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: Sakb.mushtaq@gmail.com

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: growthuped@gmail.com
• 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.

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Blair Kirby and Professor Mark Osler to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

Blair and Mark join us to illuminate how restorative practices intersect with clemency work, storytelling, and systemic reform. Their conversation opens a window into the human impact of policies that often feel remote, revealing how small acts of recognition and repair can shift entire systems toward healing.

Mark tells us about his commutation clinic at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where he guides students as they uncover untold stories, meet directly with clients inside federal prisons, and learn how authentic narrative reshapes justice.

Blair, a third-year law student and senior editor of the Journal of Law and Public Policy, brings her own lens as a former data analyst turned advocate. Her retelling of a first-degree murder clemency case, where three heartfelt apology letters were lost inside the corrections system, reveals how transparency and communication influence a victim's family's capacity to heal.

Together, Mark and Blair describe how the commutation clinic operates at both the individual and systemic level, helping incarcerated people tell the fuller stories of their lives while also proposing legislative reforms that expand access to second chances. They highlight clients whose transformations demonstrate the power of rehabilitation, the role of narrative in restorative justice, and the responsibility of legal advocates to restore humanity, not simply file petitions.

Blair grew up in South Korea and came to the US on her own at 15. After graduating from Macalester College with degrees in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Economics, she worked with government agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on epidemiology studies during the COVID-19 pandemic as a data and policy analyst in the Bay Area of California. She is currently a student at the University of St. Thomas School of Law (MN).

Mark is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas, where he was chosen as Professor of the Year in 2016, 2019, and 2022. He also holds the Ruthie Mattox Preaching Chair at First Covenant Church, Minneapolis. His writing on clemency, sentencing, and narcotics policy has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic and in law journals at Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Georgetown, the University of Texas, Ohio State, UNC, William and Mary, and Rutgers. A former federal prosecutor, he won the case of Spears v. United States in the U.S. Supreme Court, with the Court ruling that judges could categorically reject the 100-to-1 ratio between crack and powder cocaine in the federal sentencing guidelines. Mark is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and Yale Law School.

Tune in to discover how storytelling, advocacy, and courageous leadership move restorative justice from theory into action.

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Officer Warren Edmondson to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

Officer Edmondson joins us to share how he first embraced restorative practices when transitioning from street policing to middle school hallways. He describes the emotional landscapes of sixth to eighth graders and explains why relationship-building became the cornerstone of his approach. Rather than centering on discipline alone, he focuses on connection, modeling integrity and empathy through everyday interactions. His first-year goal was simple yet powerful: greet and interact with all 800+ students daily. High fives and fist bumps became tools for trust, opening doors to deeper conversations and early interventions.

Officer Edmondson breaks down the components of real school safety, physical, emotional, and social, and highlights how a shared sense of responsibility transforms a building into a true community. He also discusses the school's conflict resolution practices, where disagreements become structured conversations facilitated by administrators and guided by restorative questions. The results speak for themselves: Tippecanoe Middle School has not had a fight break out in three years.

Officer Warren Edmondson serves as the School Resource Officer (SRO) for Tipp City Schools, bringing a wealth of experience and dedication to fostering a safe and supportive environment for students, staff, and families. With years of law enforcement experience, Officer Edmondson is committed to building strong relationships within the school community, promoting safety awareness, and providing guidance to students on making positive choices. In addition to his role in school safety, Officer Edmondson actively collaborates with counselors, administrators, and educators to deliver engaging lessons on topics such as personal safety, anti-bullying strategies, and the importance of community responsibility. He has been awarded the 2025 Regional School SRO Excellence Award through the National SRO Organization. He was also awarded "The Student Voice" award for the district. Officer Edmondson also collaborates and presents with his colleagues at national conferences about restorative practices and building a culture of respect and responsibility at Tippecanoe Middle School.

Tune in to discover what's possible when we treat students not just as learners, but as valued contributors to the well-being of their school.

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Devanshi Patel to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

Devanshi joins us to explore how youth leadership, community trust, and restorative practices intersect to build what she calls "the beloved community"— a vision rooted in justice, dignity, and belonging. She shares the groundbreaking work of the Youth Peer Court Ambassador Academy, a hands-on training program that empowers young people to lead restorative justice efforts in their schools and communities. Learn about how Devanshi's organization's Youth Restorative Diversion Initiative is shifting the system in Arlington County, Virginia: diverting youth away from the court system and toward healing-centered, community-based approaches. Since its launch, the program has processed over 150 cases with a 0% recidivism rate, proving that trust, prevention, and youth leadership can transform outcomes.

Devanshi is the co-founder and CEO of the Center for Youth and Family Advocacy (CYFA), where she leads efforts to transform systems through collective impact, restorative practices, education, and advocacy. Her work centers on creating conditions where children, youth, and families can thrive in safe, healthy, and inclusive communities. Under her leadership, CYFA delivers research-based, community-driven strategies that disrupt cycles of harm and address systemic inequities. In addition to her work with CYFA, Devanshi is an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Law where she teaches juvenile justice and adoption law, and a substitute judge presiding over juvenile and domestic relations matters. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and justice. Devanshi holds a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law, a Bachelor of Arts from George Mason University, and an Equitable Community Change Certificate from Cornell University.

Tune in to learn more about how youth advocacy can transform lives and change trajectories for the better.