Council weaves ancient practices and wisdom traditions developed over thousands of years throughout many different cultures around the world. It draws from practices like Veche (Slavic), Satsang (Hindu), Ho’oponopono (Hawaiian), Daré (Zimbabwe), Fambul Tok (Sierra Leone), Ibitaramo (Rwanda), Diwan & Loya Jirga (Islam), Farbrengen (Yiddish), and Quaker Devout Listening Circles, to name a few.
In the early days of this country, Benjamin Franklin witnessed the Talking Circles of the Iroquois Nation and wrote about the inspiring collective wisdom practice. He dubbed what he observed “the council,” utilizing a word derived from Anglo-French cuncile, from Old North French concilie and from the Latin concilium that meant, simply, "a gathering of the people."
Center for Council began as an initiative of The Ojai Foundation, which was host to decades of seminars, workshops, residencies, and lectures by teachers and elders from a wide range of traditions and cultures. The way of council, as practiced within the programs and workshops offered there, evolved and was shaped in collaboration with renown teachers and elders over the course of many years, including Andrew Weil, Arvol Lookinghorse, Deena Metzger, Francis Huxley, Grace Spotted Eagle, Jean Houston, Joan Halifax, Joanna Macy, Jose Arguelles, Joseph Campbell, Pir Vilayat Khan, R.D. Lang, Robert Bly, Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, Terry Tempest Williams, Thich Nhat Hanh, Wallace Black Elk, and many others. We are deeply indebted to the generosity and insight of these and other revered teachers, and we are profoundly grateful for their care and partnership in helping the practice evolve. Incorporating strands from many dialogic traditions throughout North America and around the world, the practice was codified and popularized with the publication of The Way of Council, written by Jack Zimmerman and Virginia Coyle, in 1996.
Building on research and practice conducted throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Center for Council launched as an independent project in 2014, under the fiscal sponsorship of Community Partners, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that helps community leaders foster, launch, and grow creative solutions to community challenges. While our base of operations remains in the heart of Southern California, our expanding team of Certified Council Trainers travel the world to support individuals, organizations and communities longing for compassion-based tools for developing more skillful communication, deeper connection, resilient relationships and flourishing communities.
In the early days of this country, Benjamin Franklin witnessed the Talking Circles of the Iroquois Nation and wrote about the inspiring collective wisdom practice. He dubbed what he observed “the council,” utilizing a word derived from Anglo-French cuncile, from Old North French concilie and from the Latin concilium that meant, simply, "a gathering of the people."
Center for Council began as an initiative of The Ojai Foundation, which was host to decades of seminars, workshops, residencies, and lectures by teachers and elders from a wide range of traditions and cultures. The way of council, as practiced within the programs and workshops offered there, evolved and was shaped in collaboration with renown teachers and elders over the course of many years, including Andrew Weil, Arvol Lookinghorse, Deena Metzger, Francis Huxley, Grace Spotted Eagle, Jean Houston, Joan Halifax, Joanna Macy, Jose Arguelles, Joseph Campbell, Pir Vilayat Khan, R.D. Lang, Robert Bly, Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, Terry Tempest Williams, Thich Nhat Hanh, Wallace Black Elk, and many others. We are deeply indebted to the generosity and insight of these and other revered teachers, and we are profoundly grateful for their care and partnership in helping the practice evolve. Incorporating strands from many dialogic traditions throughout North America and around the world, the practice was codified and popularized with the publication of The Way of Council, written by Jack Zimmerman and Virginia Coyle, in 1996.
Building on research and practice conducted throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Center for Council launched as an independent project in 2014, under the fiscal sponsorship of Community Partners, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that helps community leaders foster, launch, and grow creative solutions to community challenges. While our base of operations remains in the heart of Southern California, our expanding team of Certified Council Trainers travel the world to support individuals, organizations and communities longing for compassion-based tools for developing more skillful communication, deeper connection, resilient relationships and flourishing communities.
