Fania E. Davis
Social Activist, Restorative Justice Scholar, Civil Rights Attorney
Fania E. Davis is co-founder and director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY). Disparately impacting youth of color, punitive school discipline and juvenile justice policies activate cycles of youth violence and incarceration. RJOY works to interrupt these cycles by promoting institutional shifts toward restorative approaches that actively engage families, communities, and systems to repair harm and prevent re-offending. RJOY focuses on reducing racial disparities and public costs associated with high rates of incarceration, suspension, and expulsion. Davis’ close childhood connection to victims of the 1963 Sunday School bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, set her career path early in life. She is a long-time social justice activist, restorative justice scholar, and civil rights attorney. Davis earned a JD from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in indigenous studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has taught restorative justice and indigenous peacemaking at the graduate and undergraduate levels. She has received the Ubunti Service to Humanity award, the Maloney award, and World Trust’s Healing Justice award. The Los Angeles Times named Davis a new civil rights leader of the 21st century.
Fania E. Davis will be on campus for the week of April 16-20 interacting with members of our campus community as a visiting fellow through the Council of Independent Colleges’ Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program.
Biography courtesy of The CIC’s Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program.