Debbie Watters OBE
Founder Alternatives RJ
Debbie has been involved in the area of justice work, peace building, reconciliation and youth work for the past 30 years. She completed her degree at the Ulster University and has worked as a restorative justice practitioner for the past 25 years including the management of the first restorative justice programme in the USA from 1993-1997. She has been involved with the development of restorative justice initiatives in Northern Ireland since 1997 and played a key role in transferring her learnings from the USA into the Northern Ireland context.
Jim McCarthy
CEO CRJ Ireland
Jim McCarthy is the CEO of Community Restorative Justice Ireland and has been a Restorative Justice advocate for over 20 years in Belfast. His passion for restorative practice has seen him growing a team of over 40 professionals who work across Northern Ireland helping rebuild a traumatized community.
Chris Twyman
Founder Restorativ
Chris founded Restorativ with a simple mission. To help restore relationships with technology. He is a seasoned software executive who has focused on products that provide social impact. From employee career management to education technology and now justice technology, Chris focuses on the individual user experience in an often complex environment.
Kieran McEvoy
Professor of Law and Transitional Justice
Kieran McEvoy is the Senator George J. Mitchell Chair of Peace, Security and Justice and Professor of Law and Transitional Justice at the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen’s University Belfast. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is also currently a Leverhulme Major Research Fellow (Sept 23-Sept 26) working on a project on Apologies, Political Violence and Dealing with the Past. He has conducted research in over a dozen conflicted or transitional countries contexts on topics including politically motivated prisoners, ex- combatants, victims, amnesties, truth recovery, human rights, restorative justice, apologies and the role of lawyers in conflict transition.He has authored or co - authored four books, co - edited eight books or special issues, a four volume Handbook of Transitional Justice and over seventy journal articles and scholarly book chapters.His research has garnered a number of awards including the British Society of Criminology book of the year award and the Socio - legal Studies Association article of the year, 3 times. He has held visiting professor positions at the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, Fordham University Law School and the University of California, Berkeley.He has also been the recipient of a Global Law Fellowship at New York University and spent a year at Harvard Law School as a UK Fulbright Distinguished Research Scholar.
Jim Simon
CEO Restorative Justice Council
Jim assumed the position of the RJC's chief executive officer in April 2019, after serving as a standards assessor for the charity since 2014. Throughout his professional career, he has been a staunch proponent of restorative justice and has led the implementation of restorative practices in various sectors including education, criminal and youth justice. As an integral part of his work, Jim has been the chair of the Advisory Board for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Restorative Justice for the past four years. In this capacity, he closely collaborates with parliamentarians from England and Northern Ireland to promote awareness and understanding of restorative justice in different policy areas, including criminal justice and community transformation. Additionally, Jim has successfully established the presence of RJC in Northern Ireland and works closely with local community organisations to harness the full potential of restorative justice in addressing complex social issues.
Marcel Hagmann
NGO Fund Raising Expert
Senior executive director with three decades of transformational leadership experience across three continents, heading up complex programmes leading up to 70 staff. Responsible for national and international fundraising portfolios with a total of over 200 million USD raised. Senior fundraising consultant with specialist knowledge in corporate fundraising, impact investment, major gifts and foundations. Highly strategic thinker. Passionate and inspirational motivator and life-long learner. Multilingual (German, English, French, Arabic).