Workshop | Transforming Spaces Through Restorative Practices: From Principles to Impact

Restorative justice (RJ) offers a transformative approach to addressing conflict, harm, and systemic inequities by centering community, accountability, and healing. In this engaging, interactive session, participants will explore the foundational principles of RJ and trauma-informed practices, examining their historical and cultural roots as well as their relevance in today’s organizational and educational contexts.

Designed for those new to RJ or looking to deepen their practice, this session will provide practical tools for applying restorative principles in real-world settings - whether navigating workplace disputes, fostering inclusive decision-making, or cultivating a culture of trust and accountability.

Using case examples and interactive dialogue, participants will examine how RJ fosters equity and inclusion, especially for marginalized communities, and how it offers an alternative to punitive approaches that often perpetuate harm.

By the end of the session, participants will walk away with a toolkit of strategies to:

• Facilitate conversations that uplift diverse voices and experiences

• Address harm in ways that rebuild trust and community cohesion

• Implement restorative practices that support a more connected, inclusive, and responsive culture

Whether you're looking to introduce RJ into your organization or expand its impact, this session will empower you to move from principles to meaningful action.

Ebony Jeffries, MPA, is an accomplished strategic thinker and stakeholder convener, with a background in public administration, public policy, and institutional effectiveness. She has dedicated her career to creating financial and educational empowerment for diverse communities to succeed. Ebony credits her tenacity for supporting educational success to her educational journey as a first-generation college student and her commitment to service that is evident throughout her professional career. 

As the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness for the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Ebony focused on operationalizing technical assistance, professional development, stakeholder engagement, and translating the systemwide vision to be both measurable and action-oriented to meet workforce and economic development needs for the state of California. 

Ebony is a seasoned educator adept at cultivating meaningful engagement across diverse stakeholders through inclusive forums such as town halls, virtual meetings, regional convenings, and community gatherings. She excels at bringing people together across the educational ecosystem to foster an engaging, dynamic, and rewarding learning environment that provides a framework for consensus building and collective action. She is committed to ensuring all voices are heard and creating platforms for active collaboration between internal and external stakeholders.

Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office, Ebony served as the Senior Project Management Specialist at the Foundation for California Community Colleges Success Center where she focused on advancing the implementation of the systemwide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Integration Plan. She also brings over a decade of experience from the financial industry where she helped to educate clients in understanding financial products and improving their financial well-being.

Abdimalik Buul, Ed.D., has over a decade experience as a season executive and practitioner. He has served as Executive Director and C.E.O of Elevated Consulting and is currently in the midst of a five-year role as Visiting Executive of Institutional Equity, Innovation, and Strategic Impact at the California Community College Chancellor’s office. During his tenure he assisted in ensuring equal employment opportunities and initiatives were connected to the classroom for the largest system of higher education in the nation comprising over 116 colleges and 2.1 million students.  He served as a Visiting Executive of Educational Excellence and equal employment opportunity programs role at the California Community College Chancellor’s office. During his tenure he has assisted in ensuring equal employment opportunities and initiatives are connected to the classroom for the largest system of higher education in the nation comprising over 116 colleges and 1.9 million students. He is the co-chair of the Statewide Equal Employment Opportunity Diversity Action Committee (EEODAC) and oversaw its deployment of the 2022 EEO Best Practices handbook & 2023 ten-point plan to diversify faculty. Under his leadership he crafted a funding allocation for $20 million dollars in EEO funding to improve hiring practices and technical assistance to integrate student-centered design and campus climate. 

In California, Dr. Buul has developed a framework to engage worker represented organizations as builders of the future of higher education. Dr. Buul is currently leading a transformative passion pilot project connecting low wage earners and working adults from labor to college programs that will propel them to livable wages in healthcare, tech, and other emerging industries. Prior to this role he served as the Transfer and Career Center Director at San Diego City college connecting transfer and workforce opportunities to students in emerging and established career pathways. He also worked as a program specialist at the San Diego Workforce partnership overseeing the deployment of regional Workforce investment act funds in the eastern region of San Diego during the recession recovery of 2010.  

Known as an international keynote speaker and innovative dynamic leader from Africa to the US he shares his message of empathy & love baked in courage & conviction. Dr. Buul is also a lecturer at San Diego State University (SDSU) where he teaches Restorative Practices and Conflict Transformation to students in the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Recovery & Trauma-informed Care MA in Education with concentration in Counseling program. His most important role & title in life is being a proud father to his six-year-old daughter Salma and has been married to his wife Sudi for twelve years. 

Siria S. Martinez, Ph.D., is an experienced higher education researcher and strategic visionary administrator dedicated to promoting equity-minded practices and improving student success outcomes. Currently, Dr. Martinez works for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and is responsible for leading the Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI), a statewide effort aimed at advancing the impact and practices California’s 116 Community Colleges and, in the process, significantly reducing the number of accreditation sanctions and state and federal audit issues. Working directly with the Chancellor’s Office Executive cabinet, she is also responsible for deploying professional development and technical assistance aimed at advancing equity and success strategies for the largest system of public higher education. She comes to the Chancellor’s Office from Woodland Community College, where she served as Dean of Student Success & Institutional Effectiveness and Interim Dean of Student Services. As Dean of Institutional Effectiveness at Woodland Community College, Dr. Martinez collaborated with centers of excellence to conduct labor data analysis enabling the development of the college's first rural Healthcare program. She was also instrumental in securing over $7 million in grant funding to establish the first STEM Pathway in partnership with local high schools.  Dr. Martinez is passionate about translating research findings into actionable programs that promote upward economic mobility, especially for students from diverse backgrounds.

Following a high impact career in administration, Dr. Martinez entered the classroom as a professor at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), teaching Inquiry and Practice: Qualitative Research for Educational Leaders. In the classroom, doctoral students learn to understand the nature/assumptions/logic of qualitative methodology as applied to educational settings, focusing on issues of design, conceptualization, interpretation, and application of qualitative research procedures.  In addition to teaching, she has published her research and delivered numerous presentations at academic conferences, workshops, and symposia on topics such as, data-informed decision making, equity-driven practices, developmental education, and supporting underserved students.

Dr. Martinez holds a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communication from UC Davis; a Master of Education, postsecondary administration and student affairs, from the University of Southern California; and a PhD. in higher education from Claremont Graduate University. She is also a proud Aspen Institute presidential fellow and recipient of the American Educational Research Association Carlos J. Vallejo Research Fellowship.

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