Restorative Justice Training and Retreat
May 2026
Seven Nights
at the Mar de Jade Retreats & Wellness Resort, Mexico
The Restorative Center's training provides an experience-based understanding of TRC’s community based model of Restorative Justice. Our trainings are engaging, lively and ever-evolving. We utilize theory-based lectures, the interactive circle experience, skill development, mock circles, as well as small and large group discussions.
This course is open to newcomers to TRC, as well as to trained Circle Keepers who would like to deepen their foundations in the work. Advance topics and workshops will be integrated into the week long training.
If you have questions, please contact us at team@therestorativecenter.org.
The Foundations of Restorative Justice and Vision of Family Conferencing Training and Retreat
We are honored to welcome Internationally-Renowed Restorative Justice Leader Hedda van Lieshout to join us and offer her expertise on Family Conferencing during our 2025 Mexico Retreat. Hedda is currently the director of Eigen-Kracht, a Dutch non-profit “striving for a society based on participation and mutual self-reliance of citizens, where citizens remain in charge of their own life, especially when dealing with organizations and government bodies.” Eigen-Kracht run restorative conferences, as well as Family Group Conferencing (FGC), which act as an alternative to family court or child protective services. Eigen-Kracht has run over 13,500 Family Group Conferences, restorative conferences, and community conferences. They have over 250 conference coordinators, who speak between them sixty-five languages. Hedda will join us in Mexico to discuss Family Group Conferencing, and lead discussions on how we can implement FGC in the States.
Shailly Agnihotri The Restorative Center was founded by Shailly Agnihotri in response to the heartbreak she experienced as a public defender trying to attain justice for her clients. TRC program development is a direct answer to the consequences of the privatization of prisons, the institutionalism of racism, and the criminalization of poverty. Shailly spent more than 20 years as an attorney, with expertise in criminal justice through working as a prosecutor (Orleans Parish), teaching (Georgetown Law School, Southern University Law Center), and as a public defender (New York City). She had the privilege of studying (as a Prettyman Fellow) with Professor William Greenhalgh, whose love for the Constitution and the rights it affords the accused inspired her legal career. She has come to understand the power of facilitated Restorative Justice circles to guide individuals and communities to a deeper emergent wisdom of justice. She has a J.D. (cum laude) from Tulane Law School and an LL.M. (Prettyman Fellowship) from Georgetown Law. Shailly is a yoga and mediation teacher (RYT 500-hours with advanced work in yoga philosophy, yoga Nidra, and restorative yoga), a playwright (Mata Gee; Cosmic Dancer), a filmmaker (Three Soldiers, The Bride Wears Red), and a published author. Shailly is the mother of Nicholas and Miraya, two amazing individuals who never cease to dazzle her.
Hedda van Lieshout Supporting people in their right to make their own decisions is what drives Hedda van Lieshout in her work and her life. She is married to Luigi and mother of two adult sons, Ruben and Joshua. After she finished her study as a pedagogue, she worked in a hospital in Italy and as a researcher for the Dutch Institution of Care and Welfare. Since 2005 she has worked for the Eigen Kracht Centrale, where she now is the managing director and trainer. The Eigen Kracht Centrale is the organization in the Netherlands that is responsible for Family Group Conferences, Restorative Conferences and Community conferences. The non profit organization also trains professionals in widening the circle of the people they work with and in leaving control with the people and their networks. Eigen Kracht means ‘one’s own strength/power and the name emphasizes the essence that people are able to make their own decisions and plan, together with their family and friends network.
Join us.
•Rejuvenate your spirit with daily guided meditations and yoga classes• Receive training as a Circle Keeper and learn how to hold sacred space for others to unravel conflict, rebuild community, and develop resilience• Learn about talking pieces, the phases of a circle, the use of prompts & how to use storytelling to develop empathy and share vulnerability • Develop skills in communication and circle keeping •Watch a sunset
Mar de Jade Wellness Resort
is nestled between the tropical jungle and the pristine sandy beach of Chacala, Mexico. To read more about our retreat space, click here. Watch videos about this extraordinary venue:
Mar de Jade Experience
Mar de Jade Community Projects
Mar de Jade Story
Accommodation Cost & Tuition
Tuition:
$1,290 (includes daily meditation & yoga classes, Restorative Justice Foundations Training, Advanced RJ Workshops, and Self-Care Workshops). Payments can be made using links in form here.
Accommodations & Meals:
TRC participants will be offered a group discount rate. Accommodations costs will range from $990 - $2300 for eight days and seven nights depending on room availability and preference. The accommodation rate includes three freshly cooked meals per day including fresh food from Mar de Jade’s 18-acre organic farm.
Airfare and transportation to the retreat are not included in the retreat cost. Mar de Jade will help arrange the transfers to and from the Puerto Vallarta Airport. Trip insurance is not included but highly recommended.
Photos from our 2024 Mexico Training and Retreat at Mar de Jade
Is this training for you?
In these challenging times where our anger and hurt is easily available to us, and our desire to do something is paramount, the yin model of restorative justice that TRC teaches is harder to access.
During the training, we ask you to leave your personal agenda at the door, to surrender results, and to be trained in a model where we hold space for everyone. One can see how counter intuitive this can feel in these times that already require so much of us. We are confident that TRC’s model is a path forward but as with most journeys the work begins within.
This is all to say: we will require a pre-participation phone call to make sure our method is something you want to spend time learning. The training group will be kept small, and if you have trained with us before: please join us again. We have a lot to share.
Space will be limited to 15 participants.
Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns, team@therestorativecenter.org.
Program Schedule
Day One
2pm: Check-in
5pm: Restorative Yoga
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Two
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Restorative Justice Workshop: The Circle Experience
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Free Time
5pm: Self-Care Workshop
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Three
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Restorative Justice Workshop: The Sun/Moon Chart; Practicing prompts
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Free Time
5pm: Self-Care Workshop: Shadow Work for Circle Keepers
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Four
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Local Farm Visit (optional)
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Restorative Justice Workshop: The Elements
5pm: Self Care Workshop: De-escalation
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Five
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Free Time for Excursions (optional)
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Restorative Justice Workshop: Circle Systems (XS-XL)
5pm: Restorative Yoga
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Six
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Local Market Visit (optional)
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Restorative Justice Workshop: Mock Circles
5pm: Restorative Justice Workshop: Mock Circles (continued)
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Seven
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Free Time/ one-on-one sessions with Shailly (optional)
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Restorative Justice Workshop: Closing Circle & Circle Keeper Code
5pm: Restorative Yoga
6:30pm: Dinner
Day Eight
7:30am: Meditation & Breathing
8:30am: Breakfast
10am: Check-out
Daily schedule is subject to the discretion of the trainer and could be changed based on the needs of the group. Some optional excursions have an added fee payable to the resort.
