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Click here to access the official NACRJ Conference Website

We have arranged for additional rooms at the conference rate at...

Hyatt Regency Chicago - Downtown

A Short Cab or Uber ride to the Conference Venue is needed.

If you need assistance with hotel reservations contact Mark Thaler (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

SEE YOU IN...CHICAGO - July 6-9, 2022!!

View from the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotel and convention center.  Photo by Joanne Archibald

8th NACRJ Conference

The Gathering:  Real Transformation.  The Time is NOW.  How do we get there TOGETHER?

Conference Dates:  

Main Conference:                                 July 7 - 9, 2022

Pre-Conference Sessions:                      July 6, 2022

8th NACRJ Conference FLYER - Latest Version 

Newly Booked Keynoters - Christophe Mbonyingabo (Rwanda) and Tatiana Hohepa (New Zealand), Edward Valandra, Lee Mun Wah, Rev. Jason Carson Wilson, Chief Justice Robert Yazzie (Navajo Nation), and Xavier Ramey.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM: OVERVIEW

Breakout Sessions - AGENDA (July 7-8, 2022)

IMPORTANT - CAPSTONE DAY -  DON'T MISS IT (JULY 9, 2022)

A carefully planned day of interactions, experiences, dialogue, processing, relationship building, synthesis, and renewal focused on supporting your work upon return home. 

Scholarship Application for BIPOC and Historically Marginalized or Excluded Groups - CLOSED

A limited amount of donor support for scholarships to attend the 8th NACRJ Conference has been received for historically marginalized groups: BIPOC, formerly incarcerated persons, at risk young adults 18-25, youth from LGBTQ+ communities, victims and survivors, and people needing accommodations to attend and meaningfully participate in conference sessions.

Fees (credit card only)

NACRJ Event Protocols for COVID

Online Registration -- OPEN - SAVE MONEY - REGISTER NOW

ON-SITE Registration Rates START  - June 27, 2022

Check out the Conference SUMMARY on the registration site & follow program developments as they are announced.  The summary pages provide detailed information about the:

Major Tracks

Short Video - Explaining Restorative Justice

Keynote Speakers & Plenary Performers

Eddie Glaude  -- Princeton University, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair, Department of African American Studies.  Read more about Dr. Glaude on the Speakers page located on the conference REGISTRATION SITE.

Edward Charles Valandra is Sicangu Titunwan who was born and raised in his homeland, the Great Sioux Nation. He received his BA Minnesota State University-Mankato, MA from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and PhD from SUNY-Buffalo. Read more about Dr. Valandra on the Speakers page located on the conference REGISTRATION SITE.

Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum  is a researcher, scholar, teacher, and performer of African and Black Atlantic music styles and traditions. Aduonum’s methods blend creative expression, scholarship, and experimental performance. She is the creator of the ensemble piece, Walking with My Ancestors: Elmina Castle, and the creator and sole performer of Walking with My Ancestors: Cape Coast Castle, an award winning and nationally recognized multimodal performance piece.  She is a Professor of Fine Arts at Illinois State University.

Christope Mbonyingabo - is the founder and executive Director of Christian Action for Reconciliation & Social Action (CARSA) and has led his team to developed different programs to respond to the post genocide reconciliation and the most unique intervention named “Cows for Peace” (CFP) that seeks to foster reconciled relationships between genocide survivors and their direct perpetrators through its three programmatic arms: Workshops, Cell-Groups, and Cooperative Cow-raising.

 Tatiana Hohepa -  is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Te Pā, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.  Te Pā is a charitble trust dedicating to supporting people that have been affected by incarceration and the justice pipeline. Te Pā is a kaupapa Māori organisation that holds Māori tikanga, principles and values at the heart of everything it does.

Check back to see who else has been added as a keynote speaker. 

_____________________________________

EXHIBITORS  -  Registration Instructions - Regular Registration Period ENDS SOON - Feb. 28, 2022

Exhibitors must be pre-approved by Darcey Carter, NACRJ Exhibit Coordinator before registration for the conference. Contact her about your interest in exhibiting at the 8th NACRJ Conference. She may be reached by:

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: 872-222-9759

Approved exhibitors will be given a Verification Code for registration as an exhibitor. Registration of exhibitors closes on June 26, 2022 (11:59 pm).

Exhibitors will set up their exhibits on the afternoon of July 6, 2022.  They will begin packing up ("strike") to depart at 2 pm on July 9, 2022. 

Instructions for shipping items to/from the venue will be provided at a later date.

Conference Hotel & Venue:

Hotel Reservations at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place - conference hotel and venue

COVID Protocols

NACRJ (conference admission and participation)

Hyatt Regency (conference hotel)

McCormick Place Convention Center (conference venue)

Contact the organizers:

• Michelle Day, Nehemiah Trinity Rising, Chicago, IL
  
  • Email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • 312.852.8520
• Vanessa McNorton, Nehemiah Trinity Rising, Chicago, IL
  
  • Email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Chicago and the state of Illinois have been leaders in Restorative Justice across the U.S. for over a decade.  Because of this, there are several strong coalitions, numerous organizations, schools, institutions and community leaders committed to implementing RJ across the city and state. Additionally, Chicago is home to many ground breaking restorative justice initiatives such as:

• Community Restorative Justice Hubs including the Peace Room at Precious Blood Reconciliation Center, Lawndale Christian Legal Center, New Life: Urban Life Skills, Circles & Ciphers, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization Restorative Justice Hubs are a community-led approach to youth crime and conflict. The RJ Hub vision is that RJ Hubs are safe spaces in the community where youth and emerging adults and their families are welcomed and supported in building healthy relationships, expressing themselves, addressing trauma, and developing necessary skills and competencies.  Importantly, the RJ Hub model is directly informed by the latest science on childhood trauma. It is designed as a strategy for helping people to move beyond the effects of adverse childhood experiences, guiding them towards sustainable healing and growth http://rjhubs.org/

NOTE:  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and its projected impacts in 2021 on NACRJ's ability to plan and safely conduct a large conference led the NACRJ Leadership Team to conclude that the conference could not be safely or successfully conducted in June 2021.  It was then that we made the difficult decision to postpone the conference to 2022.  The evidence and options considered in making this difficult decision can be reviewed - HERE

Travel

Chicago has two major airports to choose from for travel:

1.  O’Hare International Airport
2.  Midway Airport

Both airports are easily accessible by public transportation rail lines, taxicabs and hotel shuttles. The airports are within an hour of travel from sites which will be considered for the conference and lodging.

Lodging

There are numerous hotels available for consideration for the conference site. Additionally, we are making certain to ensure the availability of lower cost “overflow” hotels in the immediate area – within a mile or two of the likely/preferred conference venue.

Places of Interest

There are many local attractions which may be of interest to attendees of the 2022 conference:

1. Downtown Chicago highlights: Millennium Park, Magnificent Mile, Architecture tours; Lake Michigan provides miles of lakefront for boating or swimming and beachfront sports; World-class Museums such as the Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, The Art Institute, and Museum of Contemporary Art and many others: http://www.chicagotraveler.com/maps/chicago-downtown-attractions-map.htm
2. The Bronzeville Historical Tour: The Underground Railroad Trolley Tour & The Douglas Tomb and Historic Site Tour
3. National Museum of Mexican Art and Public Mural Tour in the Pilsen Neighborhood
4. Lincoln Park Zoo
5. DuSable Museum of African American History, the first of its’ kind in the nation.
6. Chicago, is known as “a city of neighborhoods” which reflect the deep cultural roots and history of the city. Chicago neighborhoods offer an array of amazing food, art, music and shopping to experience first hand, the ethnic diversity and social depth of the city.
7. The Holocaust Museum

Chicago is home to more than 15 seminaries or divinity schools and other faith tradition schools of higher learning, all of which have programs centered around peacemaking, reconciliation and restorative justice which would enhance engagement and benefit from engagement with NACRJ.