Restorative Works

In this special collaborative episode of Restorative Works and The Teacher's Sphere Podcast , hosts Dr. Claire de Mezerville Lopez, Dr. Kobi Nelson, and Sarah Lane explore how educators can cultivate stronger school communities through civil discourse, restorative practices, and meaningful dialogue. Our hosts invite us to examine the role teacher leaders play in fostering civil discourse among col...

In this second part of our conversation with Saundra Hensel, alongside co-hosts Dr. Michael Washington and Dr. Doug Judge , we continue exploring the long-term, system-wide implementation of restorative practices in a large school district. With over a decade of experience, Saundra shares how integrating restorative practices with social-emotional learning, trauma-informed care, and behavior suppo...

In this episode of Restorative Works! , we are joined by Heather Gardley, a leader deeply committed to advancing community-centered approaches through restorative practices in higher education. Heather shares insights from her work supporting schools and organizations in building cultures rooted in trust, belonging, and accountability. Heather invites us to consider how we can implement restorativ...

In this episode of Restorative Works! , host Claire de Mezerville Lopez is joined by educator and researcher Dr. Cameron McCuaig to explore what it truly means to center student voice and reimagine schools as spaces of service, dignity, and community. Cam challenges traditional models of education by contrasting compliance-driven systems with a more relational, student-centered approach. Using rea...

In this special roundtable episode of Restorative Works! , host Claire de Mezerville López brings together a powerful group of restorative justice practitioners, educators, and leaders to explore the creation and impact of the Restorative Rainbow Alliance's Facilitator Code of Conduct. Guests Ames Stenson and Rami El Gharib, co-founders of the Restorative Rainbow Alliance , join Lindsey Pointer an...

In this episode of Restorative Works , host Claire de Mezerville Lopez is joined by Deanna Zilske, school leader, theater director, and restorative practitioner, to explore the powerful intersection of restorative and embodied theater practices . Drawing from her work with a community of educators, artists, and practitioners, Deanna shares how integrating narrative practices, such as compassionate...

We are joined by  Harvard researcher, author of  The Win-Win Workplace , and founder of Future Forward Strategies , Dr. Angela Jackson,  to   discuss  how organizations can redesign work to strengthen both employee well-being and business performance.   Backed by research across more than 1,700 companies, Dr. Jackson makes a clear, data-driven case for human-centered leadership. She reveals how or...

We are joined by Program Manager in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Jen Torres, to explore what sustainable, system-wide implementation of restorative practices in higher education really looks like.   Jen brings a practitioner's lens to a challenge many institutions face: how to move from reactive, discipline-focused approaches toward proactive, r...

We are joined by criminologist, researcher, and educator at the University of Belize, Dr. Aveka Mano, to hear about the impact of restorative practices on the lived realities behind complex issues like gang involvement, human trafficking, and youth reintegration, and its connection to higher education.   Dr. Mano challenges traditional approaches to justice by emphasizing long-term reintegration o...

We are joined by Lan Nguyen and Jennifer Vermillion, two restorative justice leaders who take us beyond surface-level change to discover what it truly takes to sustain restorative practices in schools and communities across complex educational systems.  Together, they unpack a critical tension facing educators and administrators today: why restorative practices are widely embraced, yet so difficul...

T he reality of today's organizations :  tension runs high, trust feels fragile, and progress stalls under the weight of reactivity. Seasoned practitioners Kristina Katayama and Miriam Zachariah join us to explore relational methods for charting a path forward rooted in awareness, connection, and intentional change.   With decades of experience across education, leadership, and organizational tran...

Discover what it really takes to sustain restorative practices in today's complex school systems.  In this episode of Restorative Works, host Claire de Mezerville-López, alongside co-hosts Dr. Michael Washington and Dr. Doug Judge, welcomes veteran educator and systems leader Saundra Hensel. With more than 35 years in education and nearly a decade leading district-wide implementation, Saundra brin...

We are joined by nationally and internationally recognized educator, leadership coach, and bestselling author Mirko Chardin for a deeply reflective conversation about healing school communities through restorative practices and equity-centered design. Drawing from lived experience and decades of leadership in education, Mirko shares how schools can move beyond compliance-driven systems and cultiva...

Boston University Professor James W. McCarty, Ph. D., joins us to explore how restorative justice and conflict transformation can reshape the way communities engage in disagreement, repair harm, and build collective power.  Dr. McCarthy invites listeners to rethink one of society's most misunderstood realities: conflict. Rather than treating conflict as something to avoid, he reframes it as a powe...

What if the practice of law could heal instead of harm?  In this episode of Restorative Works! Podcast, Dr. Claire de Mézerville López welcomes lawyer, mediator, and restorative justice facilitator Brenda Waugh for a compelling conversation about restorative lawyering. Brenda shares how she transformed her traditional legal career into a justice-centered practice rooted in healing, dignity, and hu...

In this episode of Restorative Works! Podcast , Dr. Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Juan Pablo Blanco, Ph. D., for a discussion about intergenerational collaboration, youth leadership, and education justice as a basis for transforming systems that affect youth and families.   Dr. Blanco brings more than a decade of experience in community organizing and community-engaged research to this conve...

Dr. Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Amy Hart, principal of Stanley Elementary in Wichita, Kansas, to the Restorative Works! Podcast.   Drawing from more than 14 years in education, Amy shares how relationship-centered leadership improves school culture, even amid systemic change, limited resources, and community mistrust. Through a real-world story involving two fifth-grade students on the bri...

Welcome to season four of Restorative Works! Podcast! In this episode, Dr. Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Johari "J.P." Mitchell for a discussion around positive self-talk, children's literature, and how the power of storytelling helps shape how we relate to ourselves and one another.  J.P. explores how children's literature, especially picture books, can serve as a restorative practices tool...

How can restorative practices deepen learning in subjects like English, social studies, music, art, or science? In this episode, Claire de Mezerville López and Nikki Chamblee are joined by restorative practices instructional coach Erika Schwanbeck on the Restorative Pedagogies series of the Restorative Works! Podcast to explore what meaningful curriculum collaboration can look like in practice. Er...

In this episode of Restorative Works! , the Restorative Pedagogies Series continues with a rich, practice-forward conversation on how restorative practices transform English Language Arts classrooms from the inside out. Host Claire de Mezerville López is joined by co-host Nikki Chamblee and special guest Jamee Cox, an eighth-grade English Language Arts teacher and IIRP Graduate School student, for...

What happens when science education is designed as a relational, exploratory process rather than a rigid set of steps? In this episode, Claire de Mezerville López and Nikki Chamblee welcome science educator and restorative practitioner Kate Shapero to the Restorative Pedagogies series of the Restorative Works! Podcast to examine how restorative practices can transform the science classroom. Kate r...

In this opening episode of the Restorative Pedagogies series, Claire de Mezerville López and Nikki Chamblee to the Restorative Works! Podcast to explore what it means to approach teaching through a restorative practices lens.  Moving beyond the idea of restorative practices as solely relational or disciplinary tools, Claire and Nikki reflect on pedagogy as a human-centered practice—one that honors...

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Eric S. Lee to the Restorative Works! Podcast .  Eric S. Lee, Executive Director of Full Circle Restorative Justice , joins us to explore a visionary model for transforming how communities guide young people toward healthier, more connected futures. He shares the three-pronged framework that drives Full Circle Restorative Justice: a youth diversion program that...

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Deanna Van Buren and Adrienne Hogg to the Restorative Works! Podcast .  We are joined by Deanna Van Buren, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS), and Adrienne Hogg, Co-Executive Director of Community Works. Together, we explore how spaces, rooms, buildings, and environments in which we gather directly shape our nervous...

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Mushtaq Ahmed Malla to the Restorative Works! Podcast . Mushtaq joins us and shares his journey that weaves together youth education, mental health counseling, child rights advocacy, and an unwavering commitment to creating humane, relationship-centered systems of justice. He discusses how his Fulbright–Humphrey Fellowship at the University of Minnesota introduc...