Dr. Jim Longo is an award-winning teacher and professor who has taught throughout the United States, and in Austria, Brazil, and Costa Rica. He has served as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at Alpen-Adrian University in Austria and is a member National Screening Committee of the Fulbright Institute of International Education.  As the  past Chair of the Education Department at Washington and Jefferson College he integrated the principles of Restorative Practice in all teacher training and community outreach programs. Dr. Longo has worked with the Restorative Practice Forum of Northern Ireland, Restorative Practices Ireland, TIDES Training and Consultancy in Belfast, NI, and Mediators Beyond Borders International. He has been a coach, athletic director, and an educational consultant in private practice . As a public-school teacher for over a decade he taught history, psychology, and Peace Studies courses. Professor Longo earned his doctorate in Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments from Harvard University and his master’s degree in Curriculum Writing and Design from Webster University. He is the author of eight books and has been nominated for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize from Yale University and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

David Ryan Bunting, M.Ed., has been an award-winning elementary teacher, working in socio-economically and racially diverse schools in both Memphis, Tennessee and Washington, Pennsylvania. Professor Bunting is currently earning his doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Duquesne University. His research focus is on the implementation of restorative practices into a  teacher certification program. Professor Bunting is an instructor in the Education Department at Washington and Jefferson College and is integrating the principles of Restorative Practice in all teacher training and community outreach programs. He has worked alongside international mediator and award-winning Peace prize recipient Mary Montague in the United States and Northern Ireland on Restorative Practice and in schools, alternative schools, and communities throughout western Pennsylvania. He is serving on the Healing-Empowerment-Advocacy-Learning-Prevention-Action (HEAL PA) Trauma-Informed Pennsylvania Leadership Team (Education Subcommittee).

Dr. Marissa Capuzzi-Schimizzi is a former elementary education teacher and current professor in the Education Department at Washington and Jefferson College. At the college, she collaborates with colleagues to implement restorative practices in their education courses and work. Dr. Capuzzi-Schimizzi has experience in both coaching and counseling and integrates practices that support social and emotional learning and growth. She earned her doctorate degree in Counselor Education and Supervision at Waynesburg University and has master’s degrees in the fields of education and counseling.