Daniel Van Ness is Vice President of Programmes at Prison Fellowship International, an association of national NGOs in more than 125 countries that assist prisoners, ex-prisoners, victims, and their families. For 30 years, he has explored and promoted restorative justice as public policy advocate, program designer, writer, and teacher. He is the author and editor of a number of publications on restorative justice and has presented nearly 30 papers at national and international conferences on themes related to restorative and community justice. Since 2000, he has taught a biennial Intensive Course on Restorative Justice at Pepperdine University Law School’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. The National Association of Community and Restorative Justice honored Van Ness with the John W. Byrd Pioneer Award for Community and Restorative Justice in 2013.

Karen Heetderks Strong is a consultant on criminal justice reform and conflict resolution. She spent the majority of her career in an American non-profit organization serving prisoners, ex-prisoners, victims, and their families and supporting advocacy for reforms in the state and federal criminal justice systems. In addition to her work in helping envision and articulate restorative justice, Strong guided program development in such areas as mentoring for youth at risk and a re-entry model for Michigan prisoners returning to Detroit. She also evaluated and helped shape the pilot of a faith-based victim assistance program model. As a senior leader, she guided a number of organizational efforts aimed to increase the effectiveness of volunteers in serving those affected by crime and prison. Strong earned a Ph.D. and an M.Phil. from Drew University, a graduate Diploma from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. from Seattle Pacific University.

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