Chelsea (she/her/hers) has worked as a restorative facilitator, Circle Keeper, and youth defense attorney at the Legal Rights Center since 2015. Chelsea was drawn to restorative practices because she believes in the power of creating space where all people have the opportunity to feel seen, heard, valued and connected as part of a larger community. Unpacking and sharing our feelings and life stories allows us the opportunity to learn from and connect with both our own experiences and the experiences of others.

Chelsea has 15 years of experience in supporting and leading youth in educational spaces, both in the classroom and in the community. She was a high school English and reading teacher in New Orleans where she also coached and lead the high school slam poetry club. In Boston, Chelsea taught high school and law school seminars on uplifting restorative justice remedies in response to racially-motivated cold case murders that took place across the country throughout the 1940s, 50s and 60s. She also leads middle and high school mindfulness classes in and around the Twin Cities.

Chelsea has received recognition for her work with youth and families, including a feature in The New York Times Magazine for her work as an educator in New Orleans. Later, she appeared in a documentary entitled Murder in Mobile, which explored using restorative justice responses to a cold case murder Chelsea worked on through the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University School of Law.