ReWork Lab
A Program of the Kenan Institute for Ethics
The Rework Lab builds resilient workplaces and cultures by advancing research and training on restorative practices.
About
Restorative practices are teachable approaches to help leaders and teams manage relationships, promote positive behavior, prevent harm, and navigate challenges constructively.
At ReWork, we advance restorative practices as a tool for strengthening relationships, fostering ethical cultures, and building resilient organizations. Designed for workplaces and institutions, our approach equips leaders and teams to strengthen trust, prevent harm, and navigate challenges constructively—before, during, and after conflict.
What We Do
The ReWork Lab’s work spans three integrated areas:
TRAINING & CERTIFICATION
We offer two complementary certification pathways designed to develop skilled restorative facilitators and ethical leaders.
- Restorative Practices Facilitation Certification for undergraduate and graduate students
- Restorative Practices Leadership Certification for professionals at any stage of their career
Both pathways blend theory, guided practice, and mentorship to prepare participants to lead restorative processes, support accountability, and help teams and organizations move forward after conflict or harm.
TEACHING & APPLIED LEARNING
The Lab delivers undergraduate courses and community-based programs focused on restorative practices, dialogue across difference, and practical conflict-resolution skills. Our teaching emphasizes clear communication, relational leadership, and real-world application.
Recent courses include Just Work: Restorative Justice Models and Applications (Kenan FOCUS cluster) and Doin’ It Right: The Ethics of Sex.
RESEARCH & ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS
We advance scholarship at the intersection of restorative practices and organizational ethics, examining how institutions can prevent and respond to harm in ways that build trust, improve culture, and strengthen shared responsibility.
Current research and applied projects include:
- Restorative pedagogy in undergraduate, professional, and workplace settings
- Restorative engagements addressing workplace harm and incivility, particularly in academic medicine
- Best practices for organizational ombuds, human resources professionals, and managers navigating conflict through restorative approaches
We welcome inquiries from students, professionals, and organizations interested in restorative practices, ethical leadership, and constructive approaches to conflict.
Contact
We welcome inquiries from students, professionals, and organizations interested in restorative practices, ethical leadership, and constructive approaches to conflict. Email rework@duke.edu.
People
Program Director
Ada Gregory
Associate Director, Kenan Institute for Ethics
Ada Gregory is a leader in restorative practices, organizational ethics, and culture change, with more than 25 years of experience working across law enforcement, higher education, nonprofit leadership, and public policy. Her work focuses on how institutions build and sustain ethical cultures—particularly using restorative practices as teachable processes for managing relationships, strengthening accountability, and navigating complexity in organizational life.
She serves as Associate Director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, where she helps lead the ReWork Lab, an initiative advancing research, training, and practice in restorative approaches to work and leadership. She also teaches courses on restorative practices and ethics, using dialogue-based methods to engage questions of difference, disagreement, and pluralism in university, community, and professional settings. As Duke’s Ombuds, she worked extensively with individuals and groups across the institution to address conflict and strengthen relational trust. Across her roles, Gregory’s work centers on translating ethical commitments into everyday practices that support more responsive, inclusive, and resilient organizations.