JILL M. SENECHAL
Anthropologist, coach, and international development pioneer with years of meaningful field experience.
MY PURPOSE
With a long and varied career in applied research and service already underway, I still believe my most exciting and meaningful contributions are ahead of me. I aim to make excellence and decency hallmarks of all I do. Issues of forced migration, inclusive societal development, personal life change, and trauma healing are among those closest to my heart. My ideal next steps would position me within a community of learning and practice with a global reach. I am interested in developing a path forward that utilizes my skills and talents in teaching, coaching, research, administration, and innovative humanitarian practice.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
FIELD STAFF, SERVE INTERNATIONAL
2005 - PRESENT
Serve is an international Christian outreach agency specializing in training local leaders and strengthening community institutions. The organization trusts its well-trained field staff to define and prioritize their own accountabilities, and it places a high value on teamwork, cultural contextualization, and a posture of service. Scroll down for more about the regions in which I've served and the work I've done.
NICE, FRANCE
2010 - 2020
Offered training and service to local leaders in the areas of community outreach and engagement, large event planning, choral directing, administration, and developing forms of art and music intrinsic to local contexts.
Served as a principal teacher in our leadership training center.
Worked with my team to develop service initiatives among the local North African immigrant population, and more recently, with refugees detained at the French/Italian border nearby.
Forged partnerships with the Red Cross, Caritas charities, and local Catholic and Protestant churches to render material and non-material aid to refugees in Italy and France.
Founding member of the 06 Unaccompanied Minors group, organized to care for the ongoing needs of the state-housed refugee teens living in the region.
FRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICA
2017 - ONGOING
Launched a long-awaited women’s leadership training program in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
With local leadership, organized and facilitated several women’s leadership conferences in the region, with attendees from 9 West African nations.
Supported local leadership teams in their community initiatives, including a girls' camp and emergency aid collection for drought victims, and small business enterprises.
MALAGA, SPAIN
2013 - ONGOING
Guest lecturer at the Instituto Bíblico y Seminario Teológico de España (IBSTE), offering intensive modules in Cultural Anthropology. Music in the Church, and Ethnodoxology.
MOMBASA, KENYA
2005-2009
Directed an organization with a membership of 400+ students from Mombasa Polytechnic Institute, where I coordinated community outreach training and opportunities for students in orphanages, hospitals, prisons, and on their school campus.
Visited village primary schools to raise awareness about AIDS, malaria and other issues related to health and nutrition.
Personally mentored over 40 young women in the course of my tenure.
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
MASTER OF ARTS IN APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY,
MIGRANT AND REFUGEE ANTHROPOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
(4.0/4.0 GRADE POINT AVERAGE)
2010 - 2014
Thesis titled, “C'est Comme Ça: An Ethnography of North Africans in the Côte d’Azur”. Supervised by Dr. Doug Henry, with committee members Dr. Norman Dolch, Dr. Susan Squires, and Dr. Alicia Re Cruz, all of UNT.
Worked independently and in teams to research and report for various non-profit clients, both for class assignments and on a volunteer basis. (see examples in "Selected Work")
Other studies include Anthropological Thought and Praxis, Community Resource Mapping and Development, Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods, Proposal Writing, Sociocultural and Organizational Anthropology.
Inducted into the Alpha Chi Honors Society as a result of my academic achievements. This honor is extended to students whose GPA is ranked in the top 10% of their university.
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MUSIC, VOCAL PERFORMANCE
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
1996 - 2000
Received a broad liberal arts education while training in classical opera and musical theater performance.
Senior thesis in ethnomusicology explored aspects of music shared ubiquitously among indigenous practices across the globe.
Chosen to participate in the Fredericksburg Young Artists Apprenticeship Program for classical voice, co-founded a multicultural vocal performance group, served as president of the Best Buddies special needs friendship program.
OTHER SKILLS AND TRAINING
2020-2021
ASSOCIATE CERTIFIED COACH, ICF (PENDING COMPLETION)
Coaching individuals in transition, focusing on people in cross-cultural contexts and young adults.
Currently completing certification process as a coach through the International Coach Federation.
2020-2021
HARVARD PROGRAM IN REFUGEE TRAUMA
Completed the HPRT Global Trauma Recovery course through Harvard Medical School.
Joined the alumni group of over 1000 professionals working to treat victims of trauma, particularly the trauma of displacement, and the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
2020-2021
ARTS AND TRAUMA HEALING, DIU
Completed the Arts and Trauma Healing course at Dallas International University.
Certified to lead trauma healing groups using the expressive arts.
PROFICIENCIES
LANGUAGES
English (native)
French (fluent)
Spanish (fluent)
Swahili (proficient)
Italian (intermediate)
RESEARCH SKILLS
Ethnographic Methods
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
Community Asset Mapping
Environmental Scans
Proficient in SPSS and ATLAS.ti
NIH Research Ethics Board Certified
PROJECT FUNDING
I am trained and experienced in grant proposal writing.
I have raised over $600,000 (USD) over the past 20 years as a support-funded aid worker to finance all personal compensation and project costs.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
I have lectured at the university level on Cultural Anthropology and Ethnomusicology (in Spanish).
I have been a lead instructor in a leadership training program (in English and French).
I have taught Spanish, Music, and Theater to children ages 12-18 in public and private schools.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
SfAA - The Society for Applied Anthropologists
GEN - The Global Ethnodoxology Network
Mensa International (French and American Mensa)
International Coaching Federation (ACC Certification pending)
SELECTED WORK
Hover over the photos below to reveal project titles,
click to access them.
“To my mind, development is about giving hope to ordinary people that their children will grow up in a society that has caught up with the rest of the world. Take that hope away, and the smart people will use their energies not to develop their society, but to escape from it.”
Paul Collier in The Bottom Billion
