About the Founder

TCRJ  Founder and President
Marinetta Cannito Hjort, MA

I have a strong passion and commitment to peace, justice, and reconciliation. My mission is to assist people in their journey to discover within themselves the capacity to heal strained relationships, increase reciprocal understanding, and prevent future conflicts. My methodology is based on restorative processes and tools that allow each individual to initiate constructive communications, understand their mutual needs and values, identify the root causes of the conflict, and collaboratively engage in finding mutually beneficial solutions aimed at building relationships of trust.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE OVERVIEW

International expert, practitioner and scholar in the fields of restorative justice, conflict transformation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Brings over 20 years of experience facilitating victim/offender/community members conferences, providing technical support and leading capacity building trainings to governments, non-governmental organizations and civil society groups domestically and globally. Specific experience working on US Government-funded anti-corruption projects, including study visits to Italian judicial/prosecutorial institutions. Serves as the Founder and President of Transforming Conflicts, Restoring Justice (TCRJ), a US-based woman-owned small business dedicated to addressing, mitigating, and preventing conflicts and promoting peace, justice, reconciliation and trauma healing in communities affected by crime and protracted violence. Author of a book on the theory and practice of Conflict Transformation (Italy): La Trasformazione dei Conflitti. Un Percorso Formativo, Claudiana editrice, Torino (2017) and three contextual Mediation Manuals (Haiti, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire). Direct experience in 20 countries in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Native Italian, fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION

  • MA in Conflict Transformation, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA, 2005
  • MA in Theological Studies, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C., Summa cum laude, 1999
  • BA in Theology, Facoltà Valdese di Teologia, Rome, Italy, 1997
  • BA in Modern Languages, Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples, Italy, Cum laude, 1978

SUMMARY OF RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE

Founder and President of Transforming Conflicts, Restoring Justice (TCRJ), LLC  10/17/2011 – Present  Offers a variety of high-quality, multilingual context-oriented services aimed at providing governments, non-governmental organizations and civil society groups and individuals with skills and tools for restorative responses to conflict and to engage in collaborative efforts to become agents of change for reconciliation and peacebuilding. Designs and conducts capacity-building training and workshops on the theories and practices of conflict transformation, restorative justice and mediation. Leads study visits to Italian judicial/prosecutorial institutions for US Government-funded anti-corruption projects.

Victim Outreach Specialist, JustBridges, National Clearinghouse for Defense-Based Victim Outreach (DVO) October 2020 – Present       Assists defense attorneys with outreach to survivors of violent crime and family members whose loved ones have been murdered, in an effort to ensure that concerns and needs of people who have been harmed are addressed and they do not feel further victimized by their experience with the justice system.

Peacebuilding and mediation expert, Pollack Peacebuilding Systems Oct. 2019 – Present                     Provides a variety of workplace mediations and peacebuilding program services involving conflict analyses and interventions to reduce organizational conflict, improve conflict management and communication skills for executive and employees.  Designs and facilitates interactive conflict transformation workshops for small and large work-teams.

Global Expert Consultant on Restorative Justice, Conflict Transformation and Mediation  2003 – Present    Designs and conducts capacity-building training and workshops on the theories and practices of conflict transformation, restorative justice and mediation.

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ASSIGNMENTS UNDERTAKEN

  • Led coordination and implementation of the USAID’s Judiciary Against Corruption Activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (JACA BiH)’s study visit to Italian judicial institutions dealing with high profile corruption and organized crime cases. The achieved goal was to strengthen the capacity of the prosecutors and judges selected for the delegation to effectively prosecute perpetrators in high-level corruption, economic and organized crime cases and to prevent corruption in judicial institutions; and strengthen their integrity (2023).
  • Design and implementation of conflict transformation, peacebuilding and reconciliation processes for the Italian Baptist Churches – Italy (2020 and 2023).
  • Victim Outreach Consultation for the Federal Public Defender Office for the Eastern District of Virginia – In collaboration with the Victim Outreach Specialist, provided support for research, information and contact with families and survivors of victims in the case US v. Alexanda Amon Kotey, Case1:20-CR-239-TSE (2021).
  • Victim Outreach Consultation for the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania – In collaboration with the Victim Outreach Specialist, provided support for survivors of one of the victims in the case US v. Higgs, D. MD CR No. PJM-09-0520 (2020 – 2021).
    • Researched and compiled information on survivors and families of murdered victims and their needs.
    • Identified constructive ways to outreach to families of victims through a restorative process aimed at incorporating and addressing their perspectives and concerns.
    • Assisted in the preparation for facilitated dialogues between defendant and a relative of one of the murdered victims.
  • Curriculum and training development on Restorative Justice – Viet Nam: Supported the organization Hagar International Viet Nam’s work by developing and facilitating a comprehensive curriculum and training program on restorative justice approaches to combat human trafficking through a collaboration between government entities and community organizations. Vinh city and Hanoi (2016).
  • Training on Building a Culture of Peace: Conflict Analysis and Transformation – Mexico,for the Center of Alternative Justice of the Attorney General of the States of Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Federal District and Baja California with the Supporting Program for Security and Justice/USAID/MSI (2010).
  • Trainings on Mediation – Haiti, for the USAID’s Improving Justice Service Delivery project (Projustice) (2011).
  • Training on Best Methods to Develop Tools for Community Unity – Mexico, in support of the USAID’s PRODERECHO Project for indigenous women attorneys of communities in the states of Oaxaca and Baja California (2009 – 2010).
  • Led coordination and implementation of the USAID’s Programa de Apoyo para el Estado de Derecho en México (PRODERECHO)’s study visit to Italian judicial institutions dealing with organized crime cases. The achieved goal was to strengthen the capacity of the prosecutors, judges and civil society representatives selected for the delegation to collaboratively address corruption and organized crime (2009).
  • Training of Trainers facilitation onThe Process of Restorative Justice, Step by Step, for the Center of Victims Assistance & the Supporting Program to Rule of Law in Mexico/USAID/MSD (Mexico City, 2009).
  • Trauma Healing training facilitation for victims’ assistance personnel – Mexico, for the USAID’s PRODERECHO program (Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, Mexico, 2009).
  • Training on Strategies of Community Collaboration for the Supporting Program to Victims of Human Trafficking in Mexico for the USAID’s PRODERECHO project and the Federal District Attorney (Mexico City, 2008).
  • Workshops on Restorative Justice, for the National Conference Finding Ways to Overcome the Culture of Mafia for the Center of Civil and Criminal Mediation. Palermo, and Bari, Italy (2005).
  • Workshops on Restorative Justice, for the National Conference Finding Ways to Overcome the Culture of Mafia (Palermo and Bari, Italy, 2005).

SELECTED EVALUATION AND CURRICULUM DESIGN WORK

  • Assessment of Justice Sector Services of an Integrated Justice Systems International (IJSI) project in Liberia for GAER Consulting, LLC (2018).
  • Manual / guiding document design – Côte d’Ivoire: Developed a Mediation Training Manual and Guide as part of USAID’s ProJustice activity support project in Côte d’Ivoire (2016 – 2017).
  • Program and impact evaluation of the ADR component of the USAID’s PROJUSTICE Project – Haiti (2014).
  • Design of Mediation Training for Trainers Manual – Liberia for the US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)-funded Mitigating Local Disputes Program in Liberia (MLDL) (2012).
  • Design of justice models in ADR – Haiti: As part of the USAID’s PROJUSTICE activity in Haiti, provided technical assistance to mediation centers through the development of forms, procedures and guidelines to quantify and evaluate the impact of mediation to reduce gender-based violence (2011).
  • Design of A ‘Step by Step’ RJ Process Manual for the Centre of Victims Assistance and the Alternative Justice program of Attorney General’s Offices of the Federal District and the States of Baja California, Oaxaca and Chihuahua, funded by the Rule of Law Program in Mexico /USAID/MSD (2009).

SELECTED KEYNOTES AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  • Conference presentation on Restorative Justice, for the Coordinamento Teologhe Italiane and for the Protestant Faculty of Theology (Rome, Italy, April 15 and May 12, 2023).
  • Mediation and Restorative Justice workshop for the University of California College of the Law San Francisco (previously UC Hastings College of the Law) (2021).
  • Conference presentation on Restorative Justice and Organized Crime, Foro Internacional de Prácticas Restaurativas, Attorney General’s Office of State of Baja California (Rosarito, Mexico, August 2018).
  • Keynote Address: The Application of Restorative Justice in the Criminal System, Conference for Lawyers and Psychologists (Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, June 2011).
  • Keynote Address: Women: From Victims to Survivors, the International Forum on Women, Constitution and Restorative Justice (Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic, 2009).
  • Keynote Address: Restorative Justice and Organized Crime: Challenges and Hope, International Conference on Restorative Justice:Humanizing the Justice Process, Rule of Law in Mexico/USAID-MSI (Oaxaca, Mexico, Sept 2008).

SELECTED LECTURES AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

  • Periodic online lectures onRestorative Justice and Organized Crime for the class of Restorative Justice at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, the Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, Virginia (From 2016 to 2020).
  • Assistant Lecturer for the US Institute of Peace on Building Safer Communities: Options for Government/Civil Society (Kenya, June 2015).
  • Assistant Lecturer for the US Institute of Peace on Empowering Communities to Counter Violent Extremism (United Arab Emirates, Feb 2015).
  • Adjunct Faculty, course on Strategic Peacebuilding for the Women Leadership Program of the Center of Justice and Peacebuilding of EMU (Kenya, June 2015 and Fiji, June 2014).
  • Periodic lectures on Applications of Restorative Justice in Identity-Based Conflicts at the US Institute of Peace (Washington, D.C., 2011, 2012, 2013).
  • Adjunct Faculty, course on Restorative Justice and Social Change, for the Starr King School for the Ministry, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, USA (January 2010).
  • Lecture on Restorative Justice for the Forum on Women, Healing, and Reconciliation, Yale Divinity School (2008).
  • Adjunct Faculty, course on Conflict Transformation for the Protestant Faculty of Theology (Rome, Italy, 2007 and 2013).
  • Assistant teacher, Restorative Justice course, for the Center of Justice and Peacebuilding, EMU, Harrisonburg, VA, USA (Summer 2006 and 2007)
  • Periodic lectures on Theory and Practice of Restorative Justice for the Washington Semester Program and the School of Public Affairs of the American University, Washington, DC (from 2004 to 2008).

OTHER PROFESSIONAL WORKING EXPERIENCE

  • Chaplain, American University Washington, D.C.                                 08/15/2000 – 05/31/2010
    • Helped nurture a thriving interfaith culture among the American University students, organizing, leading and supporting panels, workshops, trainings, social activities and interfaith dialogues on the campus.
    • Co- designed and helped develop a multimedia appreciative inquiry research project among about 30 interfaith clergy and campus students. The final project was used as a central feature of the 40th anniversary of the Spiritual Center of the American University (April 24, 2006).
  • Restorative Justice Facilitator in Schools, Northern VA Mediation Services, Fairfax, VA  2008 – 2011
    • Facilitated restorative circle processes in Fairfax public schools.
    • Trained school personnel on applying a system of restorative practices as an alternative to disciplinary action.
    • Trained high school students in peer mediation and assisted in the development of girls’ leadership programs.
  • RJ Facilitator & Mediator, General District Court, Office of Dispute Resolution, Manassas, VA               2005 – 2009
    • Facilitated conferences between victims and juvenile offenders (separate pre-conferencing, direct conferencing, assistance in compilation of agreement, evaluations, monitoring of agreements) for the Juvenile Court.
    • Mediated General District and Circuit Court-civil cases.
  • Finance & Program Coordinator, Witness for Peace, Washington, D.C.                            1999 – 2003
    • Supervised and coordinated the organization international programs and financial activities of the organization.
    • Collaborated in managing and editing a quarterly newsletter.
    • Participated in educational and socially responsible delegations to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Colombia.
  • Budget Assistant, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy             1982 – 1997
    •  Maintained, reviewed and reconciled financial records for all programs operated by the Economic Policy Analysis Division under the regular and extra-budgetary programs.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Contributed to a total of 11 Publications. Major publications include:

  • La Trasformazione dei Conflitti. Un Percorso Formativo (Conflict Transformation: A Formative Journey), Claudiana editrice, Torino (2017).
  • “La Comunicazione Nonviolenta” (“Nonviolent Communication”), Servitium, Mediagraf Spa eds. (2018), 59-62
  • “Frontiere, Identità e Conflitto” (“Borders, Identity and Conflict”), Gioventù Evangelica (2012), 27-29.
  • “Restorative Justice and Organized Crime: A Challenge to Overcome the Culture of Mafia,” Conflict Transformation and Restorative Justice Manual, Mennonite Central Committee eds. (2008), 320-323.
  • “La Giustizia Rigenerativa: Promessa e Sfida per una Trasformazione Sociale” (“Restorative Justice: Promise and Challenge for a Social Transformation”), Mediares 9 (2007), 169-197.

SELECTED TRAININGS UNDERTAKEN

  • Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) (Facilitation Certification, Level 2, EMU, May 23 – June 3, 2022)
  • Transforming Historical Harms: A Narrative Change Approach to Community and Societal Transformation (online course by Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, VA, Nov.-Dec. 2020)
  • Gender and Peacebuilding (Certification from US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C., July 16-20, 2012)
  • Peacemaking Dialogues (Facilitation Certificate from Institute of Multi-Track Diplomacy, Rosslyn, VA, Feb.-March 2011)
  • Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR), (Facilitation Certification, Level 1, EMU, Oct. 22-26, 2007)
  • Nonviolence Facilitator Training (Certification from Fellowship of Reconciliation, Washington, D.C., Oct. 7-9, 2005)
  • Working with Survivors of Capital Crimes: Defense-based Victim Outreach (Certification from EMU, Oct. 22-26 2003)
  • Circle training instructed by Kay Pranis (EMU, 29 March 2003)
  • Training for Social Action Trainers (Certification from Training for Change, Philadelphia, PA, May 2003)
  • Restorative Justice Training (Facilitator Certificate from Prince William County Office of Dispute Resolution, Manassas, VA, Dec. 6-7, 2002)
  • Restorative Conferencing Training (Facilitator Certificate from Northern Virginia Mediation Service, Fairfax, VA, June 28-30, 2002).

LANGUAGES

Native Italian, fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

 

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