Kay Pranis, the Restorative Justice Planner for the Minnesota Department of Corrections since 1994, has worked in restorative justice since 1988.  Kay focuses on promoting the use of restorative justice principles in the criminal justice system and communities by providing training and technical assistance to:

• courts

• corrections

• schools  

community groups.   

Kay supports people across the U.S. and Canada in their efforts to respond to crime in ways that build communities by  speaking and providing training on restorative justice.

Since 1996, Kay’s passion has been peacemaking circles, an ancient indigenous practice that creates a space in which

• all voices are honored and respected

• people interact as equals

• participants share responsibility for working things out in a good way

• calls forth  potentials for understanding, compassion, and transformation.

Kay is actively involved in many leading restorative justice initiatives and serves on many boards and councils.  She is  a consultant for the

• Office of Justice Programs

• National Institute of Justice

• National Institute of Corrections

• Presbyterian Criminal Justice Program  

• many state and local governments.  

For the Balanced and Restorative Justice Project of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, she has developed written materials and provided training and technical assistance to jurisdictions to help apply restorative justice principles in the juvenile justice system.

Kay’s publications include 37 articles and essays on restorative justice, published in various journals, books, and publications such as Restorative Justice and Family Violence; Community Restorative Justice; The Correctional Psychologist; Corrections Today; and State Government News.

Kay has received many awards for her work in restorative justice and peacemaking, the latest being the 2001 American Probation and Parole Association’s Sam Houston State University Award.

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I am continually humbled by human capacities for openness, heart-centered connecting, humility, compassion, understanding, and love.  I find that restorative justice in general and peacemaking circles in particular help us connect with our deepest and best selves and bring these dimensions of ourselves to some of the hardest challenges we face. 

Sometimes drawing out these often unexpressed human capacities leads to healings and transformations that seem miraculous to our normal ways of thinking.  But mostly they provide the strength and persistence to do the hard, demanding, daily work of building and rebuilding human lives and communities. 

--Kay Pranis

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Leading Edge.  Kay  continues her  work  as a practitioner and trainer to help communities create spaces in which people can touch each other’s lives and  the language of love can enter the public dialogue.

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Reach Kay Pranis at KayPranis@msn.com

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