Krystal McLeod is a restorative practitioner advancing restorative approaches to address violence. As Co–Executive Director and Chief Program Officer of the NYU Center on Violence and Recovery (CVR), she leads a multidisciplinary team of practitioners, scholars, organizers, and survivors committed to reimagining responses to violence.

She serves as Lead Principal Investigator on multiple contracts providing restorative justice–based training and technical assistance to communities nationwide that are piloting restorative alternatives to harm. She currently supports more than 20 communities across 15 states. In 2024, CVR was awarded—under Ms. McLeod’s leadership as Principal Investigator—the U.S. Department of Justice’s Restorative Practices Technical Assistance Pilot Program, one of only three organizations in the nation to receive this $2 million award. Through this initiative, NYU CVR now supports 11 pilot sites across the country in designing and implementing community-based restorative practices programs addressing domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

Ms. McLeod holds a JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School and a BA in Politics from New York University. She has been named a 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Dalai Lama Fellow, Truman Scholar, Compassionate Leadership Fellow, and Senior Humanity in Action Fellow. She serves as a Distinguished Alumna on NYU’s College of Arts and Science Dean’s Advisory Council and as a Trustee of The Reconciliation Project, an international initiative dedicated to fostering dialogue across divides, appointed by NYU President Emeritus John Sexton. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education at NYU Steinhardt, where her research agenda centers on the application of restorative practices in higher education.