Our values and beliefs inform how we operate internally and how we work in collaboration with others.
We strive to be equitable, inclusive, non-judgmental, anti-biased and anti-oppressive, and self-reflective.
Nancy J. Michaels
Nancy was involved in establishing the Restorative Justice Community Court in North Lawndale and continues to serve as a circle keeper for the court. Prior to that, Nancy was the Associate Director at the Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and transformation at Roosevelt University.
She has a BA in Social Justice Studies and an MA in Sociology from Roosevelt University. Her graduate research, involving the white response to black integration on the Southwest and West sides of Chicago, has to do with how segregation affects racial identity and the social construction of whiteness.
Other areas of interest and activism lie in juvenile justice, mass incarceration, restorative justice and more broadly, in raising awareness around the societal structures, policy and institutions that lead to the marginalization and criminalization of whole communities in urban environments.
Nancy is a highly collaborative and driven change agent with a passion and focus for moving social justice initiatives forward by building and repairing relationships and raising consciousness through data driven research and community engagement. Specific to her restorative justice background, Nancy is a restorative justice practitioner and trainer, has worked on a number of initiatives with the goal of shifting mindsets around how we do justice in our communities, schools, and systems.
Sarah Schriber
Sarah Schriber directs Prevent School Violence Illinois (PSVI). In collaboration with the National School Climate Center, PSVI piloted a 2-year school climate transformation process with five middle schools that was shown to successfully reduce bullying at rates greater than several of the leading bullying prevention programs. Recently, PSVI launched Listening to Youth, a project that trains adults to work with Youth Advisory Boards through which youth can cultivate and amplify their voices and take action on issues that impact them the most. PSVI also engages in action research with the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and other institutional partners to develop and pilot diagnostic data measures including the Bias-Based Bullying Survey, a first-of-its kind measure schools can use to assess students’ experiences with bullying impacted by identity-based biases. Previously, Sarah served as the Policy Director at the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance and was a staff attorney at the ACLU of Illinois. Sarah attended Northwestern Law School and Smith College.