Keynote Speaker
Chief Justice Emeritus
Robert Yazzie of Navajo Nation
The Honorable Robert Yazzie served as the Chief Justice of the Navajo Nation from 1992 through 2003. He practiced law in the Navajo Nation for 16 years, and was a district judge for eight years. He is now teaching Navajo Law at the Navajo Technical University. He was the Director of the Diné Policy Institute of Diné College (Navajo Nation), developing policy using authentic Navajo thinking. He is the author of articles and book chapters on many subjects, including Navajo peacemaking, traditional Indian law, and international human rights law. He is a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law, an adjunct professor of the Department of Criminal Justice of Northern Arizona University and a visiting member of the faculty of the National Judicial College. He recently taught Navajo law at the Crownpoint Institute of Technology. Chief Justice Yazzie continues a career devoted to education in formal participation in faculties, lectures and discussions of traditional indigenous law at various venues throughout the world. He has a global audience and he has frequently visited foreign lands to share his wisdom about traditional indigenous justice and governance.
Featured Panelists
Thursday, June 8 Panel Discussion with Indigenous Peacemakers
with Keynote Speaker Justice Robert Yazzie
Cheryl Demmert Fairbanks, Esq. works in the area of Indian law as an attorney and tribal court of appeals justice. Currently she is the Interim Executive Director of the UNM Native American Budget and Policy Institute. She recently was in Oregon serving as the Walter R. Echo-Hawk Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Lewis and Clark; and also she was a visiting Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico’s Southwest Indian Law Clinic. Formerly a Partner at Cuddy McCarthy LLP, she had a general practice in Indian law, including tribal-state relations, personnel, tribal courts, peacemaking and family conferencing, mediation, family, school, education, and indigenous law. Also, Ms. Fairbanks was a partner with the law firm of Roth, VanAmberg, Rogers, Ortiz, Fairbanks & Yepa, LLP, where she specialized in Indian law. She also worked as senior policy analyst with the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs in the area of state-tribal relations. There, she was instrumental in establishing the Indian Child Welfare Desk, New Mexico Office of Indian Tourism, the University of New Mexico Indian Law Clinic, and the passage of the New Mexico Indian Arts and Crafts Act. Ms. Fairbanks is Tlingit-Tsimshian and was born in Ketchikan, Alaska. She obtained her BA from Fort Lewis College in 1969 and her JD in 1987 from the University of New Mexico. Prior to her law career, she served as a teacher for the Albuquerque Public Schools, Zia Day School, and Administrator for Acomita Day School and the Albuquerque/Santa Fe Indian Schools.
Ka’illjuus (Lisa Lang) is the Executive Director, Xaadas Kil Kuyaas Foundation (XKKF), the elected Supreme Court Chief Justice for the Tlingit and Haida Central Council Indian Tribes of Alaska, and the owner of Minority Woman-Owned Business, Lisaverosh Consulting. She is bar licensed since 2012 to practice law in New Mexico. She has a Master of Arts, Simon Fraser University; First Nations Linguistics, Xaad Kil; Juris Doctorate, University of New Mexico; Bachelor of Science in political science with a minor in business, Emporia State University, Kansas; Associate degree in liberal arts with a business emphasis, Haskell Indian Junior College. Lisa is Northern Alaska Haida; she follows her mother Carolyn Sandersons Yahkw ‘Laanas Clan, a Raven, Two Finned Killer Whale, from the K’aad Naay (Shark House). Her Haida name is Ka’illjuus. She is a child of Gerald “Osh” Lang, a Tsimshian Eagle and Tlingit heritage from Metlakatla, Alaska. Lisa lives in Hydaburg, Alaska. Her children are Verlaine Ravana, Ty Edenshaw, and Stephanie Sanders. She has five beautiful grandchildren.
Rainey Enjady (Mescalero Apache Tribe) is currently employed by Life Comes From It - a national grant-making organization that focuses on Indigenous Peacemaking, restorative justice, transformative justice, and land-based healing. She most recently led efforts to bring Indigenous peacemaking to her community, first assessing the interest of tribal council and tribal court leaders in pursuing information about these Indigenous-based processes to settle disputes. In addition, Miss Enjady has provided support and guidance on several Indigenous peacemaking 101 trainings, partnering, and collaborating with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Indigenous peacemaking court to explore the interest of other tribal nations on this Indigenous approach to dispute resolution. Previously, she worked for the University of New Mexico‘s Native American Budget & Policy Institute. Recently, Miss Enjady earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration. Rainey Enjady is also a member of Collaborent LLC, where she helps in procuring mediators, facilitators, conflict coaches, and trainers involved in the field of conflict management. She brings 23 years of leadership, accounting, and human resource experience from the executive level of a small community hospital.
Presenters
Friday, June 9 Breakout Sessions
Emma Barnett joined KDOC as the Restorative Justice Specialist II in Oct 2021. In her role, she helps with the Victim Offender Dialogue (VOD) Program, Victim Impact Class, and the Apology Letter Bank. Prior to joining the Restorative Justice field, Emma worked with survivors of sexual abuse and assault providing advocacy services and community education. Emma has a passion for helping victims of crime heal while promoting accountability for those who’ve caused harm. She is currently developing a VOD program for adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Emma is working on her master’s in social work at UMKC and will graduate in May 2023.
Breakout Session
Session 1 ● Law Enforcement/Judicial track
Healing Through Dialogue: An Overview of the Kansas Victim Offender Dialogue Program
Session 2 ● Law Enforcement/Judicial track
Restorative Justice in the Judicial System (panel presentation)
Deborah Bayless has been a mediator with CCR since 2004 and Mediation Coordinator since August 2009. Debbie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Human Services, with minors in German Language and Psychology. Currently she works primarily with neighborhoods and several Restorative Justice court diversion programs. She completed her Master’s Degree in Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University in May 2018, which has expanded her skills and understanding as she helps people in families, neighborhoods and in the workplace work toward peaceful solutions to conflict. One of Debbie’s goals in the processes she facilitates is to help people uphold dignity for themselves and others to transform communication between differing opinions and perspectives.
Breakout Session:
Session 1 ● Community-Based track
Cynthia Corn-Wattree is a highly experienced parenting coach with over 20 years of expertise in education and child development. Throughout her career, she has worked with families and children of all ages, providing guidance and support to help parents raise happy, healthy, and successful children. Cynthia's passion for child development began early in her career when she worked as a teacher and later as a school administrator, specializing in alternative education and maladaptive behaviors. Her dedication and commitment to helping children thrive led her to exclusively design her coaching practice around parents who seek to re-parent themselves, break generational trauma and patterns, and create the kind of Nurturing Parenting environment where parents navigate the challenges and joys of raising children. Cynthia's unique experience as an educator provides parents with insight into establishing relationships between home and school to increase assertive communication and effective engagement. Today, Cynthia continues to inspire and empower parents through her coaching and speaking engagements. She is committed to helping parents build strong, positive relationships with themselves so they can connect authentically to their children and create nurturing home environments that support their children's growth and development. Cynthia’s unique focus on parenting through a trauma-informed lens helps parents re-parent themselves and breakthrough generational trauma for healthy, secure attachment and connection.
Breakout Session
Session 1 ● Community-Based track
Dr. Christine E. Crouse-Dick (she/her) is Professor and Chair of Communication Arts and Faculty Dean of the Arts and Humanities at Bethel College (KS/US). As a generalist, she teaches a wide array of courses, but especially enjoys teaching classes that explore the intersections of gender, race, class, and media. She is particularly intrigued by the ways organizations and people curate their public images. Specifically, her research focuses on purity culture rhetoric; infertility and adoption discourses; pedagogy and mentorship in the small liberal arts communication classroom; and the #ChurchToo movement. She is a founding member of the Bethel College Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, which aims to erase barriers to equal treatment and opportunity by working toward narrative change, racial healing, and relationship building on college campuses and in their surrounding communities.
Breakout Session
Session 2 ● Schools track
Slow Leadership: Listening, Learning, and Advocating for Justice
Dr. Rachel Epp Buller (she/her) is a Professor of Visual Arts and Design, Director of the Regier Art Gallery, and Chair of the Faculty, at Bethel College (KS/US). She is a feminist art historian, a visual artist, and a mother of three, intersecting roles addressed in some of her scholarship, including her books Reconciling Art and Mothering (2012) and Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity (2019, edited with Charles Reeve). She is a two-time Fulbright US Scholar (Germany 2010-11 and Canada 2021-22) and a certified practitioner from the Center for Deep Listening. Her current research-creation project is a series of inquiries into listening as artistic practice.
Breakout Session
Session 2 ● Schools track
Slow Leadership: Listening, Learning, and Advocating for Justice
Tonya Ricklefs, PhD, LMSW is a licensed Social Worker who teaches at Washburn University. She works as a facilitator as part of the Shawnee Co-Parent Youth Facilitation program. In addition, she is a state-approved mediator and conciliator. Tonya also works with the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice, Inc. as a victim/offender mediator. She is the President of the Heartland Dispute Association and President-Elect of the Kansas National Association of Social Workers and is the faculty advisor for the Washburn Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution minor.
Breakout Session
Session 3 ● Community-Based track
Restorative Practices and the Montes De Maria Region of Colombia
Jan Fox-Petersen, EdD, a prior school psychologist, currently works as a relationship coach and restorative justice advocate. She helped to initiate restorative practices in Wichita Public Schools and is trained by the International Institute of Restorative Practices. Jan is an approved dispute resolution provider and certified facilitator for restorative practices. She facilitates formal and informal restorative conferences and utilizes circles with groups of students and staff to resolve problems peaceably. She coaches individuals and work teams in conflict transformation and repairing relationships. She has taught classes at Wichita State University and published work in honoring diversity and underrepresented voices in society. Jan received her masters degree in Educational Psychology, specialist degree in School Psychology, and doctorate in Educational Leadership at Wichita State University.
Breakout Session
Session 3 ● Schools track
Restorative Schools Initiative: Whole School Approach to Implementing Restorative Practices
Jennifer Muret-Bate works at the Creative Learning Community, a program of Winfield High School. At the CLC Jenny and her fellow teachers use Restorative Practices to build community among at-risk, accelerated, and other types of learners who are working independently to meet their educational goals. Jenny received her B.A. from Southwestern College (Winfield), and her M.A. in Restorative Practices through the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) in Bethlehem, PA.
Breakout Session
Session 3 ● Schools track
Restorative Schools Initiative: Whole School Approach to Implementing Restorative Practices
Kathy Neufeld Dunn has been involved in restorative justice practices for 25 years. She is the Community Justice Programming Director for OVM, Newton, KS. She is a state-recognized mediator in Kansas. She is passionate about facilitating Neighborhood Accountability Boards, as well as Victim-Offender Dialogues, where together the one who has been harmed and the one who has harmed find their way toward health and healing. She and her spouse live in McPherson, KS.
Breakout Session:
Session 1 ● Community-Based track
Regina Platt, often called the "Stepologist," is a messenger of hope. She is a tenacious servant leader who empowers individuals and communities to take steps forward to obtain their desired outcomes. Regina serves as Restorative Justice and Mediation Coordinator within the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice, Inc. She is a Global Public Speaker, Published Author, and One on One Coaching and Community Advocate. She has been honored with numerous honors including being appointed World Civility Ambassador and an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities from United Graduate College and Seminary International.
Breakout Session:
Session 2 ● Youth track
Ana Puente Flores is from Mexico City. Involved in the migrant justice movement, both in the courts and at school, she led initiatives in the Dream Team at the City College of New York. As Institutional Development and Research Director at the Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), she researched femicide in Mexico City, as well as gender violence in post-war contexts in Southeast Asia. She helped build and found the program Beyond Identity: A Political Platform for Scholar-Activists. In the summer of 2018–during the beginning of the family separation policy–she was a legal intern at the Dilley Pro Bono Project. She is currently a 2L at CUNY School of Law. With a fellowship from the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice, she worked for the organization Lakota Peoples Law Project and helped write an amicus brief in support of ICWA for the case Brackeen v. Haaland in the Supreme Court. This summer she is a Law Clerk for Justice Cheryl Fairbanks. Her experience working in detention centers has given her the tools to conduct narrative practice workshops with immigrant youth in detention. In her organizing work, she seeks to open up a path for alternative spaces of care, mutual aid, collective storytelling, and cultural revival. Her political energy is geared toward migrant and indigenous folks fighting and thriving for the land, waters, and seeds. Through this work, she seeks to reweave the present human dynamics towards sustainability, memory, collectivity, and balance.
Breakout Session:
Session 2 ● Community-Based track
Kelsey Rose serves as Restorative Justice Coordinator and has the privilege of overseeing the Victim Offender Dialogue Program, Victim Impact Class, and Apology Letter Bank program with the Office of Victim Services at KDOC. Kelsey has worked with victims and with those who have caused harm in a variety of settings for the past 10 years, including domestic violence agencies and reentry programs. Kelsey is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and is passionate about using her skills to build programs that better respond to the needs of victims. Kelsey believes creating a culture of accountability for those who have caused harm is crucial to meeting the needs of victims.
Breakout Session
Session 1 ● Law Enforcement/Judicial track
Healing Through Dialogue: An Overview of the Kansas Victim Offender Dialogue Program
Session 2 ● Law Enforcement/Judicial track
Restorative Justice in the Judicial System (panel presentation)
Rob Simon is a Kansas educator, author, experienced trainer/consultant, and speaker/performer who has worked with school systems and various agencies coast to coast. Currently, Rob works as a Restorative Practices Consultant for the Wichita Public Schools, a position originally created through a Kansas Department of Education Safe and Supportive Schools grant. Rob holds a B.S. in Social Studies from Texas College, an M.A. in Communication from Wichita State University, and is trained as a trainer by KIPCOR and the International Institute for Restorative Practices. www.positiverhythm.org
Breakout Session
Session 3 ● Schools track
Restorative Schools Initiative: Whole School Approach to Implementing Restorative Practices
Sheryl R. Wilson, MLS (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Bethel College. She has been a practitioner, trainer, and educator in restorative justice for twenty years, working with individuals, non-profits, academic institutions, and public agencies around the world. Her work in restorative justice includes facilitating restorative justice dialogues in various venues (including virtual circle-keeping for national forums), working as a community mediator, and serving as a researcher. Her experience also includes teaching restorative justice courses at the college level, community outreach, victim offender dialogue, and defense-initiated victim outreach in capital (punishment) cases. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) with a restorative justice-based Master of Liberal Studies degree. She is the author of a book chapter in Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities, written by practitioners of color on the challenges they face. She is a founding member of the Bethel College Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, which aims to erase barriers to equal treatment and opportunity by working toward narrative change, racial healing, and relationship building on college campuses and in their surrounding communities.
Breakout Sessions
Session 2 ● Schools track
Slow Leadership: Listening, Learning, and Advocating for Justice Restorative Schools
Session 3 ● Schools track
Restorative Schools Initiative: Whole School Approach to Implementing Restorative Practices
Gregory Winship is a Restorative Justice Strategist with the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Kansas City, MO. He brings over 30 years of experience in the criminal justice field. His passion is RJ in prisons. He teaches staff and residents to dismantle the ‘us versus them’ mentality. He helps currently and formerly incarcerated individuals heal from harm they have experienced, address the harm they have caused, and, to the extent possible, restore relationships and make things right. Winship regularly works in correctional facilities in MO and KS and has traveled to present or facilitate RJ trainings in correctional facilities in CA, CT, MN, NC, NE, OH, PA and VA and in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Winship earned his M. A. in Restorative Justice at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and has a B. A. in Business Administration. As an adjunct professor at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), he teaches graduate classes in Restorative Justice. He is also President Emeritus of Reaching Out From Within (ROFW), a nonprofit in 3 states that helps people in prison find the 'courage to change'.
Breakout Session
Session 2 ● Law Enforcement/Judicial track
Restorative Justice in the Judicial System (panel presentation)
Session 3 ● Law Enforcement/Judicial track
Laurel Woodward-Breckbill, M.Phil, (she/her) is the Training Coordinator for Restorative Schools Initiative at KIPCOR. Laurel has worked with schools and justice-system partners to explore restorative alternatives for youth, adults, and families addressing harm. Laurel has a special interest in the intersection of creative practices and conflict resolution skills, and has studied various methods for representing trauma and resilience through art. Laurel holds a B.A. in Visual Arts from Goshen College (Goshen, IN) and a M.Phil in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation from the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin (Belfast, Northern Ireland).
Breakout Session
Session 3 ● Schools track
Restorative Schools Initiative: Whole School Approach to Implementing Restorative Practices