About Jennifer

By profession, Jennifer is a humanitarian aid worker specializing in refugee and IDP camp management. Having graduated from high school a year early to pursue a life of Christian missions, her plans were interrupted by an early marriage at the age of 19. Divorced at 20, Jennifer again attempted short-term missions before deciding to pursue a degree in international studies with an emphasis on North Africa and the Middle East.  Following graduation, Jennifer received an internship in South Sudan which began her career in emergency relief. Jennifer has worked with both faith-based and secular agencies and values both. She is currently a member of the Danish Refugee Council Standby Roster and is a certified Camp Coordination and Camp Management trainer. Jennifer’s approach to camp management is people-centered and focuses on enabling men, women, boys, and girls to have a say in managing their own displacement. 

Recently returned from  4 consecutive years in South Sudan and Iraq, Jennifer is now on an epic road trip to rediscover the power of relationship by reconnecting with the friends and family she left behind. Having nurtured a conservative Christian ethos in her youth, yet traveled far beyond America’s borders in adulthood, Jennifer intends to spend the remainder of 2016 telling stories that will help bridge the sacred/secular and us vs. them divide. Since she began working as a humanitarian, Jennifer has moved from black and white thinking to a more inclusive, nuanced worldview.  Her unique background and experiences enable her engage with thinkers on both sides of the liberal/conservative and secular/religious aisle. Through her writings and podcast, Jennifer hopes to facilitate conversations that demonstrate we don’t have to be afraid of those who think or do life differently from ourselves. 

In addition to the road trip and podcast, Jennifer is in the process of writing a spiritual memoir which she hopes to publish before returning to the humanitarian field.