John is the Assistant Director of Training and Consulting and graduate school lecturer for the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) - www.iirp.org. Restorative practices is a new transdisciplinary field that significantly overlaps with the effort to build a more participatory society. John has provided restorative practices training and consulting in the United States and internationally in countries such as Hungary, Jamaica the Netherlands and Mexico. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and events. In the United States, he has worked with the IIRP to bring restorative practices to hundreds of schools, including those in at-risk areas of New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore. His training and consulting work also includes that with juvenile probation and children and youth agencies, as well as churches and religious communities. John is also an experienced restorative conference facilitator in adult and juvenile cases, including those involving felony-level offenses. John is well versed in the connection between restorative practices and faith. John spent many years as a counselor for troubled and at-risk youth at a day-treatment alternative school operating entirely according to restorative practices. Prior to his work with IIRP he was active in Food Not Bombs and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He helped organize nationwide and community campaigns for economic and social justice in support of the rights of the homeless and the working poor. He specialized in creating and mobilizing community networks and coalitions. John brings to his work a thorough knowledge of labor issues and challenges faced by marginalized communities. John is also a former U.S. Naval officer who sought and received an honorable discharge as a Conscientious Objector.