Hello, my name is Brielle. I am a designer, facilitator, and dreamer of a just world. I seek to find the intersections of my skills in design and facilitation, interest in justice reform, and current pursuits within this graduate program. My interests in healing justice, interpersonal conflict, and systems thinking lead me to my interest in the justice reform, and restorative justice space.

I am also deeply shaped by harm reduction frameworks which call us to meet people where they are at, call people in instead of isolating them, demonstrate unbounding love without compromising on accountability, and believe in the transformative capability of both individuals and systems.

Often times organizations working towards a world without prisons are functioning at the mercy of policy makers, and funders who are vastly removed from the issues. This makes it difficult to create spaces for sharing, collaboration, agency, and sustainable change as defined by the folks closest to the issue. Where one person is making a choice for a group of people, you find diminished confidence and trust in an already resented system, and harmful consequences for the communities being spoken for. Singular political implementations are often not sustainable, nor represent the real, and shifting needs of the people.

This approach to justice and safety is antithetical to the world that abolitionists envision, which builds justice and safety without the oversight, or policing, of oppressive authoritarian systems. Safety and Justice should be defined and implemented by the communities themselves.

The good news is that there are justice organizations moving towards participatory methods that engage people that are impacted as expert collaborators, and ease power dynamics between constituents and policy makers.

I am currently hoping to partner with the Neighbrohood Safety Initiative for my thesis. NSI is building a model for the future by reimagining public safety at New York City housing sites across the five boroughs. NSI prioritizes buidling capcity within these housing communities in order to create, and maintain their own place based safety initiatives. I am particularly interested in the ways they are using participatory methods to bridge the gap between constituents living in NYC public housing and policy makers.

Restorative justice is a set of approaches that provide support near the root cause of violence and harm, while also providing spaces for healing and transformation through accountability and reflection.

In this process, I am being guided by Restorative Justice primarily, as an overarching alternative to incarceration, as an indigenous ritual to be respected, as well as a framework for research and community building. As such, I am responsible for understanding my positioninality within this work, and am leaning on anti-oppressive methodologies, and will seek to maintain a trauma informed lens.

Research is participating in knowledge and understanding; it is an empowerment process.

I am curious if applying restorative frameworks to participatory research in justice spaces can more deeply align the practices with the intended outcomes— namely, alternatives to community healing, safety, and transformation.

My next steps include relationship building with my intended partner, more listening, more learning, and more reflection.