Jared Seide

Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Us & Them and Center for Council

Jared Seide is the founder and Executive Director of Beyond Us & Them, as well as Center for Council.

Jared has designed, piloted and coordinated council-based programs in prisons, assisted living facilities, youth groups and a variety of non-profit, faith-based organizations, social service and law enforcement agencies, including the "Co-Mentoring Project,” for emancipated foster youth, the "Organizational Wellness Project,” for the staff of scores of community-based organizations, the “Council for Insight, Compassion & Resilience” active in more than twenty prisons throughout California and winner of the American Correctional Association’s Innovations in Corrections award, the "Trainer Leadership Initiative," supporting emerging council leaders serving impacted communities, and the council-based "Peace Officer Wellness, Empathy & Resilience” (POWER) Training Program for law enforcement and correctional officers.

Jared is author of "Where Compassion Begins: Foundational Practices to Enhance Mindfulness, Attention and Listening from the Heart" and editor of the illustrated novella, "Leaving Prison Behind: A Council Before I Go." He has coordinated, mentored and facilitated council programs at over a dozen schools in Southern California and has led trainings and retreats focusing on reconciliation and community-building throughout the U.S., and in Poland, Rwanda, France, Ireland, Colombia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Jared directed the "Center for Council Practice" initiative of The Ojai Foundation, the antecedent of Center for Council. He co-led the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Conference on integrating council in California and Rwandan prisons and was a Resident Fellow at the Bellagio Center. He has been featured in numerous interviews, articles and podcasts and is a frequent presenter at conferences and seminars, speaking on the integration of council into varied arenas, including South by Southwest, International Association of Chiefs of Police, California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, Association of Change Management Professionals, Bellagio Fellows Gathering, Monterey Restorative Justice Commission, Restorative Justice in Motion Conference, at Eastern Methodist University, and he has served as a member of the US Department of Justice National Officer Safety and Wellness Workgroup and the POST/UCSD 720 Health Council of Advisors.

Jared received the 2023 Marcia Slater Johnston Award for Outstanding Leadership in Community-Based Efforts to Reduce Social Isolation and Loneliness conferred by the Foundation for Social Connection for "exemplifying exceptional leadership and dedication in reducing social isolation and loneliness and promoting connection in his community." Jared’s educational background includes a BA with high honors from Brown University. Prior to his work with Center for Council, Jared led careers in the entertainment industry and the corporate world. He is a member of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, a graduate of the Upaya Institute Chaplaincy Program and has been a Spirit Holder for Zen Peacemaker Bearing Witness Retreats around the world.

Read more about Jared’s work: c4c.link/jared