The Redemption Project Discussion Series 

JOIN US TUESDAY APRIL 30th and the following 7 Tuesdays at 5pm PST After Watching Sunday Episodes on CNN! Free and Inclusive Forum. 

A virtual space to hear from and converse with facilitators and stakeholders featured in CNN’s The Redemption Project after their respective episodes, to share nuances, questions, and challenges in a public interview and live discussion. Everyone is invited!

Dear Friends and Global Practitioner Community,

This discussion series is not directly affiliated with CNN, Van Jones or The Redemption Project but given that Restorative Justice on The Rise is a network of national and global practitioners of Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding, we are connected with and supportive of all the programs that were invited to be a part of the CNN series. The mission of this discussion series is to welcome you into a virtual dialogue forum, support open and poignant discussion of what restorative justice is, is not, and how HRVOD (High Risk Victim Offender Dialogue) is part of a great spectrum of what is called "RJ"--and a powerful and effective one in many cases. We will open up for live questions and dialogue on each session and hear from some of the Facilitators and Stakeholders whose lives have been forever changed.

What I personally know to be true, as your host and moderator, and as a survivor of my mother's 15 year incarceration which included solitary confinement, is that everyone impacted by violence has a deep need to be heard, seen, and acknowledged. In fact, without that element, many lifetimes flash by without resolution or truth and attempt at healing. What I know to be true is that punishment and traditional justice reciprocates the cycle of wounding and pain--debilitating for Victims, Offenders, Families, and Communities.

So we need to appreciate and honor first and foremost the stakeholders in Van's project for being willing to allow us all in. And we should thank and support Van and his team for bringing this to us, at such widespread levels that we can then make RJ even more of a publically common practice, and conduct honest and open dialogue to ensure we are all on the same page about what this transformative, safe, powerful process really is.

We've been working with the Ahimsa Collective, River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Stronghold, Healing Dialogue and Action, and others in order to offer an open space to dialogue and reflect. These organizations and others featured in the series (find here) are working tirelessly, on the ground, day to day, to support impacted parties, stakeholders, and to provide safe opportunities to speak about harm and violence--often for the first time for all involved. It is by choice only, that these processes proceed.

Please join a global community Sunday, April 28th for the Premiere episode on CNN and then for the following 7 Sundays through June 16th. Then, join us for an open discussion each Tuesday, through June 18th.

For more information at CNN's site about the series, click above video image or here

Heartfelt thanks,

Molly Rowan Leach, Host

Founder-Restorative Justice on The Rise

Since 2011, supporting, collaborating, and serving the restorative justice global movement.