Carl R. Dollar
Founder | Executive Director

Carl R. Dollar is a speaker, trainer, and advocate dedicated to transforming how the justice system understands and responds to trauma. As the founder of Holistic Justice Initiative (HJI), Carl brings both professional expertise and lived experience—collectively having spent more than seven and a half years incarcerated and surviving significant childhood trauma.
 
His journey from incarceration to advocacy is deeply rooted in his faith. After encountering the redemptive love of Christ, Carl’s life was radically transformed. That transformation now fuels HJI’s mission: to restore dignity, facilitate trauma healing, and empower transformation for justice-involved individuals. Through a lens of grace and truth, Carl equips correctional staff, agencies, and community leaders with trauma-informed tools grounded in Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®), neuroscience, and relationship-centered care. His approach bridges theory and experience, helping people see beyond behavior to the pain and potential beneath it.

Carl co-developed TBRI® on the Inside, a 16-week trauma-responsive curriculum designed specifically for adults in correctional settings. The course helps participants build trust, regulate emotions, and reframe their identity—many for the first time—as someone deeply valued and capable of change. He also offers Christ-centered mentorship to returning citizens and delivers training nationwide on topics such as neuroplasticity after trauma, relational trust-building, and shifting from punishment to restoration.

At the heart of Carl’s leadership is a simple but profound belief: people are not disposable. Through the power of relationship, truth, and God’s grace, every person—regardless of their past—can heal, grow, and live a life of purpose.