Ben first became involved with Seeds of Peace in 2015 as he was preparing to spend the summer studying Arabic in Jerusalem. He came to deeply appreciate the power of the Seeds of Peace model during a leadership council retreat at the Camp in Maine later that summer.

Ben aspires to help spread the word about the effectiveness of facilitated dialogue to all areas of society, including Americans with different political perspectives.

Ben serves as the president of Pollard Builders, an ecologically sustainable construction company in Portland, Maine. He received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University and a master’s degree in environmental studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.