Vice President for Partnerships
Keith Hickman is the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) Vice President for Partnerships. In this role, Keith works to forge partnerships that effectively strengthen relationships, support communities, influence social change, and broaden the field of restorative practices.
Keith builds alliances with state education departments and national collaboratives. He served as an advisor to the Maryland Commission on the School-to-Prison Pipeline and Restorative Practices, is a partner scholar on the CASEL Equity Work Group, and is a member of the Research Development and Design Team for the California Safe, Healthy, Responsive Schools Network.
He has worked with school districts and community-based agencies to develop large-scale programs in the cities of Chicago, Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, Baton Rouge, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Washington, D.C., and Louisville, the Republic of Jamaica, including Kingston, and parishes across Louisiana. He has worked extensively with stakeholder organizations in Detroit, including schools, police, human services, court systems, corrections and neighborhood associations, to support an aligned approach that will positively impact children and families throughout the city.
Keith has served in high-level leadership positions for various K-12 educational organizations including the New York City Department of Education and New Leaders for New Schools. In 2000, he helped found the Youth Justice Project at the Harlem Community Justice Center, one of four community justice centers under the Center of Court Innovation, which inspired other restorative justice programs in the Bronx, mid-town Manhattan and Red Hook, Brooklyn. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology of Human Development from Antioch College.
Keith earned a Master of Science in Restorative Practices from the IIRP Graduate School in 2022.