Jeremy Simons

Dr Jeremy Simons is a senior research fellow at the Te Ngāpara Centre for Restorative Practice (Victoria University Wellington) with over 20 years of experience as an educator, organiser, and community-oriented researcher. His current scholarship and research support restorative initiatives in education, justice sectors, and community contexts. Having been born and raised in the Philippines he is curious about how culture interacts with restorative justice, peacebuilding, and community development.  

Prior to moving to New Zealand, he spent 8 years in the southern Philippines as a trainer and accompanier alongside Indigenous, Muslim, and Christian dialogue experts. Prior to that he helped develop one of the first school-based restorative justice programs in the U.S. as part of a multi-stakeholder effort to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in Denver Public Schools. He has facilitated victim-offender reconciliation programming, worked as a prison chaplain and jail outreach volunteer, and supports grassroots peace and transitional justice efforts through the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). He has been married for 25 years and enjoys table games with family, football with his local club, and surfing Dunedin’s coastline.