Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Seide.
Hi Jared, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I think I’ve always had a love of storytelling. After graduating from Brown, I came to California to be part of the Entertainment Industry. Pretty early on, I found that the things I considered successful, in terms of my career and finances, often felt unsatisfying and that authenticity rarely coincided with a big paycheck. I had so much love and respect for theater and its ability to bring together an audience of diverse people in a shared, communal experience that felt, somehow, bonding – but I’d become kind of disillusioned with show business…
My daughter was in elementary school during the period after the Rodney King verdict and subsequent LA riots – and I watched her school community get torn apart. At the time, I had become aware of a practice being used at nearby schools that brought the community of parents, teachers, and students together around something called “council.” I came to understand that this was a circle where folks were offered a chance to listen to each other’s authentic stories with respect and without judgment or interruption and share authentically. It was a powerful experience of healing through storytelling in a fraught environment. Listening to the stories, offering regard, and experiencing the resonance was so familiar to me and proved very healing to the communities that participated – including my daughter’s school, which transformed when we brought in council.
This experience led me to seek out training in the practice of council, and I became part of The Ojai Foundation and eventually the Director of Ojai’s Center for Council Training. I began to realize how valuable this practice could be, not only to schools but to communities, businesses, the rehabilitation process inside prisons, and even in the crisis affecting law-enforcement officers–who train to protect and serve but who are often subject to toxic environments, unmitigated stress, community resistance, and some very maladaptive habits and behavior. Watching our programs inside prisons transform individuals in the rehabilitation process; I realized that we all have the capacity to heal and grow. Officers are equally capable of that — and they too have a critical need for resources to increase self-awareness, self-regulation, and compassion in their work and lives. We all do.
As the work grew, more opportunities to support individuals throughout the social justice continuum have arisen. In a given week, our organization sends trainers to teach council practice to school teachers, police officers, tech firm executives, lifers in prison, and formerly incarcerated folks adjusting to their first weeks of freedom in our reentry programs. This work of building social connection and creating a space for folks to step away from the crazy and stressful pace of life — and the intense pressure to blame and “other” — opens up an opportunity for balance, relationality, and cooperation that fosters compassion and community.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our work is so multifaceted. For some, it’s easy to relate to a story of redemption: someone who grew up amidst adverse childhood experiences and trauma and who is on the path to recovery. For others, it’s easier to relate to the enormous stress of protecting public safety as a police officer. It’s sometimes hard to move beyond our ideas of “us versus them” and have compassion for not only those we relate to but for those whose experience is foreign to us. Along the way, many folks who work with our organization have found it difficult to meet “the other“ with curiosity and open-heartedness. I know it’s been personally challenging to encounter and work with folks who had in their past caused great harm, in part due to the harm they’d experienced. The challenge of doing this work with someone you had previously considered an adversary or an enemy can be very uncomfortable. And I can think of no more important work to do.
As you know, we’re big fans of Center for Council. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Center for Council’s new initiative is called Beyond Us & Them; it’s an aspirational phrase inspired by Rumi that points us beyond defensiveness and intolerance toward connection, cooperation, and compassion. Our organization is committed to creating “structures of belonging,” and we offer a vision for a culture of social connection, engagement, and resilience that promotes mutual respect, well-being, and care and dismantles systems of oppression, exclusion, and racism. We create programs and deliver training that resource individuals and organizations in self-awareness, self-regulation, effective communication, and embodied compassion.
We are committed to transforming systems through training law enforcement, community organizations, educators, and policymakers, among other populations and individuals, to cultivate wellness, relationality, compassion, and resilience.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
As a nonprofit, we rely on grants and donations. We are also deeply grateful for the community that engages with our organization and supports it over time, practicing with us, in ways that are personal, as well as transformational.
I’d love for folks who are curious to check out our website — centerforcouncil.org — as well as our social media. We offer local workshops, training, and even online council sessions. We’ve got a couple of books on our work that are available through our website – and there are many opportunities to get involved.
An individual can learn to practice council. Those who see value in nourishing this work can play a critical role by reaching out, following us, subscribing to our newsletter, and considering a donation to support our organization.
Contact Info:
- Website: centerforcouncil.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/center4council/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforcouncil
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/center-for-council
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Center4Council
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@centerforcouncil6260/videos
