Our team
Staff
CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jessie Able
Whether as a tutor, mentor, lactation consultant, social worker, mediator or facilitator, in schools, prison, courts, homes or community centers, Jessie has spent the last 25 years learning from and supporting diverse groups of people she lived and worked with and in communities from rural Alabama to South Central Los Angeles. Learning people’s stories and experiencing other ways of living led to a truer understanding and respect for the belief that we are the experts of our own experience and deserve to be heard, especially in decisions that impact us most.
After moving to Rochester in 2017, Jessie found PiRI and Community Building Circles and how it aligned with this belief, a process that was all about equity of voice. With Jessie’s experience as a Mediator and Social Worker, becoming a facilitator of restorative responses to conflict was a natural fit. It is a process that leads with respect and also challenges in a human and connecting way to care for ourselves and each other. Jessie truly believes restorative practices belongs in all the spaces and can be utilized by all people.
Jessie earned her BA in History with a Minor in African American Studies from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin and her master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jessie lives in Rochester and has two amazing children who attend the RCSD school, School of the Arts. She also has 3 cats and 3 chickens. She loves to dance, listen to music, make healing skin products, cook, be with her kids, her friends and imagine doing artistic things one day. Jessie is honored to be in this position and lean into phenomenal people that keep a restorative vision alive.
DIRECTOR OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Grequan Carter
Grequan Carter, A Published Author, Founder/Coach of ROC Vipers AAU Basketball Organization, Life/Executive Coach for Eye of Nature Coaching, and RECivation. Board President of Respite & Restoration at Lagom Landing, Director of Restorative Justice and Community Engagement for Partners in Restorative Initiatives, and Accountability Panel Role for Exploring Racism Together.
He shares expertise in Life & Executive Coaching and Group Facilitation, facilitating Social Emotional Learning, Mindfulness, Meditation, Sound Healing, Basketball, Poetry, Abstract Art, and Cognitive Behavior Interventions. Grequan Carter also facilitates a variety of Meditative and Team Bonding Retreats, and is a Professional Nature Photographer, Motivational Speaker, and Marketer.
He embodies living in abundance through presence, curiosity, positive energy, and play. Philosophically he utilizes the Arts as a universal language to build community and advocate.
Most importantly, Grequan Carter is a proud father!
PROGRAM AND OFFICE MANAGER
Sam Bonanno
Sam’s professional background lives at the intersection of education and advocacy. A teacher by trade, she’s always loved to educate kids and adults, particularly around tough topics that make us human. As a doula, she has attended over two hundred births, advocating for birthing people and families of all backgrounds. She has taught elementary aged children in rural, suburban, and urban settings. Sam loves teaching childbirth, sex ed, mindfulness, and social/emotional content, and holds a certification in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Sam is a Rochester native who lives in Webster with her wife, three children, three dogs, and five goats. She loves being with her family and pets, playing board games, cooking, reading books, and crafting. She doesn't love driving her children all over christendom, but she does it. Sam considers herself the world’s okayest mom, a recovering people pleaser, a terrible but enthusiastic dancer, and a student of life. Brave and Kind is her battle cry. Love is her religion.
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Rohan Merriman-Parikh
Rohan joined Partners in Restorative Initiatives in the summer of 2020 and is excited to help PiRI build capacity at a time where Restorative Practices are needed the most. Rohan has a background in nonprofit development and operations and experience in education and community engagement.
Rohan was a member of The Harley School community for three years, where he served as Director of Development for Horizons at Harley, a summer and out-of-school-time academic and enrichment program for K-12 students from the city of Rochester.
Before moving to Rochester, Rohan worked at Parks & Trails New York in Albany, helping drive advocacy to close the gaps in the Erie Canalway Trail by coordinating Cycle the Erie Canal, a fully-supported, eight-day 400-mile bike tour from Buffalo to Albany. He has also served as a field organizer and community liaison in progressive politics.
Rohan grew up in the Hudson Valley and is excited about food, film, photography, and cycling. He lives in Rochester’s Corn Hill neighborhood with his partner, two cats she adopted in Brazil, and now two kiddos.
Board
Greta Johnston, Acting President
Monroe One BOCES
Brittany Bonanno, Secretary
Xerox
Chuck Allan, Treasurer
Monroe County Department of Human Services (Retired)
Ronalyn Pollack
Rochester Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee
Anna Wray
Rochester Mennonite Fellowship