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 a grounded exploration of what it means to teach reading, writing, and critical thinking through relationships.

This episode centers on a timely and pressing question for K–12 educators: Can restorative practices deepen academic learning, not just strengthen school culture? Drawing from her classroom experience in Texas, Jamee makes the case that relationships are not an "add-on" to instruction; rather, they are the pathways to engagement, comprehension, and meaningful learning. At a time when students read less, test more, and often disengage from traditional instruction, Jamee shares how circles and community-centered dialogue reignite students' interest in reading and learning.

Jamee offers concrete examples of restorative pedagogy in action, from using the restorative conferencing questions to analyze fiction and character development, to journaling practices that build literacy while honoring student voice. The conversation also explores the human side of teaching. Jamee speaks candidly about navigating grief, emotional resilience, and self-restoration while leading a middle school classroom.

Jamee Cox is a current IIRP Graduate School student and eighth-grade teacher at DeSoto Independent School District in DeSoto, Texas. She previously served as a restorative practices specialist for Fort Worth Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas, working in a network of 10 schools, where she trained teachers, administrators, and staff in restorative practices.

Tune in to learn how dignifying relationships and intentional community-building can transform English Language Arts instruction and help students learn not only how to read and write, but how to connect, reflect, and grow.

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 reflects on curiosity, experimentation, and learning from mistakes as essential elements of scientific thinking—and how these processes depend on trust, emotional safety, and strong relationships. Through stories from her classroom, she illustrates how student-led exploration, play, and collaborative problem-solving foster both scientific understanding and social-emotional growth.

The conversation explores how restorative practices support risk-taking, perseverance, and teamwork in scientific inquiry, while also developing communication and relational skills that extend beyond the classroom. Kate invites educators to see restorative practices not as separate from content, but as integral to how students learn, collaborate, and engage deeply with science and with one another.

Kate Shapero is a Science Education and Restorative Practices Specialist with over 20 years of experience. After completing her undergraduate degree, she developed and taught science curriculum in independent and alternative schools in the Philadelphia area. Working with pre-K through postgraduate learners, she specializes in progressive curriculum design that is experiential, meaningful, and joyful. As a restorative practitioner, Kate collaborates with students, teaching teams, classroom communities, parent groups, and administrative staff to improve community relational health. Kate's current work includes facilitation, coaching, and professional development. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Bioscience and Biotechnology from Drexel University in 2003 and a Master of Restorative Practices and Education from the IIRP Graduate School in 2010.

Tune in to explore how integrating restorative practices into lesson plans can transform the science classroom.

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 voice, agency, belonging, and emotional safety as foundations for learning. Drawing on research, classroom experience, and theory, they discuss how integrating restorative practices into curriculum planning can create conditions where mistakes are welcomed as part of growth, creativity is nurtured, and students can remain engaged even when learning feels challenging.

Together, they examine how restorative practices support high academic expectations without reverting to fear-based or punitive approaches, and how educators can intentionally embed relational processes into content instruction across subject areas. This episode sets the stage for the series by inviting listeners to rethink what effective teaching looks like when dignity, connection, and accountability are held together.

Nikki Chamblee, Ph.D., has been an educator for over 19 years. She currently serves as an Instructor and Implementation Coach for the IIRP, providing training and coaching to support districts in effectively planning implementation. Her area of focus is the interweaving of restorative practices with other district initiatives. She is licensed in New York and Texas in the areas of English Language Arts, Special Education, and English as a Second Language. From 2017 - 2022, she served as a Coordinator of Restorative Practices for two districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She received Tier 1 and Tier 2 training in restorative practices from the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility and restorative discipline training from the Texas Education Agency. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Restorative Practices from the IIRP.

Tune in to explore how integrating restorative practices into lesson plans can be a game-changer for your classroom.

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 offers accountability without lifelong consequences, a restorative schools initiative designed to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, and a community services program that builds restorative literacy across organizations, families, and neighborhoods. He explains how each program plays a vital role—but how the real transformation emerges when they work in harmony, creating a system that replaces punishment with connection and isolation with belonging.

Eric S. Lee leads Full Circle Restorative Justice in Colorado. After building a successful career as a chef and restaurant owner of five restaurants in Boulder County, he felt called to something deeper: helping people heal. He pivoted into youth mentorship, holistic life coaching, and restorative justice work, blending compassion, accountability, and spiritual growth. Today, Eric leads one of Colorado's most innovative restorative justice initiatives, transforming school cultures, supporting at-risk youth, and teaching communities how to replace punishment with connection. He also serves as the host of The Spiritual Justice Podcast. He's also the author of 29 Degrees: How to Live a Life of Inner Peace, Joy, and Purpose Regardless of Circumstances, as well as two other books, all rooted in the belief that peace isn't found in comfort, but in purpose, passion, love, and service.

Tune in to hear more from Eric and consider this: when we orient young people toward their highest selves and give them tools to navigate conflict, they can lead us toward a more compassionate society.

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 systems, our sense of dignity, and our ability to repair harm. Deanna reframes "trauma-informed design" as designing for well-being, offering a body–mind–spirit lens on how spaces can regulate, inspire, and care for us. Adrienne shares how Community Works brings this philosophy to life by creating warm, culturally rooted, non-institutional spaces where young people, survivors, families, and staff feel seen, grounded, and capable of restoration.

From reimagining classroom design in higher education to redefining what justice spaces can communicate, the conversation weaves together architecture, community wisdom, creative practice, and systems change. Both guests illuminate how co-designing that deeply involves communities, including those most impacted by harm, becomes its own restorative practice.

Deanna Van Buren is the co-founder and executive director of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces. An architecture and real estate nonprofit working to end mass incarceration through place-based solutions, DJDS builds infrastructure that addresses its root causes: poverty, racism, unequal access to resources, and the criminal justice system itself. Van Buren has been profiled by The New York Times and has written op-eds on the intersection of design and mass incarceration in outlets such as Politico, Architectural Record, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. Her TEDWomen talk on what a world without prisons could look like has been viewed more than one million times. She is the only architect to have been awarded the Rauschenberg Artist as Activist fellowship, and she is also the recipient of UC Berkeley's Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Prize and Professorship. Van Buren received her bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Virginia and her master's degree from Columbia University, and she is an alumna of the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

Adrienne Hogg is co-executive director at Community Works. In this role, she focuses on finance, administration, and operations in addition to working with her co-executive director on strategic and development activities. Prior to joining Community Works, Adrienne founded Gather Locally, a startup e-commerce technology company. Before starting Gather Locally, Adrienne was the head of finance and controller for several public and private corporations in the life sciences and construction industries, where she managed accounting, finance, human resources, legal, and facilities. She is an Oakland native who received bachelor's and master's degrees from the UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

Tune in to learn more about how the spaces we build reflect the futures we believe in.

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 introduced him to restorative practices and connected him with a global network of practitioners. He explains how those insights sparked innovative programs inside his facilities in the Jammu and Kashmir Prisons Department in India, including Writing to Victims, a reflective writing initiative inspired by apology-letter models he observed in the United States. By turning this concept into a structured competition and a circle-based process, he invites incarcerated people to confront their choices, articulate their emotions, and begin the difficult work of self-understanding. The initiative has already led to powerful personal breakthroughs. Mushtaq plans to compile selected writings into a future publication.

Throughout the episode, Mushtaq reflects on what relationship-building means in a prison context, why indigenous cultural knowledge matters, and how restorative approaches can shape policing, schools, reentry, and even national criminal justice policy. His vision points to a future where restorative justice becomes a recognized and respected alternative that supports safety, accountability, and dignity across communities worldwide.

Mushtaq currently serves as the Superintendent in the Jammu and Kashmir Prisons Department, a role he has held for over 12 years. He is responsible for the administration and management of a prison as its head. As a leader in the prison system, he has focused on young offenders and their reformation, with special attention to their access to education. Before working in prisons, he worked in the field of child rights protection for 6 months with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, India, and in the field of mental health counselling and awareness with organizations Médecins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Action Aid in Kashmir, India. He holds a bachelor's degree in science and a master's in social work (MSW) from Kashmir University.

Tune in, as this conversation shines a light on how restorative practices take root in some of the most challenging environments and how they open pathways to accountability, healing, and hope.

Email: [email protected]

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Nikki Fynn, Ed.D., to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

We are joined by Dr. Nikki Fynn, a restorative education and leadership consultant whose journey through guilt, grief, and shame has reshaped her approach to healing, leadership, and human-centered systems. She shares with us a pivotal moment from 2018, when a mentor's story about a monkey trapped by its own grip opened a new path for self-examination. That metaphor sparked a deep exploration into the "pulp" she was holding, false beliefs about worthiness, over-functioning, hyper-independence, and the emotional labor she thought she owed the world. Her narrative invites us to reflect on the stories that keep us stuck and to imagine what becomes possible when we finally let go.

She explains how expressive arts, attunement, and holding space became essential tools in her healing and now shape her consulting work with nonprofits, leaders, and communities. Dr. Fynn reminds us that transformation doesn't happen through correction, but through connection, presence, and being truly seen.

With 20 years of trauma-informed education experience, Dr. Fynn taught inclusion to pre-service teachers, supported neurodiverse students through transitions, and secured funding for education and enrichment programs that serve youth of all ages. Equipped with a doctorate in education leadership, a certification in expressive arts, and a master's in public health, she hosts "Words of Heart" sessions for adults to help them with relational issues that influence their professional success. Dr. Fynn's personal restorative work has shaped her leadership approach as a compassionate disruptor in dysfunctional systems. She applies her expertise to grant writing, capacity building, and burnout prevention in nonprofit organizations.

Tune in to hear Dr. Fynn's message: when we reclaim our nervous systems, embrace our differences, and examine our patterns with compassion, we build healthier teams, stronger communities, and more humane organizations.

• View "Words of Heart" sessions: https://restorativeducation.carrd.co/
• View art from restorative sessions: https://www.redbubble.com/people/GrowthUP/shop?asc=u
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GrowthUpEducation
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn @ Nicole Penelope Fynn

In this special collaborative episode, Claire de Mézerville López is joined by cohost Bridget Johnson, current IIRP graduate student and founder of the Deans' Roundtable, an organization that supports student life professionals. Together, they dive into this collaborative episode on Restorative Practices That Move the Needle. Through the power of storytelling and the exchange of in-depth experience, they engage leaders to talk about the implementation of restorative practices, focusing on what it looks like to experience a significant collective transformation that centers community and group empowerment. They are joined by leaders in education: Javaid Khan, Erin Dunlevy, and IIRP Vice President for Partnerships, Keith Hickman.

The panel names a truth many schools and workplaces struggle to confront—hierarchy and efficiency often overshadow relationships. Guests explore why slowing down feels risky, why vulnerability can unsettle leaders, and why communities still default to punitive systems even when they aspire to healing. Erin highlights how true restorative work demands time and trust-building, emphasizing that you cannot restore what has not yet been built. Keith moves the discussion toward the deeper paradigm shift required, urging leaders to move from "fixing to facilitating" and from "power over to power with." He shares how structures of belonging, thoughtful preparation, and shared norms transform spaces into communities capable of meaningful change.

Javaid brings a practical lens, illustrating how schedules, routines, and institutional habits, though inanimate, behave like living barriers unless leaders approach them with curiosity and intention. He shares the transformative power of modeling vulnerability and staying present with staff as they navigate new ways of working. Bridget and Claire guide the dialogue toward the heart of the issue: restorative practices are not quick solutions. They are long-term commitments to culture change, shared language, and humanizing one another in everyday moments, not only in times of harm.

Tune in to find inspiration and clear direction for educators, leaders, and communities seeking sustainable transformation.

This week we're revisiting our conversation with Marlee Liss from January 18, 2024!

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Marlee Liss to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

Marlee speaks with us about her experiences as a survivor of sexual assault. Her case made history as the first in North America to conclude with restorative justice processes through the courts. She describes her experience in the traditional court system as one where her voice, needs, and ability to make decisions in her best interest were dismissed.

Concerning the use of restorative justice processes, Marlee emphasizes how imperative it is to engage with fully prepared, skillful, humane, trauma-informed, and attentive individuals who are striving to meet the needs of survivors. She provides examples of centering and identifying survivor's needs and making space to hear directly from them.

Marlee Liss is a somatic educator, award-winning speaker, author, restorative justice advocate and lesbian Jewish feminist. She has supported thousands of women and non-binary folk in healing shame, transforming trauma, and bridging healing with justice. Marlee's work has been featured in Forbes, Huff Post, Buzzfeed, the Mel Robbins Show, and more. As an award-winning speaker, she's delivered talks for: The US Military SAPRO, Vanderbilt University, Fordham University, Trauma & Recovery Conference, Women's Mental Health Conference at Yale, National Sexual Assault Conference, and more. Marlee was 1 of 25 survivors on an elite panel for the National Action Plan to End Gender Based Violence informing federal policy, and her story was made into a documentary directed by Kelsey Darragh, The Limits of Forgiveness, which premiered on December 17, 2025!

Tune in to learn more about Marlee's perspective on the future of restorative justice and the potential of continued healing for survivors and offenders of violent crimes.

This week we're revisiting our podcast episode from November 23, 2023!

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Shelley Jones-Holt, Ed.D., to the Restorative Works! Podcast, World Conference series. This series of conversations were held during the 2023 IIRP World Conference, Building Thriving Communities: A Radical Approach Through Restorative Practices, held in Detroit, MI, October 2-4, 2023.

Dr. Shelley shares with us how to have courageous conversations around race and other complex topics by first creating a safe space for those conversations to occur. She emphasizes the importance of preparation by establishing norms and agreements before opening a dialogue and defining terms so that participants can share a common language. Dr. Shelley addresses the natural feeling of shame that can arise when we are faced with things we lack, may they be knowledge, experience, or depth of understanding. She also speaks about how to navigate the emotions that follow a shame response, emphasizing that they should never be barriers to creating and coming to a place of understanding.

Dr. Shelley currently serves as a Courageous Leadership Consultant providing training, facilitation, coaching, and support to equity driven teams and organizational, legislative, educational, and family leaders across the nation. She is the founder of Leadership Legacy Consulting, LLC, and the visionary behind the non-profit Family Legacy 5, which focuses on providing structural, adaptive and technical support to educational, corporate, and family leaders. Her emphasis on a restorative approach is foundational to engaging in uncomfortable conversations about controversial topics, such as race and identity oppression. The expansion to empower families through family leadership training for all was birthed through the realization that the mental models that drive systemic change originate not at school or work, but at home.

Tune in to learn more about Dr. Shelley's approach to addressing hard conversations with care and humility, and check out Family Legacy 5 and Leadership Legacy Consulting.