Meeting our founders (Vol. II): Gifford Sutherland

This week, we’re excited to spotlight Gifford Sutherland, co-founder of RestorativU and founder of UpskillU. With more than 15 years of experience in restorative practice, trauma-informed care, and youth justice, Gifford is a powerful voice for equity, healing, and innovation in the field.

His career began in the corporate world, where he spent over a decade working in business development and consulting across sectors like publishing, digital media, and telecommunications. Gifford held senior roles at companies such as Associated Newspapers, Trader Media Group (Auto Trader), The Mirror Group, and Endemol, where he led international sales efforts, managed high-value accounts, and launched major commercial projects.

Despite his success in that space, Gifford felt a pull toward something more meaningful — a way to use his skills to directly impact communities and help address systemic harm. That’s when he made the transition into the world of restorative justice and youth empowerment, bringing with him a rare blend of strategic thinking, business acumen, and deep social commitment.

Today, Gifford is the Chief Executive of UpskillU, a national CPD training consultancy and grassroots restorative organisation. Through UpskillU, he has trained countless professionals working in youth services, education, social housing, and criminal justice to embed restorative and trauma-informed practices into their everyday work. His work is driven by the belief that meaningful change happens not just through policy, but through relationships.

He is also a trained trauma therapist (through the Tavistock NHS Trust), a qualified counsellor, an executive coach, and a Master NLP Practitioner. This clinical grounding deeply informs his approach to restorative work, particularly when addressing the impact of violence, inequality, and racialised trauma. His practice is not just about managing conflict — it’s about understanding it, healing from it, and creating structures where it’s less likely to emerge.

Over the years, Gifford has become a well-known figure in national conversations around youth justice and equity. He has advised various government bodies on issues such as knife crime, youth violence, child criminal exploitation, and violence against women and girls (VAWG). He is a board-appointed trustee of the Restorative Justice Council (RJC) and co-founder of the Black Restorative Network, which centres Black voices and leadership in restorative practice. He also serves as a trustee for Race on the Agenda (ROTA), one of the UK’s leading anti-racist organisations.

His leadership style is grounded in empathy, action, and a deep understanding of systems. Whether facilitating a workshop with frontline practitioners or presenting at a national conference, he is known for creating honest, thoughtful spaces for learning and transformation. He consistently challenges others to think bigger about what restorative justice can be — not just a method, but a mindset.

“My ambition is to completely transform and reshape the sector to help create a restorative society where restorative principles and approaches become an integral part of everyday life.”

Gifford’s vision for restorative practice goes beyond formal interventions. He believes in building a restorative society— one where dialogue, accountability, empathy, and repair are foundational values that guide how we live and work together. His work with RestorativU reflects this: supporting organisations to rethink their culture, centre lived experience, and develop practical strategies to prevent harm and respond to it with care.

What makes Gifford’s journey particularly compelling is his ability to bridge different worlds — corporate, community, clinical, and policy. He’s as comfortable talking strategy in a boardroom as he is facilitating a youth circle in a school or training social workers on trauma awareness. This versatility is one of his greatest strengths.

We’re proud to have Gifford as a co-founder, and even prouder to share his story with our growing community.