Fania E. Davis is a leading international voice at the intersection of racial and restorative justice. A lifelong activist, civil rights trial attorney, author, and educator, Davis holds a PhD in Indigenous Knowledge and brings decades of experience and wisdom to her work. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement, Davis was profoundly shaped by her early experiences of racial injustice—including the tragic loss of two close childhood friends in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. These painful yet galvanizing moments sparked her unwavering commitment to justice and collective healing.
Over the years, she has been deeply engaged in the Civil Rights, Black liberation, women’s, peace, prisoners’, anti-apartheid, and economic justice movements. Her journey took a transformative turn through her apprenticeship with African Indigenous healers, which ignited her pursuit of “healing justice”—a framework that integrates restorative practices with racial equity. Davis went on to found Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY) and co-found the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice.
Davis’ groundbreaking work has earned numerous accolades, including the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Restorative Justice, the Ella Jo Baker Human Rights Award, the Ebony POWER 100, and the Open Society Foundations’ Justice Rising Award. The Los Angeles Times honored her as one of the “New Civil Rights Leaders of the 21st Century.” She is the author of The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice: Black Lives, Justice, and U.S. Social Transformation, and continues to write and speak internationally on topics including racial justice, restorative practices, truth-telling, and Indigenous knowledge systems. Davis currently lives in Oakland, California, where she is also a devoted mother, grandmother, dancer, meditator, and practitioner of yoga, qigong, and African spirituality.
Davis offers a powerful blend of lived experience, scholarly insight, and transformative vision—inviting audiences into conversations that bridge justice and healing, challenge systemic inequity, and inspire actionable change.
Restorative Justice's Promise: Helping Us Re-Invent What It Means to Be Human
This deeply moving and expansive talk invites audiences into the heart of restorative justice as a paradigm shift—not just in how we respond to harm, but in how we relate to one another and to the world. Fania E. Davis explores restorative justice as a path to reclaiming our shared humanity, rooted in Indigenous wisdom, relational values, and spiritual grounding. She challenges dominant notions of justice based on punishment, and instead uplifts practices that restore connection, wholeness, and dignity. With grace and conviction, Davis shows how restorative justice offers a blueprint for healing ourselves, our communities, and the planet.
Justice in a Time of Awakening, Repair, and Reimagining
In this powerful presentation, Fania Davis explores the critical convergence of racial justice and restorative justice in an era of profound social reckoning. Drawing on decades of activism, legal work, and healing practice, she invites audiences to examine the roots of systemic harm and the possibilities for repair. Through stories, scholarship, and lived wisdom, Davis calls us to reimagine justice—not as punishment, but as collective healing, truth-telling, and transformation. This talk offers a hopeful, grounded roadmap for communities, institutions, and individuals ready to move from awakening to action.
Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future: Lessons in Justice, Healing, and Hope
In this deeply personal and inspiring talk, Fania E. Davis draws on her life journey—from growing up in civil rights-era Birmingham and losing friends in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, to becoming a civil rights attorney, healer, and internationally recognized restorative justice leader. Through powerful storytelling and hard-won insight, Davis explores how the wisdom and resilience of the past can guide our responses to today’s challenges. She offers a vision rooted in ancestral knowledge, lived experience, and a fierce belief in our capacity to create a more just and compassionate future.
Interrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline Through Restorative Justice
In this solutions-focused presentation, Fania E. Davis addresses the devastating impact of punitive school discipline practices that funnel youth—especially youth of color—into the criminal legal system. Grounded in her founding work with Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), Davis shows how restorative justice can transform school culture by centering equity, student voice, and inclusive learning environments. Through practical models and real-world outcomes, she demonstrates the power of restorative approaches to keep young people in schools and out of cages.
