| Jeni's Experience: Jeni is a musician/songwriter herself, but also holds her B.A. Degree in Sociology from the University of San Diego in California and graduated with honors, having the highest academic average in her class for two years.Prior to launching The Beat of Life, Jeni spent her career as a social worker for a diverse range of human and social service organizations and facilities both in San Diego and in Nashville. She spent several years working with foster youth and kids in the social welfare system, in case management and in Director and Management level positions for residential treatment facilities. This work eventually expanded to include residential facilities for adults suffering with mental illness. She has also worked as a Healthy Lifestyle Director for Dementia/Alzheimer's patients, as a Facility Manager for Developmentally Disabled teens, and briefly in education, as a substitute teacher with an Emergency Teaching Credential for grades K-12, and as a teacher and Associate Director of Education for Sylvan Learning Centers. In addition to her professional positions, she has worked as a volunteer and coordinator of projects and teams serving halfway houses, centers for the blind, cancer patients, and the homeless - including Habit For Humanity House-building in Mexico and Hope Worldwide, and as a Big Sister mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle TN. She has won several awards for her writing and performed both as a songwriter and as part of a duo for over half her life in San Diego and in Nashville, where she has lived the last 10 years.Because of her musical background, Jeni was eventually recruited to create a therapeutic music program for a brand new residential facility for foster youth, and subsequently for adults with developmental disabilities such as Autism, Down Syndrome, and TBI (traumatic brain injury) - both which eventually spearheaded her desire to merge her passions for music and social work/human services to launch the non-profit organization that is now The Beat of Life. |
