Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Kevin Jones to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

Kevin joins us to explore how vulnerability and authenticity transform leadership, build stronger teams, and repair workplace divides, especially in times of conflict. Through real stories, Kevin illustrates how restorative circles and authentic conversations can turn tension into trust. From school districts integrating restorative practices-based language into policy to juvenile justice departments adopting restorative practices frameworks, Kevin shows what happens when organizations lean into the heart of this work. He reminds us that restorative practices belong everywhere — from boardrooms to sports teams to family Zoom calls, emphasizing how this framework helps communities move from reacting to crises toward proactively creating cultures of care and belonging.

Kevin is a lecturer at the IIRP and has spent more than 40 years working in the fields of social services, mental health, and education philosophy, with particular emphasis on working with youth and their families. He honed his practice through direct care and as an administrator in residential treatment programs, group homes, mental health organizations, and alternative schools. As a retired administrator, Kevin continues to work with Central Illinois at the Regional Office of Education #17 to support the development of restorative leadership teams. He has explicit experience training law enforcement, school resource officers, government officials, community leaders, security officers, and educators throughout Central Illinois, the United States, and internationally. He designs and implements professional development opportunities as well as coursework in the areas of applied restorative practice that include topics such as social-emotional learning, trauma-informed, social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, connecting communities, classroom transformation, leadership, and more. Kevin earned a Master of Science in Restorative Practices from the IIRP and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership, Organizational Policy/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the University of Illinois.

Tune in to hear practical wisdom and heartfelt insight on what it means to show up proactively and authentically, at work, at home, and with yourself.