PA Peace Alliance Webinar Series: Addressing Harm and Violence at the Roots

When harm occurs, real healing requires more than addressing individual actions—it calls us to examine the systems, relationships, and conditions that allowed the harm to happen in the first place. This webinar explores how restorative and transformative justice practices can move beyond surface-level responses to engage with root causes of harm, including systemic oppression and unmet collective needs. Participants will explore tools to support deeper reflection and action across individual, interpersonal, and systemic levels. Through this lens, accountability is not about blame—it’s about transformation. Join us to explore practical strategies for fostering healing and structural change, so that harm is not only repaired, but less likely to happen again.

This session will be led by Lauren Trout from the WestEd team. Lauren Trout (they/them) is a restorative justice practitioner and subject matter expert who works in education, justice, and community sectors to provide training, coaching, and technical support. As a Senior Program Associate with the Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities team, Lauren’s work focuses on equity, climate and culture, conflict resolution, harm prevention, and comprehensive school safety. They specialize in supporting paradigm shifts at the individual, collective, and systemic levels in order to create climates that are inclusive, safe, and equitable.

Lauren’s body of work as an author and project lead focuses on school climate and safety, equity, systems of well-being, and initiative implementation integrity. Lauren has also worked with state education agencies and federal education centers supporting their work in advancing non-punitive discipline approaches. They have served as a keynote panelist and featured speaker and has presented in webinars and at conferences around the country.Before WestEd, Lauren ran restorative justice programs for the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office and Jefferson Parish Public School System in Louisiana. There, they facilitated victim-offender dialogues as an alternative to court and oversaw the implementation of restorative practices for the school district.