Trustees
The IIRP Board of Trustees are holders of the organizational trust and mission. Our trustees bring many different perspectives and experiences in fields such as law, higher education, faith, public education, private foundations, government relations, management and child welfare, which mirror the numerous arenas where restorative practices are being implemented.
Dennis P. DePaul
Dennis P. DePaul is the Executive Director for Vermont’s Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, a year-round camping nonprofit that supports children with cancer and their families. Previously, he served as Associate Dean in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Vermont. With more than 30 years of professional experience in higher education and nonprofit work, Dennis’s core experiences are in leadership, human resource development and business operations.
The Honorable Mark A. Ingram
Judge Mark A. Ingram served as a Magistrate Judge in the State of Idaho for twenty-one years prior to his retirement in 2022. Early on in his judicial career, Mark recognized that the standard court responses to criminal behavior, child welfare cases, domestic relations, and behavioral health issues were largely ineffective and did little to address the root causes for the social ills on display in his courtrooms. That recognition ultimately led him to the IIRP and restorative practices.
Mark Twomey, M.P.A.
Mark Twomey, MPA, has worked in a wide range of roles in a number of industries and organizations over his working life. He spent extensive time at ANZ Bank Australia, with roles covering corporate and commercial finance, human resources and strategic planning. At Youth Off The Streets, a not-for-profit organization, Mark provided support for young people through accommodation, outreach and education.
Patience E. Whitworth, Ph.D.
Dr. Patience Whitworth serves as Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Strategic Initiatives for the Office of the Provost at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She supports day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives and provides oversight to the Student Academic Success Center.
Lynn Branham, J.D.
Professor Lynn Branham’s expertise centers on restorative justice as well as sentencing, correctional law, and policy. In addition to her recently published casebook on sentencing law and policy, her current research focuses on the integration of restorative justice into criminal-justice systems and communities’ responses to crime. Her most recent article, published in the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy in 2024, spotlights seven core concerns about the Model Penal Code: Sentencing’s approach to restorative justice.
Mike Butler
Mike Butler is a retired Public Safety Chief in Longmont, Colorado, where he served for 26 years. He reinvented public safety within the context of partnerships and leveraged social capital. During his tenure, Longmont Public Safety instilled a philosophy that utilized many alternatives to the criminal justice system in order to respond to the human condition. Those options included restorative principles and practices in public safety’s response to numerous social and health issues. Mike also co-founded the School of Statesmanship, Stewardship, and Service (SOSSAS).
Linda Kligman, Ph.D.
Dr. Linda J. Kligman is intrigued by the study and implementation of relational approaches to creating more inclusive and participatory workplaces. As President of the IIRP, she provides leadership for the graduate school, fostering a climate that nurtures respect, innovation, collaboration, and excitement.
Linda earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies from Union Institute and University with a concentration in Ethical and Creative Leadership and a specialization in Martin Luther King, Jr. Studies.
Seow Ling Kek
Seow Ling Kek is a social work practitioner with Lutheran Community Care Services (LCCS) in Singapore. She believes that restorative practices is a way of being, and has helped to establish a set of restorative practices principles to guide practice and organizational culture.
Building on her experiences in the field, she designed a training curriculum for Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) to promote a relational practice that respects family power and leadership.
Héctor Alejandro Valle López, Ph.D.
Héctor Alejandro Valle López, Ph.D. is a narrative psychotherapist, mediator, and restorative justice facilitator. He is the founder of the Dialogues Collective, a program that develops psychosocial and psychotherapeutic accompaniment programs in different communities such as prisons, schools, hospitals, and communities of victims. He is a trainer of facilitators in restorative justice, peacemaking circles, and mediation throughout Latin America and Spain.
Deborah McLeod, Ph.D.
Deborah McLeod, Ph.D., worked for many years in the area of equality and human rights and recently retired as Director of Human Rights for the Northwest Territories in Canada. Deborah was instrumental in the development and implementation of a restorative approach to the work of the territorial human rights system and particularly to the human rights complaints process. She currently works as an independent consultant and is pursuing her Master's degree at the IIRP Graduate School. Deborah earned her doctorate from the University of Alberta (Canada), and is a chartered professional in human resources.
Abdul-Malik Muhammad, Ed.D.
Abdul-Malik Muhammad, Ed.D., has been serving both youth and adults as an educator, transformational leader, entrepreneur, and author for nearly three decades. Working with the underserved in urban and rural areas, he has focused on the development of boys to men, been active in social justice, and has built progressive organizations. His previous leadership journeys have included being a principal, career college president, corporate director of education, and regional vice-president of a national mental healthcare organization.
Sethu Laxmi Nair, M.I.A.
Sethu Laxmi Nair is a mediator, facilitator, coach, and trainer in the fields of alternative dispute resolution and restorative practices. Through her work, Sethu seeks to improve interpersonal and social dynamics by enhancing leadership capacity and conflict competence among leaders and groups. Currently, she serves as the Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Restorative Practices at the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution, an innovative public service group that offers a blend of conflict resolution, training, and systems design options within and across the New York City government.
Stephen Young
Stephen Young is a certified community mediator and restorative justice trainer with Community Justice Alternatives of Durham Region (CJAD), where he also serves as the President of the Board. He works for Restorative Resolutions, providing training and coaching to schools across Canada, and can be heard in the weekly podcast “Circle Forum” discussing aspects of restorative justice in schools and broader society.
Ted Wachtel
Before the IIRP, Ted Wachtel cofounded its model programs, Community Service Foundation and Buxmont Academy, which have served at-risk youth since 1977. He also founded Real Justice, SaferSanerSchools (now called Whole-School Change), Family Power, and Good Company. Ted has authored numerous books and articles and been a guest speaker at conferences worldwide. He is also the founder of Building a New Reality, a nonpartisan evidence-based learning community exploring new models for bringing democracy to everyday life. Ted's latest paper is titled Expanding Restorative.
John Braithwaite, Ph.D.
Dr. John Braithwaite is a renowned criminologist and leader in the restorative justice movement. He has been the recipient of many honors, including the 2006 Stockholm Prize in Criminology and has authored several influential books, including Crime, Shame and Reintegration (1989) and Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation (2002). John's research on war, crime, and regulation is featured at johnbraithwaite.com.
Honorary Trustee since 2008
