Jennifer is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist and for over 30 years has worked with children and families in outdoor education programs, as a high school science teacher, a hospice bereavement counselor and most recently as an elementary school counselor in Oakland Unified School District where she provides social emotional support to students and families, supports families through the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process and is a circle keeper for Restorative Justice circles for students.
During her time at Hospice, Jennifer partnered with the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy to provide support for children and adults grieving losses of a close family member.
Jennifer’s lifelong love of animals drew her to Monkey Tail Ranch. For the past two years, Jennifer has had the privilege of being a MTR puppy raiser in training. Jennifer took Groot to school every day, where he provided comfort and support to elementary school children. Jennifer and her family are now the forever owners of Groot and she continues to take Groot to school where he spreads his love. Witnessing the power of a dog’s calm and unwavering love and comfort of people is what drew Jennifer to become more involved with MTR as a board member.