Our Mission

The Mission of Nurturing Justice is to promote the dignity of all humanity and promote and nurture justice. We achieve our mission by educating, connecting, and nurturing.

Nurturing Justice is proud to have had a part in the executive production of what we are calling our theme song: Some Things Never Change by Clifton Anderson & Co. ©2025 All rights reserved by Clifton Anderson, used by permission.

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BELOVED INSIDE OUT Preparing for Service to JusticeSystemInvolved Communities

We are honored to invite you into a sacred opportunity to serve our brothers and sisters who are impacted by the justice system in your local communities. This is an ongoing, multilayered formation journey designed to prepare your heart, mind, and spirit for meaningful, compassionate, and informed service. We are inviting multiple participants from churches around the country to engage in this important work. The project is a joint venture with Nurturing Justice, Inc, the Onesimus Ministry, Wisconsin, Brookfield Congregational Church and other national and local ministries and groups. 

Our work together will unfold in several phases:

Learning & Formation We will begin by growing together through deep, reflective conversations on two powerful books: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean. These texts will ground us in the realities of injustice, mercy, and the transformative power of presence.

Community Building We will gather virtually on June 15, 2026 to meet one another and begin forming a diverse, multistate community committed to healing, justice, and accompaniment.

Summer Preparation Throughout the summer, we will prepare for service by exploring our cultural competence, learning how to minister to the needs of our siblings in Christ who are systeminvolved, and discerning our spiritual “why.” Participants will receive a spiritual journey journal to document insights, prayers, and discoveries along the way.

Pilgrimage for Justice In the fall, we will raise resources and travel together to the Equal Justice Initiative sites in Alabama. This pilgrimage will help us witness firsthand the historical throughline from enslavement to modern criminal justice policies and practices.

Service Discernment & Action Finally, we will gather—both virtually and in person—to share the unique ways each of you feels called to serve. Your ministry may take many forms: supporting families of incarcerated people, writing letters to those inside, advocating for policy change, or creating new expressions of care and justice in your community.

Tentative Schedule

  • June 15, 2026 – Virtual meet & greet
  • June 29, 2026 – 90minute book discussion; additional summer reading assignments distributed
  • Early July – Spiritual journey journals distributed
  • July 13, 2026 – Cultural assessment forms distributed
  • August 10, 2026 – Cultural assessments due
  • August 17 & 24, 2026 – Virtual gatherings to explore mission opportunities in your communities
  • September 7, 2026 – Review of cultural competency results and recommendations for service with systeminvolved communities

The cost of this opportunity is $325.00 per person. This does not include the trip to the Equal Justice Initiative sites which we are hoping to get funded independently.

To join us or for additional information, please contact: Kris@nurturingjustice.org, pastor@brookcc.org, or maurapackham@att.net , safehavenucc@gmail.com

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vBO1aQGyT027iz9OLapyCg
Pay for the experience via Zelle or PayPal here: nurturingjusticecollaborative@gmail.com

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Our Vision

Nurturing Justice is committed to the sustained action and education that is required for the dismantling of personal and systemic inequities in America.

About Us

Nurturing Justice was founded in 2021 as an effort to bring together a diversity of people nationally who were engaged in Sacred and Courageous conversations about race and racism. Following the murder of George Floyd Nurturing Justice responded to the public outcry to create a vehicle to build connection and provide opportunity for cross racial education, engagement and relationship building.

Nurturing Justice is a unique organization committed to working in small groups to encourage personal transformation and cultivate cross racial relationships.  This happens through the gifted facilitated study of past and continued racism in America.  We prepare our participants to investigate and interrogate personal unconscious and conscious biases and the world view that there is a hierarchy of human value in the human family based on skin color and other differences. We encourage our participants to nurture a life-long commitment to anti-racism, education and community building that will reform inequitable systems.

What We Do

Nurturing Justice is committed to building a world where there is no hierarchy of human value based on any difference.

We offer a variety of specially tailored relational transformation groups that examine intersectional justice issues including racial justice,
LGBTQ justice, reproductive justice, environmental justice and trans justice.

Our methods are straightforward: we use a variety of carefully curated resources including art, music, videos and films and books and articles to guide participants in meaningful discussion that will help them uncover deeply embedded biases within them and in society. We encourage participants to be authentic and vulnerable in community and to use their transformational learning to become advocates in their communities. A “typical” group will be no more than 15-20 people who are willing to commit to doing the deep work to learn and grow together.

We offer short-term and longer-term study opportunities. We have worked with clergy and church communities, secular organizations and businesses, and individuals from all across the nation to help people on their justice journey.

If you want to learn more about our curriculum that includes:

Sacred and Courageous conversations to end racism, anti-racism for youth and for young adults, reproductive justice groups and intersectional justice groups, please contact kris@nurturingjustice.org to discuss all of our offerings.

Who We Are

Nurturing Justice works with a diversity of talented and motivated people who are dedicated to dismantling the notion that there is a hierarchy of human value based on skin color. 

Our Team:

Lead Facilitator and Founder Kris Watson is a seasoned facilitator, mediator, mediation trainer, and Attorney at Law with deep roots in the study and practice of justice.

A nationally certified trainer in the Sacred Conversations to End Racism curriculum of the United Church of Christ, Kris works with clergy and lay people, business leaders and others nationally in the important work to examine the history of race relations, the socio-spiritual dynamic of racism in America and develops strategies to dismantle the hierarchy of human value in the human family.

Kris is a graduate of Vassar College, and the Fordham University School of Law where she obtained her B.A. and Doctor of Jurisprudence degrees. She served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office for several years before entering into the private practice of law. Kris also holds a Master of Divinity degree from the New York Theological Seminary.

In addition to the practice of law, Kris is a non-profit leader, organizational consultant, training consultant and change manager. She formed Nurturing Justice, Inc, to bring together a diversity of people who desire to be part of a nurturing community that pursues justice and racial equity through education, support, and action.  Nurturing Justice works tirelessly to dismantle the notion that there is a hierarchy of human value based on skin color through education, relational transformation, action, community building and engagement.

Rev. Dr. Ruby Wilson: 

The spiritual guru of the group, Rev. Ruby provides sound counsel and a refreshing approach to the work of affirming the dignity and worth of all humanity. Her focus is working with African descendant people who are descendants of American slavery.

Rev. Dr. Ruby Wilson is the Senior Pastor of Safe Haven United Church of Christ in Ridgewood, NY. Reared in Harlem’s Lincoln Houses, she is the seventh of nine children born to the late David and Dovetta Wilson. She received her a BA degree from Houghton College and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from New York Theological Seminary.

Her pastoral work with Safe Haven UCC, has been marked by several meaningful accomplishments to the Body of Christ. She is a sought after and gifted preacher bringing passion and life to the Word of God. She is a committed mentor to ministers of the Gospel, shepherding many on their ministerial and life journeys. Her mentees have gone forward all over the world to become Bishops, Pastors, Apostles, Evangelists, teachers, Chaplains, preachers of the gospel message, high powered executives, politicians, attorneys, graphic designers, musicians, and much more.

Rev. Ruby serves on the New York Conference UCC Commission on Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, leads the NY Conference Gospel Choir, and serves as the immediate past President of the Metropolitan Association of the NY Conference UCC. Rev. Ruby is also a non-profit leader and the Founder and Executive Director of JasD’Jor: Emerging Philanthropists, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families of special needs children and training children to use their gifts and talents for service to the world. She is a founding Board Member of Nurturing Justice, Inc, where she also serves as a gifted facilitator of both Sacred and Courageous Conversations to eliminate the notion that there is a hierarchy of human value based on skin color. 

Rev. Laura McLeod

Rev. Laura is an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ for over thirty years.  She has served churches in New England and the midwest.  Originally from Chicago, Laura graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a degree in Psychology before getting her Masters of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School.  She completed her coursework in Psychology and Clinical Studies at Andover Newton as well, becoming a Member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.  Laura has long been an advocate and ally with the LGBTQ+ community and is currently the chair of the Open and Affirming Committee of the Wisconsin Conference UCC and a member of the Queer and Allied Faith Leaders of Greater Milwaukee.  She was part of the 2019 cohort, becoming a vetted facilitator of Sacred Conversations to End Racism through the National UCC and is now a part of Join the Movement.  She has facilitated racial justice conversation with faith communities and non-profits throughout Wisconsin and Northern Illinois with her teaching and accountability partner, the Rev. Andre Pirtle.  Laura is currently pastor of Brookfield Congregational UCC just outside Milwaukee.  Her husband Scott is also a UCC pastor in the Milwaukee area and they have a daughter, Ruth, who is in graduate school at the University of Connecticut, and son Henry who is attending the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.  Part of Laura’s journey into racial justice work is shaped by being the mother of a son of African descent. 

Rev. David Didio

David Didio is an ordained Interspiritual minister, Holistic Life Coach, and devoted student of A Course in Miracles for more than forty years. He weaves meditation, mind-body practices, and the heart-centered philosophy of Anam Cara into rituals, ceremonies, and spiritual mentoring that open space for exploration and transformation. Through sharing the wisdom and practices that have shaped his own path, David invites others to explore their inner landscape and awaken to the sacred in everyday life. With a rich background in the creative world and
non-profit leadership, he honors the beauty of diverse perspectives and the
power of creativity as a pathway to healing, connection, and wholeness.

Our Board

Lisa Mullins

Rev. Pat Dolin

Dr. Kris Watson

Dr. Ruby Wilson

Anthony Ricco, Esq.

Our Collaborators

Rev Laura McLeod

Barrick Stees

Andre Pirtle

Dr. Karyn Carlo

Josh Blakesley