The Practice
What happens when a room agrees to listen.
"Traditional conflict resolution tells people what happened and assigns consequences. Restorative practice asks a different question: what happened, who was affected, and what does repair actually look like."
For businessesReal tools for workplace conflict, team fractures after difficult transitions, and honest conversation most HR processes are not built to hold.
For schoolsAn alternative to punitive discipline that reduces repeat conflict and builds trust between students and staff.
For courts & institutionsA facilitator trained in the practice who also brings the presence of an artist, someone who can hold a room, not just run an agenda.
Who I Am
A practiced craft, not a theory.
My name is Dakohai Matityahu. I am a spoken word artist and trained restorative justice facilitator. I completed all three tiers of restorative justice training through Suffolk University, and I bring that training together with artistic practice into every room I enter. This is not theory. It is a practiced craft, built on real experience holding circles for young people, communities, and organizations navigating real conflict and real change.
My circle keeping practice began in 2015, the same year I first entered SPOKE as a Daniel Morrissey Fellow, working as a youth advocate and DYS youth manager. That same year, while training Capoeira Angola under Courtney “Zumbi” Grey, himself trained by Mestre Moraes and Mestre Deraldo, I was introduced to circle keeping itself through Capoeira Angola’s own traditional training method.
I serve as Lead Poet and Restorative Justice Specialist at BeHeard.World, a Boston based 501(c)(3) with thirteen years of history using the arts to advance social justice, and as a board member and circle keeper at SPOKE, a Boston based arts nonprofit with nearly thirty years of history using art to heal communities. At SPOKE, I helped create and execute Hand to Hand, the organization’s first program bringing DYS involved youth and Boston Police officers together through collaborative art making, and I facilitate Come Home, a monthly youth circle and open mic initiative.
Since 2021, I have run New Beginnings, a restorative justice program under direct contract with Brockton Public Schools, partnering with administration on culture and climate, serving as a student advocate, and supporting the reintegration of youth returning home from Department of Youth Services custody. I have also worked alongside Clarissa Turner, founder of her nonprofit Legacy Lives On, extending this collaboration into correctional settings to support restorative justice practice within the prison system.
Two things carry across every one of these roles: social solution engineering, designing creative, cross sector solutions to real community challenges, and culture and climate strategy, shaping the environment people actually live and work inside, not just responding after something breaks.
Work Together
Five ways to bring circle work into your organization.
Every engagement begins with a conversation to determine the right fit before a rate is finalized.
A detailed rate sheet is available on request.
Rhythm is a practice too · SPOKE, Boston
Let's Talk
The circle is only as strong as the people who show up.
If your organization, school, or team is navigating conflict, transition, or simply wants to build a stronger culture of honest communication and accountability, I would welcome a conversation.