trans Community. {Watch Now}
In this conversation we get to hear from trans man and creator of the film, Logan Ward, as well as a major voice in the film, Hami Samba, who both share about the comfort they found in being able to tell their own narratives. Logan's film illustrates distrust towards the trans community and proposes that community-centered and participatory practices could assist in rebuilding that trust.
All of these ideas are discussed, and the RRA's restorative justice and queer lens helps us consider these ideas within context.
In addition, we want to highlight the RRA's code of conduct, and their overall efforts, within the restorative justice field.
Please let us know if you'd like to contact any/all of our panelists for possible engagement in your community! To contact Logan Ward directly, click here
Length: 1:12
REMARKABLE on Insta: www.instagram.com/remarkablefilm
Restorative Rainbow Alliance: https://www.restorativerainbowalliance.org
***
Restorative Justice on The Rise is the very first live and standard podcast since 2011 focusing on Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding, from the personal to collective, demonstrating powerful stories, cases, and insights from a robust range of diverse voices, and reaching every continent in our world. We can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and our collaboration for this podcast episode is a result of our Fellowship status with the Salzburg Global Media Academy, a program forging critical pathways forward in the age of AI.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Media That Matters:
Public Dialogue On Justice
Restorative Justice on the Rise is an international live dialogue via Webcast and Telecouncil platform that reaches an international constituency of invididuals, organizations, professionals, academics, practitioners, and more. The mission is to provide connection, advocacy, education and inspired action as a public service to individuals and communities seeking to proactively improve relationships and structures within their spheres and our world.