MAM Conference
& Annual Meeting
Exploring the Origins, Uses, and Modalities
of Restorative Justice in Maine and Beyond
Date: Friday, November 20, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: University of Maine School of Law - Maine Graduate and Professional Center, 300 Fore Street, Portland, Maine.
Registration: Only 30 spaces available
Cost: Lunch Included
- Members and Non-members $100
- Matriculated Student: $50
CLEs and CEUs Pending
Description: As a method of addressing conflict and harm, restorative practices have grown in popularity over recent years in various settings, including schools, workplaces, families, courts, municipalities, and beyond. This year’s annual conference for the Maine Association of Mediators invites members, non-members, students, RJ practitioners, educators, lawyers, and others to learn more about restorative practices from Dr. David Karp - a nationally recognized leader in the field who has written extensively on the subject and who leads the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego. Dr. Karp will join us remotely for this in-person gathering and we will be joined by members of the Maine RJ (MERJ) Coalition, including representatives from the MECASA Restorative Practices Pilot, Downeast Restorative Justice, and the Maine Department of Corrections. We welcome your presence, your wisdom, and your questions as we promote shared learning and peacebuilding.
Morning Keynote Presenter: David Karp
Restorative Approaches to Conflict and Harm
David Karp is Professor of Leadership and Director of the Center for Restorative Justice in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. His current scholarship focuses on restorative justice in community and educational settings. For his work on campus restorative justice, he was the recipient of the 2019 Leadership and Innovation Award from the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice and the 2011 Donald D. Gehring Award from the Association for Student Conduct Administration. David has published more than 100 academic papers and six books, including The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Colleges and Universities, Wounds That Do Not Bind: Victim-Based Perspectives on the Death Penalty and The Community Justice Ideal. David is co-principal investigator for the National Center on Restorative Justice. He has previously served as Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Professor of Sociology at Skidmore College. David received a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Washington.
Afternoon Panel Presentation: Restorative Justice in Maine: Current Efforts, Providers, and Organizational Structures
Panelists:
Sarah Mattox (aka Mattox)
Mattox has been in the Community Restorative Justice field since 2011 when she joined the staff at the Restorative Justice Project based in Belfast. In the role of Court Diversion Coordinator, she had the distinction privilege of being the first person in Maine to work full-time facilitating community-based restorative justice processes, recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer mentors and facilitators and guiding program development. She has witnessed many twists and turns in the evolution of the restorative justice field in Maine since and is keen to see what the coming years will bring. Mattox is currently serving as the restorative practices pilot site coordinator with the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Stephanie O’Reilly
Stephanie O’Reilly is the Restorative Justice Manager for the Maine Department of Corrections, guiding facility coordinators in building trauma-informed, survivor-centered restorative dialogue programs across the state. Stephanie’s path to restorative work began in mediation, leading her to complete the University of San Diego’s Restorative Justice and Leadership professional certificate. A psychiatric social worker by training with expertise in Motivational Interviewing, she holds master’s degrees in Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment and Justice Public Administration. Bringing 30 years of combined experience in education, social services, and corrections, Stephanie is dedicated to advancing active accountability, policy reform, and healing-centered transformation in justice systems.
Leslie Ross
Leslie Ross is the Program and Case Coordinator for Downeast Restorative Justice. She inherited from her familial elders strong visions of the possibility of a just world and just communities of inclusion, compassion and dialogue. She moved to Maine in 2014, where she is engaged in restorative and transformative work and communities. Leslie sees her current restorative work as a natural development and continuous journey. She believes in the healing potential that can arise when we are given the opportunity to see each other whole. She is looking towards a time when it is common practice that response to harm is held by the affected communities themselves.
Schedule:
9:00 - 9:45 - MAM Membership Annual Meeting (All Welcome)
In-person with virtual option. If you would like to attend the annual meeting virtually at no cost please contact administrator@mainemediators.org
9:45 - 10:15 Conference Check-In and Coffee
10:15 - 10:30 Opening Remarks
10:30 - 12:00 Keynote - David Karp
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch and Networking (Lunch is included)
1:00 - 2:30 Restorative Justice in Maine Panel
2:30 - 2:45 Break
2:45 - 3:30 Discussion: Supporting Restorative Justice in Maine: Opportunities for Collaboration and Engagement
3:30 - 4:00 Closing Circle
The Maine Association of Mediators is delighted to present this in-person event and hope to see you there. Please visit our website for updates.
https://www.mainemediators.org/
Contact our administrator Mary with questions at:
administrator@mainemediators.org
