Who We Are
We are a diverse group of professionals and community members and welcome participation and collaboration from all individuals interested in restorative practices in Utah. Members of RJCU include practitioners, researchers, educators, community members, and justice professionals.
Educators & Administrators
Teachers and administrators with valuable insight into classroom and school-wide implementation efforts
Justice System Professionals
Juvenile justice professionals with experience in traditional justice and restorative practices
Restorative Justice Experts
RJ experts including researchers and practitioners with expertise in best practices of RJ implementation
CORE TEAM
Bart Mackay
Bart coordinates the Restorative Dialogue Program and Divorce Mediation Program for the Utah State Courts. As a program coordinator, Bart is involved in recruiting, training, and mentoring community volunteers to do group conferencing, victim offender mediation, talking circles, and truancy mediation.
He received his Master's degree in Counseling from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a certificate in Criminology and Corrections from the University of Utah. Bart was a juvenile probation officer for approximately 10 years for the Utah Juvenile Courts before joining the Administrative Office of the Courts. In 2001 he made the transition to mediation and Restorative Justice.
Bart lives in St. George with his wife and twin daughters.
Jodie Jones
Jodie is an Assistant Professor at Salt Lake Community College where she teaches courses on Conflict Management & Diversity, and Communication courses. She has taught Restorative Justice courses at Westminster College and currently teaches Effective Communication for Scientist at the University of Utah each fall. She actively volunteers as a mediator for the Juvenile Court Victim-Offender program and she is on the roster of qualified Utah State Court mediators.
Jodie received BA degrees from Southern Utah University in Psychology and in Communication. Her MA degree from California State University in Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, and Peacebuilding provided an opportunity for her to write a thesis, Inviting Forgiveness into a Restorative Justice Process. She earned a Mediation certificate from the University of Utah and, and a certificate for Organizational Conflict Auditing from Pepperdine, University.
Sam (cynthia) mekrut
Sam Mekrut (she/her) is a Master Mediator, Certified Eldercaring Coordinator and experienced facilitator. After working for eight years as a Child Welfare Mediator for Utah’s Administrative Office of the Courts, Sam founded TalkWorks, a private conflict prevention and resolution practice offering mediation, facilitation, restorative conferencing, and training. She also works part-time as Victim Advocate for the Summit County Attorney’s Office, bringing a restorative perspective to providing those affected by crime with compassion and support. She takes a practical approach to resolving conflicts and strongly believes in the transformative power of ensuring individuals’ perspectives are heard, and their needs and desires acknowledged. Prior to becoming a mediator, Sam directed a statewide social justice nonprofit in New Hampshire, building coalitions, lobbying the legislature, and developing strategic grassroots campaigns to advance state/national public policy on a host of issues including access to quality, affordable health care; environmental justice, equity in education; voting rights; and campaign finance reform.
cuong nguyen
Cuong Nguyen works as a Prevention Specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, with a primary focus on restorative practices. In this role, he shares restorative concepts and practices with local education agencies to assist them with student support. Cuong also manages the annual “Do The Write Thing” Challenge, a youth violence prevention initiative for 7th and 8th grade students. Cuong’s secondary responsibilities include gang prevention and intervention, absenteeism, and dropout prevention.