WHO
(and where)
WE ARE
TEAM MEMBERS.
Some of us prefer our names in lower case, so yes, it's intentional :)
dr. dorothy vaandering
Director
Pouch Cove, NL.
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dorothy vaandering is a professor in MUN’s Faculty of Education and the Director of Relationships First Newfoundland and Labrador (RFNL). She has been researching Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) for 15 years and is passionate about nurturing relational communities where all people are honoured as worthy and interconnected.
Learning to live relationally in all aspects of life is core to who she is. dorothy acknowledges that she is indebted to so many, young and old, who have been patient with her and accepted her for who she is so that she can now draw on life, teaching, and research experience to explore RJE.
In 2009, having worked for 20 years as a Primary-Elementary educator in Alberta and Ontario, she started work at Memorial University NL where she is a professor at the Faculty of Education. dorothy focuses on designing and implementing innovative, transformative professional learning approaches for the sustainable implementation of RJE. Engaging in making reconciliation real as a settler-Canadian has become a priority in her work.
She is the author and co-author of a variety of academic and professional publications including “The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education.” She is honoured to serve as Director of RFNL.
Lisa Charlong Norris
Grants and Project Manager
Paradise, NL
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Lisa comes to RF-RJNL with a BA, a BEd and an MEd and over 15 years of experience working in research administration - whether it’s grants facilitation, proposal writing or managing Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Tier I and Tier II projects. She also brings extensive experience in structured data and data management as well as in scholarly communications and humanities computing. Her current interests include demonstrating research (and public engagement) impact and research project management.
Outside of MUN hours, Lisa is passionate about working with young women and men who walk a restorative path towards healthy relationships with self, with family, with community and with the Creator. Drug-free and sober.
Her favorite place is in the cold, salt water, even in winter months.
Traditional Chief Mi'sel Joe
Cultural Advisor
Miawpukek Mi’kamawey Mawi’omi First
Nation, NL
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Chief Mi’sel Joe was born in Miawpukek Mi’kamawey Mawi’omi First Nation, NL into a strong Mi'kmaq family who educated him in all the Mi’kmaq ways and traditions. Both his grandfather d uncle have held the office of hereditary Saqamaw. After a time away, Chief Mi’sel Joe returned to Miawpukek in 1974. Since then, he has been involved in community leadership and served as Administrative Chief for over three decades. In this role, he has been instrumental in transforming NL’s understanding of Indigenous Leadership and guided Conne River to becoming a successful and thriving community. Since his retirement in 2024, he serves as Traditional Saqamaw with a commitment to preserving the language, culture and traditions of his people. In May 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by Memorial University for his contribution to the economic, social and political development of the Mi'kmaq people of NL.
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Other awards include the Order of Canada (2018), the Frank McKenna Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Policy by Atlantic Canadians (2024)
Turning the Tide Industry Lifetime Achievement Award for Exemplary Leadership (2024) and the
Order of Newfoundland and Labrador (2024).
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Chief Joe has been an incredible mentor and guide for RFNL since 2018 when he graciously and generously led a small group of academics as together they planned the innovative and transformative Two-Eared Listening Gathering . Since then, he has supported the work of RFNL as an opportunity to deepen NL’s understanding of justice. Repeatedly, he is showing us that to understand restorative justice we must first hear the stories of injustice. This directive has challenged us all to recognize more fully what it means to honour all people and the creation as worthy and interconnected. With Chief Joe’s guidance we are learning what it is to be an organization committed to decolonizing its thinking and practice.
tisia procopio stemp
Community Coordinator
Conception Bay South , NL
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After 25+ years as teacher, university instructor, and community advocate in New York and Las Vegas in the US, tisia procopio stemp relocated to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2022 to continue her educational journey and doctoral work in relational pedagogies and collaborative cultural knowledge.
tisia comes to RF-RJNL with extensive background in justice education having worked with local policy leaders and educators across the globe to develop and initiate arts-and-culture- based programming in schools and community learning spaces. Passionate about making connections, building relationships, and exploring our mutual humanity, tisia’s work focuses on designing and implementing culturally sustainable teaching and learning experiences and decolonizing approaches to broaden the scope and integration of restorative and transformative justice education.
Sarah McDonald Moores
Education Coordinator
St. John's, NL
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Sarah McDonald Moores is a graduate of Memorial University's Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Education: Educational Leadership Studies Programs. Throughout her learning journey Sarah has taken a keen interest in holistic restorative justice in education.
Sarah is currently seconded to Relationships First Newfoundland and Labrador (RFNL) from her position as a music educator. Sarah has worked with the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLSchools) in various positions since 2006, and works as a Per-Course Instructor, teaching the graduate course ED 6463: Rethinking Educational Engagement at Memorial University. In her current role as Restorative Justice Education Coordinator with RFNL, Sarah hopes to help those engaged in all levels of education to embrace restorative justice as a way of being.
Sarah is a founding member of Lady Cove Women's Choir and Projēkt Chamber Voices. She has been a featured soloist with both of these groups and has traveled all over the world with choral and instrumental groups as a chorister and as a conductor.
The Advisory
Board.
Shelby Arnold
Learning Facilitator, THRIVE
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Lisa Charlong
Grants Facilitation Officer, RFNL & Faculty of Education, Memorial University
​
Catherine Fagan
President of the Board of Directors of First Light: St. John’s Friendship Centre
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Dr. Sulaimon Abiodun Olawale Giwa
Interim Dean, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs Associate Professor
School of Social Work, Memorial University
Elected College Member, Royal Society of Canada
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Sara Hawkins
Access to Justice Coordinator (St. John’s)
The Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland & Labrador (PLIAN)
Dr. Rhonda Joy
Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Research,
Faculty of Education, Memorial University
Catherine Kelly
Human Rights-CJC
Denise King
Manager, Student Services
Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Olivia Lynch
Interim Executive Director, Violence Prevention Avalon East
Crystal Leighton
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Carey Majid
Q.C. Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission.
Sarah McDonald Moores
Education Coordinator, RFNL, Memorial University
Dan McGettigan
Director, Turnings
Tom Mugford
Program Development Specialist for Indigenous Education
Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Mike Noseworthy
Assistant Deputy Minister
Courts and Corporate Services
Department of Justice and Public Safety, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Kevin O’Shea
Executive Director, PLIAN
Bill Ranson
Coordinator, Turnings
Dr. Rose Ricciardelli
Research Chair, Safety, Security, and Wellness, Marine Institute
Dr. Sherra Robinson
Program Implementation Specialist for Indigenous Education
NLSchools, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Mitch Rumbolt
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC)
Gabe Ryan
Administrative Officer, Programs and Services
Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association (NLTA)
SAO
Faculty of Education
Ed Wade
Independent
Jessica Webb
Safe, Caring and Inclusive Schools,
Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
dr. dorothy vaandering
Director RFNL and Pofessor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University