JoConfino
Working at the intersection of personal transformation and systems evolution
About Jo Confino is a leadership coach, facilitator, journalist, author, sustainability expert and Zen mindfulness practitioner. He works at the intersection of personal transformation and systems change; working with several organisations including Leaders’ Quest and UNDP. His coaching practice focuses on supporting leaders within the fields of climate, biodiversity and social justice. He works across sectors, including NGOs, foundations and business and coaches individuals as well as leadership teams within organisations, such as Global Optimism and Force of Nature.
Jo has worked closely for the past 20 years with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and his buddhist monastic community in Plum Village. He is co-founder and co-presenter of the acclaimed podcast series ‘The Way Out Is In’ and is the co-author of two books ‘Being With Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout’ and ‘Calm In The Storm; Zen Ways To Cultivate Stability In An Anxious World.’ He is currently completing two new books, which will be published in April 2026 and April 2027.
Besides facilitating events and conferences all over the world for the past 20 years, he also runs smaller workshops and roundtables.As a journalist for more than 40 years, he was executive editor, Impact & Innovation and Editorial Director of What’s Working at the HuffPost in New York. During his five years there, he developed long-term editorial projects based on social, environmental and economic justice and was a member of the senior leadership team.
Before joining HuffPost, he was an executive editor of the Guardian and chairman and editorial director of the Guardian Sustainable Business website. During his 23 years at the Guardian, he set up and managed a unique multi-stakeholder development project in the Ugandan village of Katine, and helped create the Guardian’s environment and global development websites. Jo also created and managed the sustainability vision and strategy for the Guardian and its parent company Guardian Media Group.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and completed an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice at the University of Bath.
Jo has worked closely for the past 20 years with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and his buddhist monastic community in Plum Village. He is co-founder and co-presenter of the acclaimed podcast series ‘The Way Out Is In’ and is the co-author of two books ‘Being With Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout’ and ‘Calm In The Storm; Zen Ways To Cultivate Stability In An Anxious World.’ He is currently completing two new books, which will be published in April 2026 and April 2027.
Besides facilitating events and conferences all over the world for the past 20 years, he also runs smaller workshops and roundtables.As a journalist for more than 40 years, he was executive editor, Impact & Innovation and Editorial Director of What’s Working at the HuffPost in New York. During his five years there, he developed long-term editorial projects based on social, environmental and economic justice and was a member of the senior leadership team.
Before joining HuffPost, he was an executive editor of the Guardian and chairman and editorial director of the Guardian Sustainable Business website. During his 23 years at the Guardian, he set up and managed a unique multi-stakeholder development project in the Ugandan village of Katine, and helped create the Guardian’s environment and global development websites. Jo also created and managed the sustainability vision and strategy for the Guardian and its parent company Guardian Media Group.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and completed an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice at the University of Bath.
Books
01
Calm in the Storm: Zen Ways to Cultivate Stability in an Anxious World
In an age marked by climate anxiety, social fragmentation, and unrelenting pressure to perform, Calm in the Storm is a much-needed anchor. This deeply compassionate guide invites readers to cultivate inner stability in a world that often feels on the brink. Rather than offering quick fixes or bypassing pain, Zen teacher Brother Phap Huu and spiritual mentor Jo Confino draw on timeless teachings to help readers meet the chaos of modern life with grounded presence and resilience.
02
Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout
In this fast-paced, complex world, how do we uphold our ideals without burning out? How can we remain open and vulnerable while also ensuring our safety and protection? Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist and leadership coach Jo Confino examine the modern diseases of busyness, overwhelm, and burnout, and how the power of mindfulness and compassion can help us when we run out of energy and inspiration to, process suffering, regain balance, set healthy boundaries, rest and nourish ourselves & bring back more happiness and joy in our lives
03
Between Earth and Sky: 100 Days of Deep Looking in the Place of the Dead
After the loss of his career and identity as a New York City journalist, Jo Confino finds himself in pandemic exile in Mitla, Mexico—the “place of the dead”—where the silence of the landscape becomes the canvas for a radical unlearning. The book that emerged, compact and aesthetic, is a tactile, treasured companion for personal reflection or ritual space. Tracing 100 days of unexpected lockdown, Between Earth and Sky folds together memoir, photographic meditation, and spiritual inquiry to create a fresh, poetic take on ecological awareness and spiritual resilience in a time of crisis that speaks to anyone who’s ever been brought to their knees by change and found something sacred in the dust.
This podcast series is aimed at helping us to transcend our fear and anger so that we can be more engaged in the world in a way that develops love and compassion.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s calligraphy ‘The Way Out Is In” highlights that the way out of any difficulty is to look deeply within, gain insights and then put them into practice.
“The Way Out is In” is co-hosted by Brother Phap Huu, Thich Nhat Hanh’s personal attendant for 17 years and the abbot of Plum Village’s Upper Hamlet, and Jo Confino, who works at the intersection of personal transformation and systems change.
The podcast is co-produced by the Plum Village App and Global Optimism, with support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation.
Gallery