Ben Wright (USA) is a Vice President at Abilis Solutions a supplier of information management and technology to correctional agencies. Ben had the remarkable experience of creating a dialogic culture from scratch. He drew on dialogic principles and skills when opening a new prison. As warden he hired and trained staff, developed policies and procedures, managed budgetary forecasting, and achieved a safe and healthy environment. Ben’s career includes 23 years in state service and five years on the Faculty of Radford University. 

Leo Hylton (USA) is a PhD student, currently incarcerated in Maine State Prison where he helped spearhead the creation of the Earned Living Unit, a largely self-governed and low-restricted housing unit developed through the implementation of dialogic restorative practices and principles. As a prison resident of 15 years, and a restorative justice practitioner-scholar of 6 years, he collaborated with fellow residents, prison staff, and administrators to establish a dialogic culture within an institution that is historically hostile to interconnectedness and community building.

Susan Williams (USA), licensed Clinical Psychologist (degrees from Yale and VCU) is Mental Health Project Manager for the Virginia Department of Corrections. An original VADOC dialogue practitioner, starting in 2012 with Dialogue Associates under the leadership of Director Harold Clarke, Susan is now an Accredited Professional Dialogue Practitioner (APDP). She has extensive experience within the Department generating cultural and operational change in complex situations, and has introduced dialogic principles into other agencies, boards, churches and community groups for better engagement and problem-solving.