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ALBERTA RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CONFERENCE 2025

WORKSHOPS

Workshops at the

Alberta Restorative Justice Conference


Below is a list of the workshops and their descriptions that will be offered during our upcoming Alberta Restorative Justice Conference. Each session is designed to support learning, connection, and practical skill-building for those engaged in restorative practices across various settings.

Palash Sanyal

Building Allyship in Restorative Practice: From Bystanding to Belonging

Workshop Description

Restorative justice calls us not only to repair harm but to share responsibility. Yet in many spaces, those with privilege or positional power struggle with how to support others meaningfully without overstepping. This interactive workshop explores what it means to build allyship in restorative practice beyond words, policies, or formal acknowledgments. Through stories, reflection, and a hands-on framework, participants will explore how to become trustworthy allies in schools, justice systems, boardrooms, and community spaces. We will examine questions such as: What gets in the way of true allyship? How can we show up when it feels inconvenient or uncomfortable? And how do we build shared responsibility without making ourselves the centre of attention? Participants will leave with a grounded understanding of how to utilize voice and presence to create space, support power-sharing, and foster trust. Whether you are a youth worker, board member, educator, or restorative justice practitioner, this session offers an invitation to build allyship by walking beside others, not ahead of them to create connection, not perform it.

Shay Sharma

Leveraging Hapi – An AI-Driven Support for Community Reintegration

Workshop Description

This workshop will introduce Hapi, an innovative AI companion designed to support the entire ecosystem of workers (corrections, staff, and clients) navigating mental health crises and justice system reintegration for vulnerable, justice involved populations. Hapi AI provides trauma-informed, accessible guidance 24/7 via SMS and web interfaces, reducing barriers to support and complementing traditional emergency response systems.

Tiffany Efird

Igniting Change: Developing Restorative Practices to Address GBV in Rural and Remote Alberta

Workshop Description

For the survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), accessing justice in rural and remote communities is often an impossible task. Resources tend to be limited to urban centres, and non-existent in rural areas. In a research project to be published in September 2025, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) explores the challenges survivors of GBV face and depend on a navigator to maneuver the existing justice options. Traditional justice systems may not necessarily be effective in addressing the complex and unique challenges faced in small communities where close relationships tend to extend the impact beyond what the survivors and those who perpetrate GBV. GBV fractures reserves, and remote and rural areas. The only option for many is to leave. We will explore best practices and campaigns that are promoting restorative justice as a necessary option to address GBV/intra-partner violence/family violence and how educators, service providers, and community members in Alberta can come together to hold people impacted by GBV through restorative practices. The goal is to create an exploratory community of practice among practitioners to debrief, learn collectively, and support healing in rural communities This session will guide participants through what it means to have community-based, healing-centered programming that is accessible and refrains from leaving people out or forcing them to navigate fractured service spaces. Addressing GBV in rural and remote communities is not as straightforward as scaling up service provision and requires fully reimagining them to transform the sector and reflect the realities of the people that live there.

Tyler Oka

Understanding Indigenous Gangs: Pathways to Positive Change

Workshop Description

This community session explores the roots and realities of Indigenous gang involvement, tracing connections to colonization, systemic barriers, and the search for identity and belonging. It highlights the personal and societal impacts of gang life, then shifts to proven prevention and intervention strategies—from culturally grounded programs to education, employment, and mentorship initiatives. The presentation wraps up with a call to action, empowering the community to support youth and foster resilience through cultural pride, connection, and opportunity.

Victoria Cowtun

Still in the Relationship, Still Deserving of Justice

Workshop Description

The traditional criminal justice system often fails domestic violence survivors—offering punishment instead of healing, and control instead of agency. Traditional justice systems often operate like a blunt instrument — heavy on punishment, light on healing. For families navigating domestic violence, court involvement means disempowerment, surveillance, and trauma stacked on trauma. It rarely asks: What do you need to be safe and heard? It never asks: What kind of justice works for you? This workshop flips that script. We’ll explore how

restorative justice offers a radically different path: where victims drive the process—not courts, cops, or lawyers. We’ll challenge the persistent myth that all survivors want to leave the relationship, and dig into why assuming separation is the only goal often misses the mark, especially in communities where family, culture, and connection are core to survival. When survivors define justice for themselves, the outcome is more honest, sustainable, and healing. Instead of relying on institutions that retraumatize and disempower families, restorative justice brings accountability and control into the hands of the family and their community. Survivors choose the terms. Perpetrators face not just consequences, but the opportunity and expectation to do deep, uncomfortable work aligning their actions with their values. We’re not talking about forgiveness, we’re talking about meaningful change rooted in safety, responsibility, and truth. We’ll look at how communities can step up when the system lets people down, and how those who cause harm can be engaged in processes that don’t just check boxes—but actually create change. If we want to stop the cycle, we need to rethink what justice really means. This isn’t soft. It’s rigorous. It’s intentional. And it puts healing at the center.

Jennifer Kremenik

Community: Advocacy or Forced Treatment?

Workshop Description

A frank and honest discussion on whether or not advocacy or forced treatment is better for those struggling with addiction.

Marijayne Deschambeault &  Sgt. Erica Weber

A Restorative Vision: Strengthening Community & Policing in Saskatoon

Workshop Description

Policing often presents a significant barrier for offenders seeking access to alternative justice measures, with Restorative Justice (RJ) programs frequently perceived as soft on crime. This workshop features Marijayne Deschambeault from the Saskatoon Tribal Council and Sgt. Erica Weber from the Saskatoon Police Service, who collaborated with justice stakeholders, community leaders, and police leadership to establish mandatory pre-charge diversion for crown-approved summary conviction offenses. Under this new policy, eligible offenders must be diverted to alternative measures or extrajudicial sanctions. These transformative changes have been integrated into police procedures and are being adopted as standard practice by frontline officers. As chair and co-chair of the Saskatchewan Restorative Justice Network, Marijayne and Sgt. Weber actively teach restorative justice principles at the Saskatchewan Police College, lecture at various university campuses, and promote RJ initiatives to community members, government bodies, and Indigenous groups. In 2024, they participated in a keynote plenary panel at the National Restorative Justice Symposium in Ottawa and were recently invited to Labrador to collaborate with justice stakeholders and Indigenous leadership in the RCMP to develop a restorative justice framework for the province.

Lindsey Zucchi & Adjoa Chintoh-Silva

Strengthening Youth and Communities ... Youth Justice Committees the Alberta Approach

Workshop Description

Calgary Youth Justice Society has been supporting youth in Calgary and area for 29 years. The organization’s vision is that “all young people contribute to and flourish in safe caring communities”. The organization works towards this vision by providing programs from a strength-based and restorative approach to help young people reach their full potential while building meaningful relationships and developing positive community connections. In 2024, Calgary Youth Justice Society expanded their reach, in collaboration with Alberta Justice, Public Safety and Emergency Services Ministry and Alberta Law Foundation, to build the capacity of the Youth Justice Committee Program across the province to enhance their restorative justice practices by addressing harm and repairing relationships in communities in a way that is equitable, trauma-informed, and impactful for all parties. This workshop will share highlights of a provincial Youth Justice Committee Needs Assessment including a three-year plan to increase resources, support, collaboration, best practices and referrals for this program. The Youth Justice Committee program, as a Restorative Practice, is most successful when justice stakeholders, law enforcement, Crown, victim's services, community organizations and citizens work together towards a common goal. Learn about how this program is expanding across the province and how you can be a part of its collective impact.

Heather Thompson

From Harm to Healing: A Survivor’s Journey Through Restorative Justice

Workshop Description

What happens when the person most harmed sits face-to-face with the person who caused that harm? In this powerful session, Heather Thompson—an advocate, survivor, and restorative justice facilitator—shares her deeply personal journey from grief to healing after the murder of her brother. Through this lived experience, participants will explore what it means to hold space for accountability, compassion, and transformation—even in the aftermath of violent crime. This interactive workshop invites participants to consider the impact of restorative justice beyond schools and minor offenses. We’ll explore the emotional and practical preparation required for a victim-offender dialogue, how family members of victims navigate the process, and what healing can look like on the other side. Grounded in truth-telling and community wisdom, this session challenges traditional notions of justice and encourages a deeper understanding of what it means to restore—not just repair—relationships and communities. Whether you’re new to restorative justice or seeking to deepen your practice, this session offers both inspiration and practical insight.

Gayle Desmeules

Alberta Indigenous Restorative Justice in Action (AIRJA)

Workshop Description

This session will introduce you to the Alberta Indigenous Restorative Justice in Action (AIRJA) initiative. AIRJA aims to foster connections among Indigenous and allied Restorative Justice practitioners across Alberta, encouraging safe, respectful, and truth-based dialogue with an openness to diverse perspectives. Our goal is to establish sustainable, culturally relevant restorative justice services that support Alberta Justice’s comprehensive provincial RJ strategy. This initiative emphasizes the necessity of developing restorative justice services that not only accommodate Indigenous perspectives but are also fundamentally shaped by them. Defining restorative justice through an Indigenous lens provides a framework for guiding culturally relevant standards of practice and training. While core facilitation skills are universal, the effectiveness of a restorative process in achieving desired outcomes is rooted in a cultural framework. Therefore, a call to action involves working collaboratively and modeling reconciliation.

Ame-Lia Tamburrini

Restoring Wholeness: Shadow Work for Courageous RJ Facilitation

Workshop Description

In every restorative process, there are visible harms—and then there are the hidden forces beneath them: the stories we carry, the patterns we repeat, and the parts of ourselves we pretend are't there. These are what Jung called the shadow—aspects of our identity and desire we’ve disowned. When left unexamined, these shadows don’t disappear. They show up as projections, resistance, control… and even unconscious attraction to conflict or chaos. This workshop offers an accessible introduction to shadow work for restorative justice facilitators and educators. It’s designed to spark awareness and curiosity about the inner dynamics that shape how we show up in conflict, dialogue, and repair. Together, we’ll gently explore how facilitators can unconsciously cling to roles—like fixer, saviour, or moral authority—and how naming and integrating these patterns can lead to more grounded, courageous facilitation. You’ll also be invited to consider how discomfort and emotional intensity, when welcomed rather than avoided, can be powerful allies in healing. Through reflection, storytelling, and experiential practice, participants will: Gain language and frameworks for understanding shadow in themselves and others Try on simple tools for self- inquiry and emotional presence Leave with a basic shadow-aware circle format, reflection prompts, and a group debrief tool This is a starting place, not a deep dive—a chance to explore the edges of your own role as a practitioner, and to consider how embracing your full humanity.

Amber Jensen & Les Vonkeman

Implementing a Peacemaking Circle for Youth

Workshop Description

This session will discuss the steps to develop a youth peacemaking circle in your community. You will learn how to integrate the circle into the justice system, work with the Crown, the police and community partners to ensure the best possible outcomes for youth.

Stella Braun & Alan Edwards

RJ in Cases of Sexualized Violence: A survivor and a Facilitator Share their Experiences

Workshop Description

Over the last 30 years, very few survivors of sexualized violence in Canada have managed to have their cases addressed through restorative justice. Their experiences – of the harm itself, interactions with police and courts, and participation in RJ – have much to teach us about how RJ can support healing and how practices can be adapted to better serve participants. Stella Braun is one of those survivors. After being sexually assaulted, she advocated for her case to referred to her local RJ program. Following months of preparation she met face-to-face with the man who assaulted her. Stella will be joined in this interactive workshop by longtime RJ facilitator and trainer Alan Edwards, who has over 20 years of experience facilitating cases involving sexualized violence. Together, Stella and Alan will share their experiences and insights. Bring your questions and ideas!

 

Among the topics to be covered:

• What specific RJ principles and values hold the most significant benefit to participants in

sexualized violence cases?

• What are some of the practice models currently being used in this work?

• Is there such a thing as “best practice” in this area? If so, what directions might it point to?

• How can facilitators support the development of accountability in those responsible for harm?

• What facilitator qualities are especially helpful to survivors?

Diana McGlinchey & Aaron Eyjolfson

Secondary Traumatic Stress in Canadian Restorative Justice Practitioners: Strategies to support service providers and foster vicarious resilience

Workshop Description

As instructors and researchers in the fields of criminal justice and victimology, we are aware that service providers often find their work fulfilling but are also at an increased risk of developing negative outcomes due to their exposure to others’ trauma. We are passionate about the value of completing regular self-assessments to monitor changes in Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), implementing early intervention strategies to mitigate its effects, and encouraging organizations to take an active role in recognizing and supporting service providers. We are advocates of trauma-informed supervision, which recognizes that service providers often have their own lived experiences, in addition to experiencing secondary trauma through their work. We understand the critical value of self-care and the importance of organizations taking an active role in facilitating it.

 

This knowledge sharing session will discuss recent research on secondary traumatic stress in Canadian victim service providers with a focus on the experiences of 75 restorative justice practitioners who participated in the national study Victim Services and Vicarious Resilience. Diana and Aaron will discuss trauma-informed approaches and strategies used to foster vicarious resilience and mitigate the negative outcomes of the very important work of working with victims and survivors.

Julie Nanson-Ashton

An introduction to Restorative Justice Work: How it Applies Successfully to Individuals With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

Workshop Description

Join Julie in an introduction to Restorative Justice work, and how it applies successfully to individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Restorative Practice and Restorative Justice utilize a person-centred, community-based approach to achieve justice caused by a crime or harm, by communally identifying the damage to promote healing for the victim and community, and to provide the offender an opportunity to make amends. The needs of the victim, and any other individuals affected by the crime/harm are identified and acknowledged by the offender, and the offender is supported by a community of support to repair the harm they have caused.

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