Meet Our Staff
she/her/hers
BSullivan@granitebaycare.org
Elizabeth Sullivan (Beth) is a per diem facilitator through RJIM and facilitates restorative processes with youth in York County and Intellectually Disabled Adults throughout the state of Maine. She has served on the Restorative Justice Coalition for the past 6 years in an effort to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a more equitable experience when dealing with the justice system. Her fulltime role is State Director for Granite Bay Care, the largest residential agency in Maine serving clients with Intellectual Disabilities. Granite Bay Care has a long history of serving clients who have challenging behaviors, many who have interfaced with the justice system which is how she became involved with RJIM. Beth graduated from Hanover College with a degree in Theology, and served as a Youth Leader for six years before beginning her work with intellectually and developmentally disabled adults more than twenty-two years ago. She received her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at Husson University in 2019. Beth is passionate about create spaces where all people are seen and heard and have a seat at the table.
she/her/hers
hphillips@rjimaine.org
(207) 504 - 5134 ext. 711
Halley is a Co-Director at RJIM. Born and raised in Maine, Halley spent much of her childhood outside, creating games and catching frogs. Halley went to college in New Brunswick, Canada, and received her MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from UNCG. Halley is claimed by the Nipmuc Nation, who's land is in western, MA. Halley grew up in a predominantly white community, and struggled with her mixed identity. This led to an interest in Psychology and Human Rights, and later on, turned into a passion for Restorative Justice principles, as well as reconnecting to her Native roots. We know that hurt people, hurt people. And with this knowledge in hand Halley has dedicated her life to trying to understand and change the systems of oppression that perpetuate harm and violence.
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hmohamed@rjimaine.org
(207) 504-5134 ext. 708
Hawo is a Youth Justice Liason and Training & Consulting Coordinator for RJIM where she is also leading youth leadership and development projects. She was born in Kenya and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1995, settling in Portland, Maine. Since then, she has called Maine her home. Hawo has had a great interest in social justice since high school, and working and living in Portland has allowed her to delve deeper into issues involving race, power, and privilege in America. Since then, she has committed herself to helping transform the conditions and situations that perpetuate oppression and inequality. Hawo sees a world that embraces RJ as one that prioritizes care and healing for its community members. When there is an abundance of resources for the community. Where healing, wellness and health is centered. This world to Hawo is just, and one that accounts for and works to solve all of the inequities that have been created through centuries of oppression.
she/her/hers
jburke@rjimaine.org
Julianna (she/her) is a Per Diem Facilitator with RJIM. Outside of this work, Julianna works full time at Matriculate, a peer mentorship nonprofit dedicated to improving access to college for high schoolers across America, regardless of socioeconomic status. Julianna grew up in Southern Maine and is proud to call Portland home. Especially after her years away in Brooklyn, it has been very grounding to return home to be closer to her family. To Julianna, a world that embraces restorative justice looks like a world where the inherent dignity and worth of all people is seen and honored, and where we work towards collective healing and growth after harm rather than seeking punishment and incarceration. Julianna envisions a world where we all have access to inclusive communities, accessible and safe housing, education, and free physical and mental healthcare. Outside of work, Julianna is an avid banana bread baker, reader, podcast-listener, musician, and loves running on the many beautiful trails and outdoor spaces Maine has to offer. She is very grateful to be part of the RJIM community and relishes any opportunity to collaborate with and learn from others, working together towards a meaningful collective goal.
they/them/theirs
kjohnson@rjimaine.org
207-504-5134 ext. 700
Kage is a Youth Justice Liaison and Sexual Harm Response Design Lead, residing in Biddeford, ME. They come from a family that has lived in Maine for a few generations, originally emigrated from Ireland. Kage loves coffee and the ocean. They are a queer, nonbinary Mainer, an abolitionist, and sometimes a writer and an artist. They are a sexual violence survivor, as well as a trained sexual assault advocate, a trained death doula, and an experienced landscape gardener. They gravitated toward restorative justice/ transformative justice work from their lived experience as a sexual violence survivor; it is Kage’s hope to realize the need for RJ/TJ with survivors of sexual violence, especially those who do not use the criminal justice system. Kage also feels pulled to RJ/TJ, as a means to dismantle our white supremacist, punitive culture of police and prisons. and instead, to cultivate a culture of genuine community care, justice, equity, and accountability. They are also passionate about shifting our culture away from criminalizing mental health and substance abuse issues and instead focusing on harm reduction, building community support, and healing. Kage acknowledges that each and every one of us knows how it feels to be someone who has been harmed and someone who has caused harm. Kage seeks to normalize that with harm, there can be repair; and conflict can be generative and vital in healing and evolving. As someone who did a lot of calling out in the past and who has since intentionally and conscientiously departed from partaking in cancel culture, Kage came to realize over time that living their own truth means not canceling one another. RJ/TJ offers a way forward, reckoning with our experiences of harm, where no one is stripped of their humanity and the full complexity of our experiences can be held. Kage believes that a better world is possible.
she/her/hers
lhickey@rjimaine.org
Lauren is a per diem facilitator with RJIM. Though her full time job is working at the Locker Project, a local nonprofit that promotes child food security, she is interested in growing in her understanding of the intersections of food justice, restorative justice, and racial justice. In her free time she enjoys gardening and playing soccer!
she/her/hers
roryrobb23@gmail.com
Rory is a Lead Facilitator and Lead on the Coalition to Support Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism through Restorative Justice Circles and Dialogue. Rory has spent her entire life supporting people with ID having grown up with a sister with ID and supporting an agency providing residential and community integration programs for individuals with disabilities. The agency engaged several trainers and immersed their philosophy with that of Non-Violent Communication for 10+ years. Rory was privileged to have participated in a 9 day Intensive International Training in NVC with the founder, the late Marshall Rosenburg. Rory has been with RJIM since 2016, as she felt there was a close connection between NVC and RJ as they relate to healing relationships and conflict. After working with juveniles, it became apparent to Rory that adults with ID could engage in the RJ process and it would offer new tools to healing harm. We believe when people have the opportunity to have community connection and learning after difficult behavior, their ability and motivation to not harm that community improves. Some of the main goals of the Coalition are; to decrease incidents of harm, offer healing to all those impacted by harm, maintain their home and access to the community and gain skills with interpersonal relationships before and after harmful behavior. RJ offers a different model of support and accountability in a system that has often excluded these individuals from the community. To Rory a world with Restorative and Transformative Justice will offer all individuals, regardless of their abilities, to be valued members of their community.
she/her/hers
wallen@rjimaine.org
(207) 504 - 5134 ext. 701
My name is Wendy Allen, I am the Young Adult Diversion Program Lead and Policy and Advocacy Design Lead for RJIM. I currently reside in Milford, Maine. I got involved in Restorative Justice work while inside the Southern Maine Women’s Re-entry Center. My work started after experiencing the injustice of our system. I took RJ facilitator training with Joy, and co-facilitated inside out co-learning circles with RJIM while inside the facility. Upon my release, I knew that I wanted to continue this work and help individuals inhibit RJ practices, and keep young adults out of the system as much as possible. My biggest inspiration is Representative Rachel Talbot-Ross, as she is a strong woman who stands up those affected by the system and pushes bills that represent restorative justice practices. She is passionate, caring, strong, and a great leader for our state. Imaging a world that embraces the restorative justice approach looks like people healing, not hurting. There would be more community involvement instead of policing, and no systems that could be flawed. Communities would come together and take care of each other, instead of working against each other. My life’s theme song is “Drug Addiction” by Collicche. We share the same life experiences, and a miracle happened, we both found recovery and use our voices and knowledge to help others heal.
“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed; it means the damage no longer controls our lives”