Samara Eltahir (she/her) joined the Legal Rights Center as a Restorative Facilitator and Youth Advocate in 2021 and later served as the Restorative Justice Program Director, overseeing LRC’s school-based restorative services and partnerships in the Twin Cities area surrounding education, advocacy, and restorative practices. In her current role as Director of Strategic Initiatives, she is focused on cross-organizational program development, evaluation, and impact.

Earning her degree in Youth Studies from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Samara’s experience surrounds engagement in a variety of school, after-school and non-profit settings and includes all ages youth-work, advocacy for survivors of sexual violence, group facilitation, and non-profit management. Samara’s approach to her work seeks to uplift creativity and possibility, centering the importance of building meaningful relationships, designing strong organizational systems, and streamlining pathways for collaboration.