Jean Oberlander

Background

About Jean Oberlander

I love soft things, the Barbican cinema and croissants. With a creative background of textiles, art and design, my strengths lie in collaboration, diverse and engaging activities and resources, youth engagement and creative ideation. I currently work as a Programme Project Coordinator at Girlguiding, creating new resources for girls across the UK. My personal textiles work looks in and around memory, love and making. Collecting scraps and bits of materials and objects to form drawings, knit and sewn pieces. I have been a scholarship artist in residence at the Penland School of Craft, and an assistant at Yodomo creative reuse hub in Hackney. My voluntary experiences are a huge part of my life. I have been a Girlguiding adult volunteer for over 12 years. I have been running a Guide unit in South London for 6 years, and have helped award Jack Petchey grants to Guides in my unit as well as receiving a Leader award myself in 2021 to fund a camp experience for them. I have held numerous roles in guiding, such as communication lead, young leader coordinator and facilitator for international selections. My work as a leader entails a lot of administration, organising and planning and week by week facilitation using non-formal education methods with teenagers - and I absolutely love it.