NACRJ AWARDS: RECOGNIZING LEADERS IN COMMUNITY AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Community and restorative justice has grown tremendously in recent decades thanks to countless individuals, organizations, communities, and groups who work tirelessly on these efforts across the U.S. and world. As part of its national conference, NACRJ recognizes leaders in seven categories who have a consistent record of putting the NACRJ mission and vision into action.
Award Nominations Are Now Closed.
The 2026 award recipients were recognized and announced at the National NACRJ Conference in July.
The Youth-Driven Award (formerly the Dennis Maloney Award) recognizes individuals, organizations, or groups who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to youth-led or youth-focused community and restorative justice initiatives. While not exclusively, this category particularly encourages the recognition of youth and young adults aged 24 and under. Criteria include:
- Youth Leadership and Engagement: Nominees should have a demonstrated record of meaningful youth involvement in leadership roles and decision-making processes, and/or offer youth-focused programming pertaining to community and restorative justice initiatives.
- Impact on Youth and Communities: Nominees should have a significant and positive impact on the lives of young people and the broader community it serves.
- Innovation and Adaptability: Nominees should have a record of exhibiting innovation and adaptability to the evolving needs and challenges faced by youth and young adults.
Recipients of the Youth-Driven Award
2024 Recipient - RYSE Center, Richmond, California
2022 Recipient - Circles & Ciphers, Chicago, Illinois
2019 Recipient - Cindy Bigbie, Coordinator, Community Connections, Tallahassee, Florida
2017 Recipient - Ayesha Brooks, Restorative Practices in Schools, Los Angeles, California
2015 Recipients - Cheryl Graves, Ora Schub and Robert Spicer, Community Justice for Youth Institute, Chicago, Illinois
2013 Recipients - Dr. Fania E. Davis & Mr. Eric Butler, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, Oakland, California
The Leadership Award recognizes individuals, organizations, or groups who have demonstrated outstanding leadership or innovation in community and/or restorative justice. Criteria include:
- Restorative Leadership: Nominees should demonstrate a commitment to living their personal and professional lives consistent with community and restorative justice principles, values, and practices.
- Vision and Innovation: Nominees should exemplify visionary leadership that has expanded, broadened, or diversified the application of community and restorative justice in new and innovative approaches.
- Empowerment and Capacity Building: Nominees should have a record of building diverse collaborations and partnerships that bring people together in meaningful ways.
Recipients of the Leadership and Innovation Award
2026 Recipient - Sonya Shah, Executive Director of The Ahimsa Collective, Oakland, California
2024 Recipient - Mike Milton, Founder and Executive Director of Freedom Community
Center, St. Louis, Missouri
2022 Recipient - Silas Deane, Founder and Director of Community Readiness at Tyler Technologies, Nashville, Tennessee
2019 Recipient - David Karp, Professor, School of Leadership and Education Sciences, University of San Diego, San Diego, California
2017 Recipient - Sujatha Baliga, Promoting Youth RJ Diversion Programs, Bay Area, California
2015 Recipient - Janice Jerome, Executive Director, Restorative Justice Institute of Atlanta, LLC
2011 Recipient - Janet Conner, Restorative Justice Educator, Victim Advocate and Peace Activist, Boston, Massachusetts
The Education Award (formerly the John W. Byrd award) recognizes individuals, organizations, or groups who have achieved significant contributions in advancing the principles and practices of community and/or restorative justice through education and training initiatives. Criteria includes:
- Impactful Education or Training Initiatives: Nominees should have developed or
contributed to educational program design and implementation processes that effectively educate audiences about the principles and practices of community and restorative justice. - Demonstrated Commitment to Best Practices: Nominees should have a consistent record of promoting and advocating for high quality practices with fidelity to community and restorative justice principles.
- Achievements and Progress: Nominees should have examples of the positive impact their educational and training initiatives have had across sectors such as K-12 education, higher education, justice systems, workplaces, or the broader community.
Recipients of the Education Award
2026 Recipient - Living Justice Press, Flandreau, South Dakota
2026 Recipient - Matthew Vaughn-Smith, Anti-Racist Education Alliance (AREA), Columbia, Maryland
2024 Recipient - International Institute for Restorative Practices, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
2024 Recipient - Rita Renjitham Alfred, Restorative Justice Training Institute, California
2017 Recipient - Loyola Marymount University, Intercultural Facilitator Program, Los Angeles, California
2015 Recipient- Ms. Nancy Riestenberg, Restorative Practices Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education
2013 Recipient - Dr. Daniel Van Ness, Executive Director, Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, Prison Fellowship International
2011 Recipient - Lorenn Walker, J. D., MPH, Restorative Law Practitioner, Waialua, Hawaii
2009 Recipient - Dr. Mark Umbreit, Executive Director, Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking, University of Minnesota
The Faith-Based Award (formerly the Bert Thompson award) recognizes individuals, organizations, or groups who exemplify outstanding dedication in promoting community and restorative justice principles through faith-driven initiatives. Criteria include:
- Demonstrated Faith-Centered Approach: Nominees should have a demonstrated record and deep commitment to community and restorative justice principles within the framework of their faith tradition.
- Impactful Partnerships and Collaboration: Nominees should have developed or contributed to the formation of impactful and inclusive partnerships and collaborations within their own faith community or with other faith-based or non-faith-based groups.
- Achievements and Progress: Nominees should have examples of the impact their initiatives have had on promoting peace, healing, and justice through community and restorative practices.
Recipients of the Faith-Based Award
2024 Recipient - Ted Lewis, Restorative Church Project, Duluth, Minnesota
2022 Recipient - Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, Chicago, Illinois
2017 Recipient - Eric Boldiszar, Inmate at Handlon Correctional Facility, Ionia, MI
2015 Recipient - Scott Wood, JD, Professor of Law, Founder of the Loyola Law School Center for Restorative Justice
2011 Recipient - Alexander McLean, JD, African Prisons Project, London, UK and Kampala, Uganda.
2009 Recipient - John Sage, Founder & Executive Director, Bridges to Life, Houston, TX
The Research Award (formerly the Dr. Gordon Bazemore award) recognizes individuals, organizations, or groups who have made exceptional contributions to advancing research, theory, and practice in the fields of community and/or restorative justice. Criteria include:
- Contribution to Knowledge: Nominees should have made significant contributions to expanding the theoretical understanding, empirical evidence base, or practical applications of community and restorative justice.
- Impact on Practice: Nominees should have examples of how their research findings have informed or influenced policies, programs, trainings, or other initiatives aimed at applying community and restorative justice principles in diverse settings.
- Engagement and Collaboration: Nominees should have a demonstrated record of partnering with diverse stakeholders, including but not limited to affected individuals, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers.
Recipients of the Research Award
2026 Recipient - Dr. Sandra Pavelka, Founding Director of the Institute for Youth and Justice Studies, Fort Meyers, Florida
2024 Recipient - Dr. Briana Barocas, Chief Research Officer of the Center on Violence and Recovery, New York, NY
2022 Recipient - Thalia González, University of California Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, CA
2019 Recipient - Danielle Sered, Executive Director of Common Justice, New York, NY
2017 Recipient - Dr. Marilyn Armour, Institute for Restorative Justice, Austin, Tx
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has made vital contributions to the fields of community and/or restorative justice. Criteria include:
- Impactful Leadership: Nominees should have a record of outstanding leadership, having initiated, developed, or led significant initiatives, programs, or organizations dedicated to advancing the principles and practices of community and/or restorative justice.
- Sustained Advocacy and Engagement: The nominee should exhibit a sustained commitment to advocating for community and/or restorative justice at local, national, or international levels.
- Inspiration and Influence: The nominee should be recognized as someone who has profoundly inspired and influenced others through their exemplary dedication, integrity, and visionary efforts in advancing community and/or restorative principles.
Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award
2026 Recipient - Belinda Dulin, Executive Director of The Dispute Resolution Center (DRC), New York
2024 Recipient - Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, Director of the Mennonite Central Committee Office on Crime and Justice, Pennsylvania
2024 Recipient - Nancy Riestenberg, Restorative Practices Specialist, Minnesota Department of Education
2022 Recipient - Margaret Thorsborne, Author, Practitioner, Trainer
2019 Recipient - Fania Davis, Co-Founder and former Executive Director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY)
2017 Recipient - Ted Wachtel, Founder of IIRP (International Institute for Restorative Practices) Bethlehem, PA
2015 Recipient - Kay Pranis, Restorative Justice Practitioner, Theorist, and Author
2013 Recipient - Dr. Gordon Bazemore, Florida Atlantic University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
The Creative Expression Award recognizes the role of art, storytelling, culture, and creative practice in advancing healing, justice, and community transformation. Criteria include: *New Category
- Creative Applications: Nominees should demonstrate the intentional use of creative or artistic methods (such as storytelling, cultural expression, visual art, performance, media, music, writing, or other expressive practices) to advance community and/or restorative justice values and practices.
- Impact on Individuals and Communities: Nominees should have examples of how their creative work has fostered community building, connection, dialogue, education, or healing.
- Innovation and Accessibility: Nominees should exhibit how their creative approach expands access to community and restorative justice, engages diverse audiences, or introduces non-traditional pathways for understanding and practicing restorative principles.
Recipients of the Creative Expression Award
2026 Recipient - Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, Oakland, California
2026 Recipient - Motus Theater, Boulder, Colorado
2026 Award Recipients
Sonya Shah, Executive Director of The Ahimsa Collective
Sonya Shah initiated The Ahimsa Collective in 2016. She has worked at the intersection of healing, restorative practices, and interrupting sexual violence for the past 20 years. She has been involved in land-based healing and sovereignty projects for the last six years.
Sonya is also a Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies and has been teaching through a liberatory education framework since 2004.
Central to her core values are nurturing community, belonging, love, and compassion. She is a first-generation immigrant from the Northwestern part of India.
Sonya feels at home in nature and spends a lot of time walking around the redwoods with her dog. She has two amazing children who remind her what it means to be in love all the time, and she loves all our collective elders. Sonya grew up in New York and currently resides in Northern California.
Living Justice Press
“A movement needs a press.” In 2002, this idea spurred RJ and Circle people to start Living Justice Press (LJP). For more than two decades, LJP’s publishing focus has been twofold: exploring the peacemaking Circle process and its uses, and applying restorative justice to addressing harms between Peoples.
Since LJP is based in Dakota homeland (MN and SD), a site of unrepaired state-sponsored genocide and land theft, half of LJP’s books have Indigenous authors. LJP now has eighteen books in print with two more on the way. Book purchases by individuals, schools, DEI programs, and restorative and other justice initiatives have sustained LJP’s work.
Then came January 2025. New policies affecting education, grants, and culture, especially the ability to talk about racial and other harms, caused LJP’s book sales to drop precipitously. In response, LJP made radical changes to survive. Their home-base in St. Paul, MN, was sold, positions were eliminated, salaries cut, and operations streamlined. Now sharing a house in Flandreau, SD, LJP is braced to weather the storm.
From the start, the RJ community has kept LJP going, inspiring us all with amazing transformative work and building word-of-mouth support for LJP books. The LJP team trusts that these bonds will continue, and current events make the movement more resolved than ever to carry on.
Matthew Vaughn-Smith, Anti-Racist Education Alliance (AREA)
Matthew Vaughn-Smith is an impactful educator, leader, and activist currently serving as Assistant Principal within Montgomery County Public Schools, MD. With an extensive background in public education—including tenures as a Reading Specialist and Instructional Team Leader in the Howard County Public School System—Matthew has consistently centered his career around equity, cultural responsiveness, and systemic school transformation. Matthew believes public education must be dismantled and rebuilt by historically underserved communities to truly repay the 'educational debt' and to allow the Global Majority to thrive.
As the founder and President of the Anti-Racist Education Alliance (AREA), Inc., established in 2020, Matthew works tirelessly to amplify the voices of Black and Brown communities. Under his leadership, AREA implements the Black Lives Matter At School Week of Action in Howard County, now going on its 10th year, which champions police-free schools, mandated ethnic studies, and hiring more diverse educators. He also hosts "UnLearn University," a biannual conference helping participants unlearn White Supremacy, earning AREA premier organizational recognition from the Jonathan Johnson Community Coalition. Through these diverse initiatives, he continues to leverage community funds of knowledge to fight for Black liberation.
Additionally, Matthew serves as Chair of Columbia Community Care, providing vital resources while respecting inherent human dignity. He holds a Master of Education from Towson University and an administrative certification from Loyola University.
Dr. Sandra Pavelka
Dr. Sandra Pavelka is Professor and Founding Director of the Institute for Youth and Justice Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. She earned her Ph.D. in Public Administration with a specialization in Justice Policy from Florida Atlantic University. Her dissertation, Practice to Policy to Management: A Restorative Justice Framework, examined legal system reform and implementation of restorative justice law and policy nationally and constituted seminal research
in the discipline.
Dr. Pavelka is an internationally recognized expert and scholar in restorative justice, youth and justice policy, and legal system reform. She serves on the Advisory Committee for the U.S. Congressional Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus, the European Forum on Restorative Justice Working Group on Law, as well as other state and regional boards. She is former Chair of the Law and Policy Committee for the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice.
Her recent book, Restorative Justice in Legal Systems, Education and Community: Reflections on What Works, Where We Can Grow and What’s Next (JKP Publishing), co-edited with Anne Seymour, has received national recognition.
Her work has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the 2026 National Association of Community and Restorative Justice Research Award, Lois Haight Award of Excellence and Innovation from the U.S. Congressional Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus, and National Points of Light Award. She was honored with the Leadership and Service Award from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and the McTarnaghan Teaching Award at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Belinda Dulin
Belinda Dulin is the Executive Director of The Dispute Resolution Center (DRC), a position she has held since 2007. She began her career at the DRC in 2003 as the Mediation Services Coordinator, where she launched court-based services for civil and family disputes.
Under her leadership, the DRC has expanded its civil and family mediation programs, establishing mediation as the first step for problem-solving in Washtenaw County's District and Trial Courts. She also developed and implemented school-based mediation and restorative justice programs, which served students, families, and staff, identifying and resolving barriers and issues that impact the education experience.
In 2013, the DRC partnered with the Peacemaking Court and retired Judge Timothy Connors to provide a justice model for families in the child protection and juvenile legal systems, centering on children and families for reunification and repairing harm. Through a partnership with the County’s Prosecutor's Office, the DRC's services have grown to include restorative justice diversion and deflection, enabling survivors and harm-doers to develop plans for accountability.
Belinda is a contributing author to Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities, edited by Dr. Edward Valandra and published by Living Justice Press. She holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration and a M.A. in Dispute Resolution, both from Wayne State University, and an alumna of the University of San Diego’s Restorative Justice and Leadership certificate program.
Motus Theater
Motus Theater’s mission is to create original theater to facilitate dialogue on critical issues of our time. Motus uses the power of art to build alliances across varied segments of our community and country.
Motus’ specialty is developing artfully crafted autobiographical monologues with leaders on the frontlines of violence and oppression in the U.S., putting them center stage as the protagonists in the American drama.
Motus’ ImmigrantAmerica project interrupts dehumanizing portrayals of immigrants by encouraging thoughtful engagement on the challenges facing the undocumented community and the assets immigrants bring to our country.
Motus’ TRANSformative Stories and What Love Requires projects share personal stories about the hopes and dreams of transgender/nonbinary leaders and their parents. The JustUs project presents powerful monologues from formerly incarcerated people to encourage community conversations about criminal legal reform and true justice.
JustUs launched at the NACRJ national conference in 2019. Since then, the monologues have toured the country in collaboration with Fair & Just Prosecution, reaching over 80 District Attorneys and over 100 prosecutors. This year, Motus presented stories from adults incarcerated as youth at the Colorado Capitol for legislators. JustUs performances have been featured at multiple state restorative justice and diversion conferences to challenge the racial bias in who is recommended for alternatives to incarceration. The project has been credited with catalyzing three criminal legal reform bills in Colorado.
Designing Justice + Designing Spaces
Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, led by Deanna Van Buren, is a pioneering organization that uses creative design and storytelling to advance restorative justice, particularly by humanizing carceral environments and reimagining systems of harm. Their innovative work fosters healing, dignity, and community connection while expanding access to restorative principles through non-traditional, design-centered approaches. Through both impact and vision, they are helping to shape a more just and humane future.