Convocation Speakers

Pierre Allard  After three decades as a prison chaplain, Rev. Dr. Allard retired as Chaplain General. His experiences as a chaplain, as President of the International Prison Chaplains’ Association and as the Assistant Commissioner, Community Engagement for Correctional Services, have served him well as President of Just.Equipping, a Canadian registered charity. The not-for-profit organization is committed to educating, training, and equipping chaplains and correction officers in the area of restorative justice. Most of their work takes place in African countries, such as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

John Rucyahana  Retired Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana serves as President of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in Rwanda. His many years as a spiritual, economic, and educational leader have helped the people of Rwanda find healing and unity after suffering the devastation of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He is Board Chairperson of Prison Fellowship Rwanda which promotes restorative justice in the criminal justice system and in surrounding communities, and especially among those affected by the genocide. Bishop John also serves on the Board of Trustees of Prison Fellowship International and is the founder of the Sonrise School, which has educated a generation of children orphaned by the genocide, and the Blessed Mustard Seed Babies Home located in Uganda for abandoned children and those who have lost both parents to AIDS.

Theary C. Seng, J.D.  As a human rights activist, author, lawyer, and founder of the Cambodian Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, Ms. Seng’s impact on human rights in her home country of Cambodia is indisputable. The killing of her parents by the Khmer Rouge and her imprisonment by them as a child gives her powerful insight into the suffering of prisoners and their families. Ms. Seng escaped Cambodia for the United States during the “killing fields.” But, after graduation from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and the University of Michigan Law School, she returned to be a voice for labour and human rights.

Andrew Skotnicki  A popular and energetic lecturer on the necessity of love and justice in the criminal justice system, Mr. Skotnicki is the chairperson of religious studies department at Manhattan College in New York. His most recent book entitled, Criminal Justice and the Catholic Church, explains the Catholic Church’s philosophy on the redemptive nature of criminal justice and the importance of seeing Christ in the prisoner.

Jane Williams  Ms. Williams, a theologian and freelance writer, was born in India where her father worked as a British missionary. Writer of many published Christian works, including Approaching Christmas and Angels. Ms. Williams is a lecturer at the St. Paul’s Theological Centre and a visiting lecturer at King’s College London.