David Sullivan-Konyn, restorative Practices Educator and eCommerce Entrepreneur, Sullivan-Konyn has dedicated his life to his family, to his students, and to our world. His motto: “You can’t take it with you,” reveals his passion for life here on earth and using the force of change in our world for the betterment of the lives of those to come. A social studies teacher for 21 years in the Milwaukee Public Schools system, David knows deep in his heart that he has received immensely more from his students than the knowledge of our history, government, and economics that he has freely shared with them. 

Known for his dry wit, or lack thereof, and providing info on the down-low, Sullivan-Konyn strives to help his students see the limitless potential of their futures where they are in the driver’s seat, not their parents, or their friends, or social media. He began teaching using the principles of restorative practice before he knew that RP had a name. He sought and continues to seek the positive development of the students he advises by guiding them on a journey of self-discovery and self-advocacy.

Admitting that teaching in public education was burning him from the inside out, Sullivan-Konyn went all-in after his school, Barack Obama SCTE High School, began exploring the possibility of becoming a Restorative Practices school. Having cut educational grinders on the all but forgotten small high school movement championed in the early 2000s, David thought, “well, if you want us to become a Restorative Practices School, then I will show you what it might look like in a typical educator’s classroom.”  One of only a handful of educators in the country that taught all of his students in circle,  everyday in every class, his students came to appreciate the autonomy, freedom, and community reborn within Room 220 and began to appreciate the class “without desks.” 

Educator in Milwaukee Public Schools for seventeen years.

Education Assistant in Milwaukee Public Schools for the previous four years.

Entrepreneur and Business Owner for six years.

BA from Marquette University, 1992.

MA in Teaching from National-Louis University, 2004.