Meeting the team: introducing Marie Ftanou to RestorativU

Marie Ftanou’s path to RestorativU has been anything but linear. She started her career in schools, teaching and carrying out evaluations in primary classrooms, helping prepare them for Ofsted inspections. That work came to a pause when she had her son, and with motherhood came a shift in direction. Marie joined UpskillU as a project coordinator, thinking it might be a temporary move. Seven years later, she was still there, having grown with the organisation and eventually stepping into the role of Business Services Manager.

Looking back, Marie says what tied all those experiences together was a constant awareness of unfairness. 

“I came across so many injustices, especially for parents—whether they were dual parents or single parents. In the contact sessions I used to handle, I’d hear stories again and again about how the system wasn’t working for them. That always stayed with me.” 

It’s one of the reasons she sees so much potential in RestorativU, particularly for families. “As a parent myself, I can imagine the difference this could make. It’s about giving people fairer treatment, about listening to them in a way that feels respectful, and about helping restore relationships in their lives.” 

For Marie, restorative mentoring is something deeply practical as much as it is relational. It gives people a framework to rebuild, and it does so with dignity. What excites her about RestorativU is the way it pairs that ethos with technology. By bringing together restorative mentoring with an AI-centred tech approach, the organisation is widening access and tailoring solutions to different communities and sectors.  

“It means we can go further,” she explains. “We can adapt to the unique needs of families, schools, retail, even sports. The potential is everywhere, really. For me, as a parent, I see how valuable it could be for families across the world—from here in the UK to as far away as Australia. But that’s just one example. The truth is, RestorativU can fit wherever people need support.”

The justice system is one of those places, too. Marie sees RestorativU not as a competitor to existing systems, but as a complement, situating it not to replace what’s working, but to stand alongside, to extend reach, and to offer something adapted to the realities people face. 

When she speaks about the future, Marie shifts easily between the external vision—what RestorativU can offer the world—and the internal culture she hopes to nurture within the organisation itself. 

“I expect fair treatment, not only for those we serve but also within the organisation. Sustainability is key. I want us to secure the funders and investors that allow us to expand, to open up career paths for staff, and to build something that lasts. More than that, I want us to leave a legacy, for RestorativU to be remembered as a standout example of working restoratively with communities. I want the stakeholders we partner with now to look at us with pride.”

Her hopes are ambitious but grounded in her own professional journey. From classrooms to project coordination to service management, Marie has spent her career navigating systems and trying to make them fairer. RestorativU, she believes, offers a chance to do that on a bigger scale. “It’s about giving people a fair chance,” she says simply . And with RestorativU, we have the tools to make it happen—sustainably, respectfully, and for the long term.