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Dr. Will Bledsoe

Founder of Restorative Way

“As is the case for many who work in the field of restorative practices, when I participated in my first restorative justice circle conference 25 years ago, a very bright light clicked on for me. I experienced people coming together to collectively address a crime. The experience of the person harmed was recognized and embraced. The offender was held accountable for repairing the damage they caused both to the person harmed and others in the community. The underlying issues and reasons for why the offender did what they did were uncovered and addressed in a reparative action plan. The person harmed was satisfied, forgave the offender, experienced closure, and decided to become a facilitator. The offender expressed sincere remorse, made amends, went through counseling, and made significant changes in their life. They never committed another crime.

I entered into that first circle because I was looking for a research site for a doctoral dissertation in communication. I left that circle knowing exactly what I needed to do for the rest of my life.”

About Will

Will is currently an Associate Professor of Communication in the Isaacson School for Communication, Arts, and Media at Colorado Mountain College where he teaches Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication, Rhetoric and Pop Culture, and Conflict Management. He holds a doctorate in communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a master’s degree in religious studies, also from CU. While at the university he taught courses in Conflict Management, Group Communication, Peace & Conflict Studies, the Rhetoric of Presidential Campaigns and Social Movements, Restorative Justice, Advanced Research Writing, and Native American Religious Traditions.

He has facilitated over 1000 restorative conflict mediation encounters using a range of models including - victim/offender dialogue, family-group conferences, community-group conferences, and peacemaking circles for various municipal and district courts involving both misdemeanor and felony violations. For the past fifteen years he has consulted families, k12 educators, administrators, and workplaces implementing restorative conflict and conduct practices and programming.

He is the author of The Restorative Way: Harnessing the Power of Restorative Communication to Mend Relationships, Heal Trauma, and Reclaim Civility One Conversation at a Time (2024).

Panels, Papers, Publications and Presentations

In 1999 he was invited to present his M.A. thesis “The function of pain in Penitente devotional practices: Body of Christ/Body of Man” at the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains District Conference of the American Academy of Religion. Upon presentation he was recognized as an Outstanding Scholar by the National Honor Society of Religious Studies/Theology
In 2004 he was an invited guest presenter on gender bias at the International Conference on Restorative Practices in Vancouver, Canada.
From 2004-2008 he sat on both C.U.’s Standing Committee on Substance Abuse and Office of Discrimination and Sexual Harassment case review board.
In 2004 he created one of the nation’s first University-based restorative justice programs to process student crimes occurring off-campus and in the Boulder community. He trained 50+ facilitators, and increased the program’s caseload from 12 per year to over 400 per year with less than 1% recidivism.
In 2008 he was recognized by C.U.’s Institute for Ethical Civic Engagement for his development of the University’s Restorative Justice Program which received national acclaim as “an exemplary university justice program.”
In 2010 he contributed as a writer and educational consultant for a freshwater lake and reservoir restoration project.
In 2011 he provided expert testimony for the Colorado State House of Representatives in support of legislation formalizing the practice of restorative mediation in civil cases.
In 2012 he was the keynote speaker at the Boulder County Community Practice Project charged with unifying correctional and clinical practices for mental health patients.
In 2016 he was a guest presenter at the Colorado Conference on Restorative Practices – “Building Restorative Organizational Cultures: Intention, Interaction, and Narrative.”
In 2017 he was invited to consult with the Advisory & Planning Committee for Colorado Dept. of Education: Trauma Responsive Schools Theory of Change Action Plan
In 2018 he published a series of articles in Mountain Parent Magazine.

“Building a Bridge While Navigating Family Conflict: A Restorative Way to Create Connection”
“Building a Bridge by Forming a Circle: A Restorative Way Through Bullying”
“Building a Bridge When a Child Seems Unreachable: Looking Through a Restorative Lens to See Beyond a Label”

2019: “Restorative School Discipline: It’s about Engagement, not Enforcement”, Connections Quarterly: Vol. XXXIX – Issue 2. The Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE)
In 2020 he began consulting and mediating conflict resolution for family businesses.
He has a chapter in an upcoming book "Restorative Justice Up Close: First Person Accounts of an Approach That Works" (Wolf, 2026) to be published by The New Press.
He is currently working on a second book: “A Practitioner’s Guide to Personal and Social Rehumanization” [working title]

A bit more about Will

Prior to his career in education, Will was an actor in Los Angeles and a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Noteworthy films, movies, episodic television shows as lead, starring, guest-starring, and co-starring actor include: In the Heat of the Night (NBC), Matlock (NBC), Midnight Caller (NBC), Adam-12 (Universal Pictures/FOX), Alien Nation (Warner Bros./FOX), Boone (NBC), B. L. Stryker (ABC), Cover-Up (CBS), Dark Side of the Moon (Viacom), Fame (MGM), First and Ten (HBO), Return of the Six Million $ Man (NBC), Two Marriages (ABC), Up the Creek (Orion Pictures), Yellow Rose of Texas (NBC), Summer (CBS), Towheads (NBC), I Do* (Awarded the Nevada Film Festival Silver Screen Award in 2009).

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