Our Team
Our Intention
Our team works hard every day to offer creative, sustainable approaches to conflict in our community and beyond.
Maggie Chotas
Teams & Organizations
Maggie is a facilitator and workplace mediator who guides leaders, teams, agencies, and sectors to maximize their collaboration and communication. Her passion is building spaces where all voices have ownership and commitment to fulfilling shared goals. She loves to help groups build on their strengths to address challenges so work really works and they bring their best to the communities they serve. Maggie’s 22 years as a facilitator equip her with the wisdom, knowledge, and heart to connect with leaders and groups in local and state governments, education (early childhood to higher ed and everything in between), coalitions, and nonprofits.
A native of North Carolina, Maggie is certified in Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Dynamics, and Workplace Mediation, with additional deep work in racial equity, Nonviolent Communication, and restorative practices. She is the co-author of Power Through Partnership: How Women Lead Better Together.
When she’s not working, you’ll find Maggie on a walk in Duke Forest, at the gym, or at a yoga class. If she’s not in any of those places, she might be making a meal for her beloveds or hidden in the flowers of her garden.
Will Dudenhausen
Training & Education
With more than two decades of experience in conflict resolution, Will has trained, mediated, and facilitated with thousands of individuals across North Carolina and beyond. He leads the design of the DSC’s public training curriculum and creates customized programs for clients in business, nonprofit, and government sectors. Will believes that strong conflict resolution skills not only help groups collaborate more effectively but also lead to better outcomes and greater overall well-being. In addition to his serving as DSC’s lead trainer, Will enjoys serving as a mediator and facilitator. He lives in Chatham County with his two sons and their lovable, yet somehow poorly trained dog.
CJ Suitt
Restorative Practices
CJ Suitt (he/him or they/them) is a performance poet, arts educator, community organizer, and restorative justice practitioner from Chapel Hill, NC. His work lives at the intersection of art, healing, and justice, rooted in a deep belief that storytelling can bridge divides and open pathways to collective liberation.
As a restorative justice advocate, CJ has worked with youth awaiting trial, incarcerated elders, and young men redefining masculinity in schools and communities. Through partnerships with organizations like Transplanting Traditions, Benevolence Farm, and Growing Change, he explores how food, land, and story connect in the pursuit of justice.
Appointed as Chapel Hill’s inaugural Poet Laureate, CJ uses poetry as a tool for reflection, resistance, and community-building. He has co-directed and performed in theater productions, shared stages at national music festivals, and brought his voice to classrooms, prisons, and public forums.
CJ is committed to speaking truth to power and building bridges where others see barriers. He finds joy in live performance, time in nature, and soul-nourishing conversation. His values—truth, care, and connection—guide every space he enters.
Elizabeth Hambourger
Restorative Justice
Elizabeth seeks to bring a relational approach to all her work at DSC, helping people prevent and respond to conflict in restorative ways. She facilitates restorative justice processes referred from the courts and leads DSC’s district court mediation work, while also supporting DSC’s restorative practices, mediation, and community education programs. Elizabeth is a recovering attorney who came to restorative justice through her work with people facing the death penalty. Her core values are nonjudgment, authenticity, curiosity, reliability, and interconnectedness. She grew up in Raleigh, attended UNC-Chapel Hill, and lives in Durham with her family, including two beloved cats.
Laura Swartz
Mediation & Facilitation
Laura learned about mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution while in Law School at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham and hasn’t looked back. Mediation appealed to her because of the potential to bring about conflict transformation on both individual and societal levels. She loves working with people, believing that people are fundamentally good and doing the best they can with the challenges they face.
Laura strives to bring compassion, empathy, and integrity into all her work. She manages DSC’s community mediation program and supports an amazing cohort of volunteer mediators. In addition to mediation, Laura works on large group facilitation projects and supports DSC’s team of facilitators, feeling lucky to work with such a great team at DSC.
When not working, you’ll likely find Laura chasing around her children or her dog Maizie. She also loves to hike around the area and go strawberry picking.
Val Hanson
Executive Director
Val operates from core value that them is an illusion; there is only us. Cultivating spaces where this truth can be felt and practiced is one of Val’s deepest passions. As a lifelong North Carolinian, Val feels lucky to facilitate in the local community and beyond.
One of her most transformative experiences has been facilitating restorative circles with incarcerated individuals and witnessing the hope, generosity, and courage that can be found even in prison. Val also teaches Restorative Justice for the Public Policy Department at UNC-Chapel Hill and facilitates circles for anyone interested in dialogue that reveals connection even among differences.
Outside of the office, you’ll likely find Val in or gazing at the woods or spending time with her fun family and a lively crew of cats, dogs, and chickens.
Connect with us!
We regularly host community listening circles, webinars, and workshops and we’d love you to join us.
