THE RESTORING COLLECTIVE

Its time to stop the violence.
And we have the tools to do it. With you.

Co-Founder and Co-Director

The Restoring Collective is an Indigenous-Ally network that coaches Indigenous skills, tools, and ways of doing, and builds community and organizational circles of decolonization, reconciliation, allyship, witnessing, co-creation, peacebuilding and leadership across Turtle Island.

Our Teachings bridge Indigenous principles of All My Relations respect, responsibility, and reciprocity, with both day to day relationship practices for peacebuilding communities, and leadership actions for transformational organizations. We activate UNDRIP and the TRC Calls for Action.

“You’ve done it. I never thought reconciliation was possible,
and with this program, you’ve done it.”

Carol Martin, Nisga’a, Director Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre

In our Community Branch, we train Peace Circles Facilitators, integrated in community networks, who Healing and Learning Circles to prevent and intervene on violence, and replace it with Indigenous restorative and uplifting relationships.

In our Leadership Branch, we Coach leadership Allies in organizations and agencies to cultivate their capacity, skills and tools for reconciliation and collaboration, with the highly effective practices of holistic Indigenous governance.

In live and online workshops, front-line staff, organizational leaders and systemic changemakers learn Indigenous tools for equitable relationships and services, generating social transformation, reconciliation, equity ecosystems, and collective conflict resolution.

“Its time for an utterly new story. Its time.
A completely new story of what we’re doing and how we’re going to do this.
Because it can’t be about us and them any more. Its about all of us.”

Giihlgiigaa Todd de Vries, Haida Knowledge Keeper, the Restoring Collective

The Restoring Collective engages with deep Indigenous healing ways, with deep gratitude and respect on the unsurrendered territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

The Restoring Collective began in 2013 with a small Indigenous-Ally collaboration group I as part of who asked:

“How do we end the cycles of violence?”

and then, “How do we work together as human beings?”

Case Studies

Haida Elder Sandra Greene guides drum making with Amad Mohammed, PhD Bangladesh Restorative Justice Director, and Maria Silvania of Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.

The Restoring Circles Project empowers Circle Coaches with tools for restorative talking circles; non-violent conflict resolution; trauma-informed somatic healing; witnessing and interdependent, full-person reciprocity; stories of resilience and identities of gifts, weaving belonging and peacebuilding in collective Circle process and cultural hands-on, ritual protocols and spiritual place-making.

Our Allyship: Collaborating into Structure Leadership Workshops take these same Indigenous ways of knowing and relationship, and coaches and co-creates with civil society and enterprise leaders for organizations of reconciliation and innovation.

The practices not only activate goals for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, they build concrete action, structures and sustainable and effective systems for any organization wanting to be relevant, adaptable, collaborative, and effective.