Daughter of Desmond Tutu to keynote national conference at Campbell

Raleigh, N.C. – Nontombi Naomi Tutu, daughter of South African Archbishop and Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu, is set to keynote the third National Conference on Restorative Justice hosted by Campbell’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, June 8-10, at the Sheraton Hotel in Raleigh.

Founded in 2007, the conference was established in response to the growing interest within the United States in restorative justice, which focuses on identifying the effects of crime on individuals and communities and involving both victims and offenders in the process of healing. Law Professor Jon Powell directs the Restorative Justice program at Campbell University which mediates conflicts between juveniles, referred by the Juvenile Justice System, and local schools.

“This conference brings together community leaders, educators, faith leaders, academics, judges, politicians, policymakers, practitioners and others to explore restorative justice’s potential to heal and transform both historical harm and present-day conflict in our schools, justice system and diverse communities,” Powell said.

Nontombi Naomi Tutu, a product of apartheid South Africa and an activist for human rights, has been a development consultant in West Africa, program coordinator for programs on race and gender and gender-based violence in education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town and has taught at the universities of Hartford and Connecticut and Brevard College. Growing up the daughter of Desmond Tutu presented many opportunities and challenges, but ultimately enabled Naomi to be a positive voice for the dignity of all races, she said.

Tutu heads a list of well-known authorities in the restorative justice field, including Howard Zehr, author and “grandfather” of contemporary restorative justice; Kay Pranis, author and preeminent trainer in Peacemaking Circles; Harley Eagle, Dakota/Anishinabe restorative justice practitioner and John Braithwaite, Research Council Federation Fellow and founder of the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University.

The conference is open to the public. To register, go to the restorative justice website at www.restorativejusticenow.org, or if you need assistance with registration, contact Kathy Lawton at Campbell’s Norman Adrian School of Law, 919.865.4692.

Photo Copy: Nontombi Naomi Tutu, daughter of Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu.

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