Jared Seide is the Director of Center for Council and has designed, piloted and coordinated Council-based programs in prisons, assisted living facilities, youth groups and a variety of non-profit and faith-based organizations and social service agencies, including “The Co-Mentoring Project” for emancipated foster youth, the “Social Justice Council Project” in partnership with the Angell Foundation and the “Prison/Reentry Council Initiative,” with the support of the Nathan Cummings and JIB Foundation, in addition to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  He has also coordinated, mentored and facilitated Council programs at eleven schools in Southern California and has led “Rite of Passage” retreats for a host of middle and high school youth, in addition to coordinating the LA-based “Council Collaborative Initiative.”  Seide was coordinator of the nine-member leadership team that relaunched the "Center for Council Practice" division of The Ojai Foundation, the antecedent of Center for Council.  He co-led the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Conference on integrating Council and SRM in California and Rwandan prisons and was subsequently invited by the foundation to be a Resident Fellow at the Bellagio. He has been a presenter at several conferences and seminars, speaking on the integration of Council into varied arenas.  Seide’s educational background includes a BA with high honors from Brown University. Prior to his work with Center for Council, Seide led successful careers in the entertainment industry and the corporate world. He is a member of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and a sixth cohort graduate of the Chaplaincy Program of Upaya Institute, under the direction of Roshi Joan Halifax.