Restorative Justice in Action: A Conversation with Ramone Sanders on Community Connection and Impact

The success of LCJP’s impact on our community lies in the connection to our community. LCJP’s Training Manager, Ramone Sanders, not only understands but embodies this aspect of Restorative Justice. LCJP’s summer intern Annika Aumentado sat down with Ramone to learn more about his passion for Community Restorative Justice.

Q: Tell me about your previous jobs and careers. How do you think they applied to Restorative Justice?

A: I started by working as a liaison communicating with the folks that were staffed at Boys and Girls Club for Portage County, there I dove into youth development work, adventure education, and environmental education. After that I worked for the YMCA at resident camps in central Wisconsin until I eventually moved back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and worked with youth in an urban setting from more diverse backgrounds.

I had the opportunity to work for a specialized teen pregnancy prevention program as an education specialist and a community organizer. And while working for them, I had the opportunity to learn more about social emotional learning, trauma informed care, solution focused case management, and then also restorative practices for the first time. 

That restorative practices experience was a 10-month-long experience that was really intentional. Every week we would come together, young nonprofit professionals, learn and have dialogue around classism, racism, heterosexism, ableism, etc. Then within a restorative framework utilizing community agreements and guidelines, we would have somewhat challenging conversations, from that experience, I saw the ability to transform conflict after establishing community and then leaning into wanting to repair harm and what have you.

Not everyone in the program went on to do restorative work or anything but for me I continued to utilize the practice because personally, it really helps. I wanted to continue to learn more about restorative practices because I was utilizing it in my work with the young folks I was working with, and it aligned so well with the social emotional learning, the trauma-informed lens approach, and strengths-based approach. Personally in my own life, it was helping me with my conflicts with my family members. So I kind of leaned in heavily, and it helped me with unlearning some of the toxic behaviors I had established and cultivated myself. 

Q: What was your first impression of Restorative Justice and restorative practices? What stuck out about it and what was different from previous ways that you've handled conflict?

A: I think it was like something I was searching for and I just didn't have the language. Through my own learning and work, moving away from home and being in a different environment and having different influences around me, I was seeking ways to be able to have authentic conversations about challenging things.

 Accountability was a part of that as well. I just didn't really acknowledge or realize how toxic my language and relationships were at the time. And as I started to navigate that, it was a crucial time that gave me the language and theory. And I had kind of an “aha moment.”  Like this is what I've been searching for: the opportunity to, you know, say things that are challenging, receive things that are challenging.

For me it feels so much better to have it out there, to be able to navigate it and have it all out on the table rather than assumptions. Because assumptions are just going to let us down, that’s been  my own experience. Whenever we assume it's never the reality because our experiences and the way that we perceive the world are so unique. Like, blackness isn't monolithic, whiteness isn't monolithic. We're all so unique and our life experiences are so unique that the way that we view the world is completely different, right? 

What changed for me was the ability to have difficult conversations and be challenged, to unlearn or to take in a different reality and it's just like it's an expansion.

Q: So what led you to LCJP specifically and to this role?

A: I kind of took a break from nonprofit work for a while, but then the summer of unrest hit, especially in Milwaukee. I was volunteering with the ACLU of Wisconsin as a legal observer, so I was observing young folks demonstrating and doing my best to ensure that both law enforcement and protesters were safe and  held accountable if any conflicts arose. And I just felt the need to get back to the work and applied for an opportunity in Colorado Springs to work within a non-profit organization, doing work that I was familiar with, to help them establish workplace restorative practices to transform conflict. Helping be a resource for community members and organizations that want to start exploring what restorative practices can do for their organization or for their community.

I worked with a core team of folks that worked towards implementing a racial equity action plan as well as implementing restorative practices in my workplace. This was also connected with community building, relationship building, and then also kind of having a restorative mediation process. That then brought me to a training opportunity with LCJP to learn how to facilitate restorative practices in a community group conference setting. 

I got to meet Shalene, Crystal, as well as the person who was in my role previously. I saw LCJP as another stepping stone in becoming a more well-rounded practitioner in restorative practices and it all kind of aligned. And here I am now having the opportunity to move even further into becoming a more well-rounded practitioner.

Q: What are you most excited about right now or what excited you about this position at LCJP, along with some goals that go with that?

A: I would say it’s tough because my initial reason for desiring the position was the opportunity to train more folks that wanted to be there as well as the opportunity to cultivate curriculum that’s geared towards adult learners, as well as young folks. I saw it as an opportunity to cultivate curriculum, as well as a hands-on opportunity in instructing folks and leading folks through learning opportunities. As well as bringing in the lens of a black person in the practice and a black male in the practice. The vision I’m hoping to continue to build upon is what LCJP has already established, but to add this iteration. This transformation of LCJP and to continue to add capacity, relevance, and equity. The fact that now we offer bilingual and monolingual conferences and just to continue to establish and cultivate an authentic practice within our organization in how we serve this community.

Q: What are some other ways LCJP can expand equity and the community that we’re connecting with?

A: We heavily lean upon the participation of volunteers and we do our best to ensure that we’re in spaces where the community can know we exist and to know we are a resource. Restorative practices isn’t a one size fits all, it’s moreso geared toward and flexible toward the community’s needs as long as they’re embodying these core values and principles of restorative practices and what that justice looks like. When we’re talking about equity, inclusion, and reintegration, I know a lot of folks oftentimes think that equity work is so elusive and so difficult and has to be so elaborate when it’s really very simple, as simple as allowing folks a voice at a table or a community function that they're not normally invited to when decisions are made, which I hope that we continue to cultivate. The work that I engage in here is always having an authentic connection with the community that’s a stakeholder, no matter what that community looks like.

Q: As Training Manager, why do you believe volunteers are so important to LCJP?

A: Volunteers are so important because I, myself, don’t live in Longmont and we serve Longmont. In the circle the community is able to offer collective wisdom for young folks that come through our community group conference or even adults who come through our restorative processes. For them to be in that process with community members from their own community, and to hear about the possible impacts and harms directly from their community, as well as the value to that community,  is going to be much more meaningful. It’s important to have volunteers who come from this community, who care about this community, who can cultivate a sense of belonging for community members who come through our process. 

With his new perspective on the importance of Restorative Justice and how to connect with the community, LCJP looks forward to Ramone’s continued impact.