Joel Friesz has served as the Executive Director of the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ) since January 2022. A restorative justice practitioner for two decades, Joel has worked extensively with communities across North Dakota and region to implement restorative practices in K-12 schools, the juvenile justice system, and adult corrections. A lifelong North Dakotan, Joel resides in Fargo where he continues to support restorative justice efforts at both a local and national level.

Natasha Gourd, Wicanphi Tokca Win (Different Star Woman), is a mother of four children and a member of the Spirit Lake Nation. She served five years as vice president of the Bismarck Public Schools Indigenous Parent Advisory Committee. She serves on the Native American Rights Fund Indigenous Peacemaking Advisory Committee. Natasha has developed a diversionary court system for tribal-affected youth and has been a peacemaking consultant for various tribes and organizations for ten years. She serves as the Restorative Practice Council Coordinator for the Consensus Council and a Leadership for Education Equity Public Policy Fellow for the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition.

Tito Campbell (9:00-10:15 am)

“We are not the labels you put on us”

Tito Campbell is a Restorative Justice Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Corrections. In his role with the DOC, Tito leads a Restorative Justice pilot project that employs incarcerated individuals as restorative justice mentors working on preventing and reducing violence in prison facilities. He is the point person for all Restorative Justice councils in Minnesota DOC facilities. Tito Campbell has created and supports a Restorative Justice Committee, an advisory group of formerly incarcerated individuals. Tito also serves on the Board of Directors for Volunteers of America Minnesota/ Wisconsin. Tito is justice impacted having served thirteen years in the Minnesota state prison system. While incarcerated he was a Restorative Justice council member for ten years where he was able to learn and teach about RJ to the prison community, a peer mentor and treatment unit coordinator. Tito serves as a conduit for change and hopes to create a safer and more restorative prison environment through restorative justice/restorative practices. “We are not the labels you put on us.”

Dr. Rachel Bachmeier (3:30-4:45 pm)

“Restoring to What? The Importance of Community in Schools”

Rachel Bachmeier is Principal of West Fargo High School. Originally from Kent, Ohio, Dr. Bachmeier attended Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio for her undergraduate degree, majoring in History and Secondary Education. Upon graduating, Dr. Bachmeier joined Teach for America and served as a Corps Member on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, teaching 8th Grade Language Arts at Todd County Middle School. In 2016, Dr. Bachmeier moved to her husband’s hometown of West Fargo and began her career at West Fargo High School, first as an English Learner Social Studies instructor and later as an administrator. She received her doctorate from the University of North Dakota in 2024, completing a dissertation on restorative practices, and lives in West Fargo with her husband, daughter, and their rescue pup.

Natasha Gourd, Wicanphi Tokca Win (Different Star Woman), (Spirit Lake Nation), is a mother of four children and a member of the Spirit Lake Nation. She served five years as vice president of the Bismarck Public Schools Indigenous Parent Advisory Committee. She serves on the Native American Rights Fund Indigenous Peacemaking Advisory Committee. Natasha has developed a diversionary court system for tribal-affected youth and has been a peacemaking consultant for various tribes and organizations for ten years. She serves as the Restorative Practice Council Coordinator for the Consensus Council and a Leadership for Education Equity Public Policy Fellow for the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition.

Laurie Vilas (White Earth Nation) is a current Peacemaker for the Mille Lacs Band Tribal Court with a focus on custody, visitation and guardianship cases. She has been doing Restorative Justice Work for over 25 years through building bridges with local, state, and tribal systems. She has been committed to working with youth from elementary and high school students with emotional behavior disorders and at a Native American Group home residential setting serving 8–18-year-old students. Laurie is a former Circle Coordinator for “Mahnomen County Working Together” in Mahnomen, Minnesota which led to collaboratively implementing a sentencing circle for youth offenders to reduce recidivism. She has done work with prisoner reentry for Northwest Indian OIC in collaboration with Minnesota Department of Corrections to reduce recidivism of Native Americans on Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth reservations. In these positions Laurie utilized Restorative Justice Practices to enhance safety, wellbeing, and cultural identity through traditional teachings of Native American Values.

Ricky White, Niigonanakud, is Anishinabe from Whitefish Bay First Nations in Ontario, Canada. He is Pizhew or Lynx Clan and a lifetime member of the renowned drum group, the Whitefish Bay Singers. As a result of growing up on an isolated reservation, Ricky retained deep knowledge of the Anishinaabe language and culture and those teachings continue to guide his spirit and work today. Over the last 22 years, Ricky has served as an Ojibwe Language and Culture Teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, Executive Director of Education, and Superintendent of Schools. He was exposed to world class professional development, especially in the key areas of school improvement, school climate, and reaching students that our school systems struggling with.

Ricky has shifted his professional career to strategically sharing the blueprints of best practices for student success and working to help turnaround schools, programs and communities. He started a consulting company, fittingly called “First Nations Consultants, ” and is now sharing his strategies all over Canada and the United States to inspire and unite his methods and messages for enhancing the educational experience for all involved.

Kendall Hughes (9:00-10:15 am)

“Can Restorative Justice Be a Vaccine for Violence?”

Kendall Hughes serves as the first-ever director of the newly created Office of Restorative Practices (ORP) within the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS). With decades of experience in restorative work — both in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and a nonprofit in southeastern Minnesota — Hughes brings a deep understanding of helping people rebuild their lives after crime.

Hughes has spent his career working with people affected by crime — those who have been harmed and those who caused harm. He started as a nonprofit worker in lower-income communities and then served for 20 years as a federal prison chaplain. During this time, he developed programs that helped incarcerated men build skills, form supportive relationships and engage in meaningful conversations with survivors of violent crimes. In 2019, he co-founded Three Rivers Restorative Justice, which helps people resolve conflicts without going to court. The program has been successful, with high satisfaction rates from participants and a reduction in reoffending. As ORP director, Hughes works closely with local communities to help them create restorative practices that heal harm, build accountability, and make Minnesota safer.