Roots of Justice, Inc., is led by our Accountability Council, managed by our staff, and trainings are facilitated by members of our Training Team.
Accountability Council
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Joy Flora KingTREASURER - DALLAS, TX
Joy Flora King, CPA, MBA, (she/her) has over 30 years of work experience in accounting and finance and has been the CFO with United Protective services for 6 years. She was the CFO at Apex Restaurant Group and functioned as the CFO for all of the Apex clients, working with each client’s operations to improve profitability, cash flow, treasury and banking relationships, negotiated debt restructures as well as supervision of accounting department and financial reporting.
Joy took her first Damascus Road Training in 1999, has participated in dismantling racism teams with the Dallas Mennonite church, the Dallas Peace Center and has served on the Roots of Justice board since 2013. Joy also has been a board member for multiple nonprofit organizations. Joy was also involved in the church plant of Many Peoples Mennonite church, an anti-racist, multi-cultural church. Joy has a B.S. in accounting and management from McPherson College, McPherson Kansas and obtained her MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas. |
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Steve KrissPHILADELPHIA, PA
Stephen Kriss (he/him) works as Executive Minister of Mosaic Mennonite Conference. He first attended a Damascus Road training in the 1990s while pastoring at his home congregation in the Allegheny Mountains. Stephen teaches and consults out of his PhD work in communication ethics in the areas of organizational, interpersonal and intercultural practice. He lives in Philadelphia, works hard to keep conversant in Spanish and loves pierogies.
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THULANI CONRAD MOORETUCKER, GA - TRAINER REPRESENTATIVE
Thulani Conrad Moore (he/him) has been actively engaged with Roots of Justice since 1997. Over the years, he has dedicated himself to the roles of antiracism educator, organizer, and co-coordinator for the MCC US Anti-Racism Program/Damascus Road. Thulani has also made significant contributions to peace and justice education, particularly in the realm of crime and justice issues. He resides in Tucker, Georgia, with his wife and young daughter. Presently, Thulani shares his wealth of knowledge and experience at the APEX Museum in Atlanta.
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DR. MONICA SMITHCHAIR - QUAD CITIES, IL
Dr. Monica Smith (she/her) is a clinically trained social worker with a broad background - from child welfare to higher education. She is currently vice president and chief diversity officer at Augustana College. Her leadership requires development and implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and monitoring the institution’s efforts toward achieving these goals. Dr. Smith is an administrator, educator and practitioner who is engaged in the Quad City region. She is a member of the
· Board of Directors for Martin Luther King, Jr Center, Governance Committee · Board of Directors for the Putnam Museum · United Way, African American Leadership Steering Committee · Board of Directors, Q2030 Regional Action Plan, Executive Committee Secretary She is a founding member of Quad Cities Black Professionals in Higher Education and the vice president of the Quad Cities (IL) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations. Dr. Smith has been teaching and consulting in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion for two decades and owns M Smith Consulting. She enjoys engaging conversations around identity, empowerment and justice. |
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Waŋbli Wapȟáha Hokšíla (Dr. EDWARD C VALANDRA)Waŋbli Wapȟáha Hokšíla is Sičáŋǧu Thitȟuŋwaŋ, born and raised in his settler-occupied homeland, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte Makȟóčhe. He. has served his people in various capacities: He served a four-year term on the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council; as a representative on the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative Board of Directors; he served on his tribe’s seven-member Constitutional Task Force; he was a senior administrator in his people’s K12 tribally-chartered school; and he served
as president of the American Indian Studies Association. He is a member of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Writers’ Society and a member of the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council. Waŋbli Wapȟáha Hokšíla has taught at both Native and non-Native colleges and universities: Oglála Lakȟóta College, Siŋté Glešká University, Metropolitan State University (St. Paul, MN), the University of California at Davis, the University of South Dakota, and the University of Manitoba. His research focuses on the national revitalization of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte, the development of Indigenous studies, restorative justice’s role in undoing The First Harm, and dismantling settler colonialism. His numerous articles have been published in professional journals and edited volumes, and can be found on academia.edu. In 2006, the University of Illinois Press published his book on the “Termination Era”, Not Without Our Consent: Lakota Resistance to Termination, 1950–1959, with a Foreword by Vine Deloria, Jr., a Húŋkpapȟa Thitȟuŋwaŋ scholar. He also the editor of Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities. Since 2003, Waŋbli Wapȟáha Hokšíla has served as an advisor to Living Justice Press (LJP) on Native understandings of justice and on how to apply restorative justice to repairing longstanding, historical, and current harms between Peoples. In 2020 he became LJP’s full-time Senior Editor. |
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ANDREW YANGAndrew Yang (he/him) is an activist and attorney in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated with a J.D. from Temple Law in 2014 and went on to become an associate attorney representing disabled clients at Martin Law, becoming the head of Martin Law’s Social Security disability department, before transitioning to non-profit work. He works as a public interest attorney for Community Legal Services, specializing in immigrant access to public benefits in neighborhood healthcare settings in the medical legal partnership model. He is a board member of an anabaptist faith community in Germantown, Philadelphia, where he helps lead in community formation and faith based activism. He is the co-host of Color Correction, a podcast on the intersection of race and faith.
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STAFF
calenthia Dowdy, phd
Trainer & Acting Executive Director (Bio and pic below)
Training Team
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Michelle ArmsterWICHITA, KS
Michelle E. Armster (she/her) is the Executive Director for Mennonite Central Committee Central States. Prior to this position Michelle spent 12 years as director of Mennonite Conciliation Services and co-director for the Office on Justice and Peacebuilding. Michelle has extensive training in meditation, facilitation, conciliation, restorative justice, arbitration, victim/offender mediation, anti-racism, and alternatives to violence. Her board service has included the YWCA, Spirit House Project, Inc., Lancaster Mediation Center, and the NAACP.
A graduate of Lancaster Theological Seminary (M.Div.) Michelle spent 4 1/2 years as co-pastor of St. Andrew United Church of Christ in Lancaster, PA and 2 years as associate pastor for community outreach at Blossom Hill Mennonite Church also in Lancaster. Currently Michelle resides in Wichita, Kansas, and is active with Wichita Griots, an African American Storytellers organization, and a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers.
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Drick BoydPHILADELPHIA, PA
Drick Boyd (he/him) is Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies from Eastern University where he taught for 22 years. He is the author of three books: White Allies in the Struggle for Racial Justice, and Paulo Freire: His Faith, Spirituality and Theology (with Dr. James Kirylo), and Disrupting Whiteness: Talking to White People About Racism. He also is a blogger and the author of numerous articles. In addition to Roots of Justice, he is an active member NewCORE (New Conversations on Race and Ethnicity), Philadelphia's Restorative City Initiative, and POWER Interfaith. He is trained in antiracist dialogue, community organizing, restorative justice and popular education.
Throughout the course of his career, Drick has been a youth worker, a Baptist pastor, a chaplain at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and a college professor. His passion is working with grassroots leaders to bring neighbors together to address community problems and build community leadership. In his free time, he likes biking, hiking and tennis. With his wife Cynthia, he is the proud parent of three adult daughters and a member of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship. |
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Phil Morice BrubakerTULSA, OK
Phil (he/him) has been active in antiracism for over 20 years, as staff (1996-2015) and trainer (since 1999) with Roots of Justice and Damascus Road. His antiracism experience includes developing and facilitating multiracial workshops, organizing and facilitating white caucus/affinity groups, policy assessment and development, communications auditing, speaking engagements on white privilege, and logistics and technological support.
Phil holds degrees from Messiah College (BA 1994) and Duke University Divinity School (MTS 2002), and is comfortable communicating with secular audiences as well as the range of Christian audiences from Evangelical to liberal Mainline. Phil lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his spouse and their two children. He enjoys gardening, home food preservation, hiking, and visiting wild places. LINK |
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Calenthia DowdyPHILADELPHIA, PA
Calenthia S. Dowdy, Ph.D. (she/her) RoJ trainer and acting executive director, is a cultural anthropologist, college professor, and faith leader. Her academic research took place in Brazil where she enjoyed the fusion of Indigenous, African, and Portuguese cultures. She is trained in antiracism, diversity, inclusion, & belonging, and has worked in public health with communities dealing with HIV, trauma and the connections between body, mind, spirit and wholeness.
Dowdy’s life adventures include working as a youth minister, college chaplain, kindergarten and eighth grade teacher, sailing the Sea of Galilee, and dancing with the Quechua people in the mountains of Bolivia. She received a Women’s Way Powerful Voice Award in 2016, completed the International Inside-Out program for prison education in 2019, and was awarded a Red Ribbon Award from the Penn Center for AIDS Research in 2020. |
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LORIE HERSHEYPHILADELPHIA, PA
Lorie’s (she/her) life focus is to create spaces for healing, justice, equity, spiritual care, and growth. She was pastor at West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship for 15 years and previously worked as a music therapist. Growing up in a primarily White, middle-class, rural setting, she also has lived experience in small-town and mid to large-size city settings. She attended her first Damascus Road Training in 2009 and is committed to dismantling racism and oppression, building equity and justice, owning her own complicity and need for growth, and collaborating with others to create a world where all can thrive. Lorie serves on the board of POWER Interfaith, a faith-based community organizing group in Pennsylvania. She lives in Philadelphia with her family.
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hendy matahelemualPHILADELPHIA, PA
Hendy Matahelemual (he/him) was born and grew up in the city of Bandung, Indonesia. He graduated from Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, with a Bachelor's degree in law. He worked in the music entertainment industry and in a law office before being called to full-time ministry. He served as a pastor at Elshaddai Creative Community in Bandung before moving to the U.S. He received a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in 2019. He serves with Mosaic Mennonite Conference as associate pastor for community engagement.
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NICK MIRONLANCASTER, PA
Nick Miron (he/him) has been a trainer with Roots of Justice for about six years. Nick became intentionally antiracist 15 years ago and has since worked with community and nonprofit organizations, corporations, schools and churches to help them deepen their understanding of, commitment to, and work against racism, white supremacy, gender/sex oppression and violence. Nick is deeply appreciative of the graciousness and learning he has received from friends and co-facilitators within Roots of Justice and beyond, and for those who continue to challenge the status quo while working to build a society based on affirmation, equity, and justice. He lives in Lancaster, PA is also grateful for his personal support structures, Allison, his two children, and feline companion, Percy.
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Thulani Conrad MooreTUCKER, GA
Thulani Conrad Moore (he/him) has been actively engaged with Roots of Justice since 1997. Over the years, he has dedicated himself to the roles of antiracism educator, organizer, and co-coordinator for the MCC US Anti-Racism Program/Damascus Road. Thulani has also made significant contributions to peace and justice education, particularly in the realm of crime and justice issues. He resides in Tucker, Georgia, with his wife and young daughter. Presently, Thulani shares his wealth of knowledge and experience at the APEX Museum in Atlanta.
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YVONNE PLATTSNORRISTOWN, PA
Yvonne Platts (she/her) calls herself an urban peace warrior. She likes to laugh and joke but has no time to play when it comes to addressing injustice. A Restorative Practice Facilitator by trade and Peace Warrior by calling, Yvonne is on a mission to live out her purpose and pursuits by addressing systemic institutional racism along with promoting peace building and healing from racial trauma. To stay grounded and for overall health benefits she walks daily with GirlTrek. Yvonne holds a Masters in Restorative Practices and Youth & Family Counseling and is a certified Victim Offender Dialogue Facilitator, Professional Trauma Specialist, and a Train the Trainer Circle and Community Conference Facilitator.
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DEE DEE RISHERPHILADELPHIA, PA
Dee Dee Risher (she/her) is a writer and editor, facilitator, and activist. She wrote The Soulmaking Room, and edited The Other Side and Conspire! magazines. She is a founder of the Philadelphia Alternative Seminary and Vine and Fig Tree, an intentional Christian community. She works at a Philadelphia housing nonprofit as a community organizer of residents as well as supporting its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiative.
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KYLE SULLIVANROCHESTER, NY (sometimes)
Kyle's (he/they) life's work is committed to partnering with others in dismantling barriers and creating systems that promote human and beyond-human flourishing. Currently, I do this as a compassion and development scholar, professor of Human Development, meditation and yoga instructor, and anti-oppression facilitator. I served over 8 years in various roles of ministry including as a youth, young adult, and discipleship pastor. I have over 7 years of higher education service, most recently serving as an Assistant Dean of Students and adjunct professor of World Religions and Ethics. I build and facilitate programs and trainings that cultivate courage, curiosity, creativity, and connectedness.
My experiences of childhood homelessness, poverty, and parental incarceration have been the drive behind my work as an accomplice for anti-oppression initiatives in higher education, non-profits, religious institutions, and corporate settings. I am finishing my PhD at the University of Rochester studying compassion development as a tool for creating a more just and equitable world. I currently reside on occupied Chorotega/Motambu territory in the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. |
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BRENDA ZOOK FRIESENFOREST GROVE, OR
Brenda Zook Friesen (she/her) was introduced to antiracism organizing through her Mennonite Central Committee service term in New Orleans where she worked at The People’s Institute for Survival & Beyond. She has served as a trainer with Damascus Road/Roots of Justice since 1999, and as the director of the MCC US Anti-Racism Program. She currently works as the business manager for Tara Mohr, LLC, and volunteers with her local Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) chapter. Brenda lives in Forest Grove, Oregon, where she enjoys lots of outdoor adventures with her partner, Phil, and their two sons.
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