Interested in having Jen speak to your organization, team, club or congregation?


“Jen creates space for all that is human in us. She is not afraid to go to the heart of things and speak to what is hard. She allows uncertainty and mystery to be at the center while naturally seeing the interconnectedness of everything.”

PAULA WILLIAMS, COACH
LIVE THIS LIFE ON PURPOSE

As a speaker, writer and coach, Jen draws on her theological and ministerial training and a rich lived experience. She weaves throughout her work diverse resources from depth and positive psychology, mythology, and Buddhism to the rich metaphors and stories of the Jewish and Christian traditions. Her warmth and empathy allow her to speak from the heart in a way that is engaging, honest and authentic.

Since 2014, when she founded Give Gratitude, Jen has spoken, written and coached individuals and nonprofits on the centrality of gratitude as a practice and framework for individual, team and organizational resilience and success. Her training as a Strengths Communicator begins by celebrating what is right with people. Her trauma informed care experience has deepened her commitment to gratitude as one of the most important evidence based practices to help people live healthier and happier lives.

Jen holds a BA in Religion from Oberlin College and a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she earned awards in preaching and for relating philosophy, theology, and ethics  to contemporary social problems. She has led wellness and community-building retreats and workshops, developed inclusive rituals and celebrations, officiated weddings, and engaged various audiences as a writer and public speaker. Early in her career she was a teacher and campus minister at a small Catholic girls’ school, and provided pastoral care to both health care workers and patients as assistant chaplain at Bellevue Hospital, the nation’s oldest hospital.

Jen is an active community volunteer and consummate relationship builder, able to liaise among seemingly disparate constituencies to both meet their separate needs and illuminate their common purpose. In her various roles as fundraiser, team leader, teacher, coach, writer, and speaker, Jen works to motivate human endeavor by shaping powerful messages and, equally, by heeding the wise words of philosopher Paul Tillich: “The first duty of love is to listen.”

EDUCATION AND TRAINING ________________________________________________

  • Union Theological Seminary (UTS), New York City, New York, MDiv

  • Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, BA, Religion

  • Bellevue Hospital, Clinical Pastoral Training, New York City, New York

  • Strengths Communicator, Leadership Vision, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Your Leadership Edge, Kansas Leadership Center, Wichita, Kansas

  • Building Resilient Trauma Informed Cultures, Truman Medical Center's Center for Trauma Informed Innovation, Kansas City, Missouri

AWARDS ___________________________________________________________________

  • Julius Thomas Hansen Memorial award from UTS for the unique ability in relating philosophy, theology, and ethics to problems in contemporary society.

  • William H. Hudnut Award from UTS to those who show the greatest promise for preaching ministry.

"Jen's attention to the deeper rhythms of life and the universe along with her understanding and creative use of ritual, symbols, and the sacred are REAL.

She creates environments that are warm and welcoming. By drawing on the wisdom of the ages and sages, Jen helps others in their hours of need and searching."

KATHARINE GREIDER, AUTHOR