Director of Transformative Leadership

Amore Alvarenga (They/Them/Theirs) believes in the internal power people embody to break cycles of toxicity creating thriving environments. Amore is especially committed to amplifying the collective power among queer, trans, gender non-binary, Black, brown, Indigenous and communities of color. They have supported individuals and communities by facilitating healing spaces including retreats centered on ancestral practices and restorative processes for serious harms throughout the Tongva lands of Los Angeles, the Lenape lands of New York City, and the Ohlone lands of Oakland. Amore designs and facilitates trauma-informed, restorative and healing justice trainings and workshops. In their previous role on the Restorative Justice Project Amore provided thought partnership to community based organizations and system actors holding restorative justice diversion. Amore is a 2019 Youth Justice Leadership Institute Alumni who launched a program dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ youth and their families in New York City. They bring this experience and passion to their role as the Director of Transformative Leadership at the National Juvenile Justice Network where they will develop and expand the Division of Transformative Leadership which houses the Youth Justice Leadership Institute, Youth Empowered - a community organizing and power-building model, and a Healing Justice program for advocates in the field of youth justice.

Amore earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology with a double minor in Womxn and Gender Studies, and Chicanx studies from Loyola Marymount University. La lengua materna de Amore es español. Ultimately Amore’s greatest teachers have been their deep connection to the Earth, their ancestors, and their abundantly loving community.