Maestro Jerry Tello

Award winning Author, Storyteller,Mental Health Practitioner, Jerry Tello comes from a family of Coahuiltecan, Mexican, Texan roots and was raised in Compton and South Central Los Angeles. He is an award winning author and internationally-recognized expert in the areas of transformational-learning, family strengthening, culturally-based child development, storytelling, racial equity, community trauma, restorative practices, healing, peace and mobilization.

For more than 50 fifty years Mr. Tello has dedicated his efforts to acknowledging the culturally-based teachings and wisdom that families carry, which can prevent and heal the pain that children and families face, and can serve as the basis for the development of honorable, responsible, and successful children and families. He has shared these teachings by speaking to over half a million people and training thousands of facilitators across the nation in trauma- informed, healing-centered curricula to address these issues. He is co-founder of the National Compadres Network (established in 1988) and the present Director of the Training and Capacity Building. He and his companion Susanna have five children; Marcos, Renee, Paloma Emilio, Tenaya and grandparents to Amara and Naiya, Greyson, Harrison, Vivienne and Elias.