I am joined by Jessica Hjarrand, a coaching client and Collective Thrive community member for a conversation about resilience, somatic awareness, and sitting in uncertainty. Who better to dive into this topic with, than someone with two decades doing early childhood and community development work in some of the world's most volatile places: Nepal during its civil war, post conflict Colombia, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, and most recently Ukraine. We explore her deeply personal experience with change, how the body signals threat before the mind catches up, and why a corporate upheaval and a war zone can trigger the same physiological response. Jessica also shares how her family's history of displacement shaped her path into this work, and what's next for her.
Jessica Hjarrand is a senior advisor who builds functions and programmes, brokers partnerships and connections, and works within complex systems. She has influenced and shaped national policy and global narratives around education, early childhood development, gender, and freedom of expression. She's worked for UN entities, civil society organisations, and global philanthropy with a focus on conflict and transitional contexts. She is a Fulbright Scholar who started her career in education, as a primary and adult education teacher for refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, and retains her love for guiding people as they move forward in their lives, wherever and whatever that may mean. Jessica is also a storyteller and is developing a series of essays called Base Notes, for a forthcoming Substack. Among her other, ongoing projects and roles, she is building Agorà Sicula, a residency and community regeneration project in Sicily. She is currently based in Amsterdam.
