Board of Directors

Greg Herzog
Email: greg.herzog@state.mn.us
Greg is currently employed as a Senior Administrative Grant Specialist with Office of Justice Programs, Minnesota Department of Public Safety. His work involves planning, oversight and overall management of a large array of programs and initiatives to include: crime, drug and gang prevention and intervention programming, youth and adult restorative practices programming, community-law enforcement partnerships, residential substance abuse treatment and post-offense re-entry projects. Greg also serves as Board President of Natural Connections Learning Center (NCLC). NCLC is a non-profit specializing in utilization of Animal Assisted Interventions and wellness techniques in education, therapy, training and research with clients, customers and field practitioners. Greg has an M.A. in Psychology, and a BS in Child Development/Psycho-educational Studies. Prior to his current work, Greg worked extensively in design and implementation of programming for youth and families coping with chemical dependency and mental health issues. Greg has been an active board member of Minnesota Restorative Services Coalition since 2011.

Mariah Levison, Co-Chair
Phone: (612)822-9883
Email: programs@crcminnesota.org
Mariah is the Program Director at the Center for Conflict Resolution in Minneapolis. Before coming to Minneapolis, she worked for two of the country’s largest dispute resolution centers, The Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago, Illinois and The Safe Horizon Mediation Program in New York City. Mariah has been teaching conflict resolution education and social and emotional literacy skills for ten years in settings ranging from shelters to professional development conferences. She has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, Mariah has worked abroad on development projects in both Latin America and Africa. Mariah has been an active board member of Minnesota Restorative Services Coalition since 2011.

Julie Marthaler, Co-Chair
Email: juliemcircle@gmail.com
Julie Marthaler has over 10 years experience working with restorative justice, specifically peacemaking circles in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota. Julie worked for six years as a probation agent for an agency that supported the development of a Circle Sentencing program for youth in Yellow Medicine County; during that time she also volunteered in a community sentencing circle. In 2007, Julie became the Restorative Justice Coordinator for Yellow Medicine County. In that position she worked with stakeholders to develop a new peacemaking circle program to serve families in the child welfare system as well as a re-entry circle program for persons battling addiction. During her tenure as the RJ Coordinator, the program received several prestigious awards for innovative practices in the state of Minnesota. In 2011, Julie started a position as the Circle Coordinator for Southwest Health and Human Services where she will develop a peacemaking circle program for counties in southwestern Minnesota. Julie has provided consultation and training to many counties in Minnesota, presented to various audiences on peacemaking circles statewide and in Canada, and has held an apprenticeship with Kay Pranis since 2008. Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a minor in Criminal Justice from South Dakota State University. She has been an active board member of Minnesota Restorative Services Coalition since 2008.

Kris Miner, Treasurer
Email: scvrjp@gmail.com
Kris Miner is the St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program Executive Director. She began with SCVRJP as a board member in 2001, and has been the director since 2005. SCVRJP provided a range of restorative services including victim impact panels, victim-offender conferencing, victim empathy seminars and restorative justice circles addressing teen driving, underage consumption and controlled substance use. SCVRJP also provides training to schools, agencies and community groups. Kris facilitates the training and workshop sessions. Kris was initially trained in Restorative Justice while employed as a social worker for Olmstead County, in 1998. She helped implement a Family Group Decision Making program and Proactive Community Supervision while employed as a child welfare supervisor in Pierce County, Wisconsin. Kris is also a volunteer for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, assisting with Restorative Justice dialogue in cases of severe violence. Kris is also an adjunct professor at the University of WI – River Falls, teaching Restorative Justice. She also authors the Restorative Justice blog Circlespace. Kris has her Masters in Counseling from South Dakota State University. She has been an active board member of Minnesota Restorative Services Coalition since 2012.