Founder of Reflective Gap | Inspirational Woman of the Year Award 2007 | Author | Advocate | Artist | Speaker
 Mother, grandmother, friend, and colleague

Jennie Grace is a powerful voice for change known for her raw honesty, visionary leadership, and unwavering commitment to healing and empowerment. From a young age, Jennie was told she would never achieve anything and would always rely on services. She was a victim of abuse and wrongly diagnosed with a psychotic illness, spending most of her childhood and twenties in psychiatric institutions. But even in the darkest moments, Jennie knew she had a choice: to fight for a life of dignity and purpose, or remain dependent on a system that had failed to see her truth. She chose to fight.

Years later, Jennie was honoured with the Inspirational Woman of the Year award for leading a community-driven transformation of a psychiatric hospital, turning it into a more humane, compassionate space for patients, families, and frontline staff. She is no stranger to turning pain into purpose.

As the founder of Reflective Gap, Jennie created a groundbreaking platform where individuals with lived experience of childhood abuse, neurodiversity, and mental health challenges-speak directly to professionals in social care, law enforcement, education, and health. Her work spans colleges, charities, schools, universities, councils, housing providers, emergency services, and grassroots changemakers. Her mission is simple but urgent:
 To build bridges of understanding that foster healing, dignity, and real-world change.

Jennie is also the author of a powerful memoir that shines a light on surviving institutional abuse and reclaiming identity. Alongside this, she writes gentle, emotionally intelligent children’s books that help young minds explore and express complex feelings around trauma, resilience, and self-worth.

Her advocacy is deeply personal and profoundly practical. She volunteers with neurodiverse children, helping them celebrate their uniqueness, uncover their strengths, and build confidence in a world that often misunderstands them. She has worked for many years as a peer support manager for a national charity, and founded art groups in psychiatric hospitals and community cafés-creating safe, creative spaces for survivors of abuse and those navigating mental health challenges, especially during weekends and holidays when isolation can deepen.

Jennie’s influence reaches Parliament, where she has led workshops on mental health and abuse for MPs. She has delivered powerful talks to Metropolitan Police officers, school staff, housing associations, youth groups, social services, and countless charities. Her fundraising efforts span decades and causes, always rooted in compassion and solidarity.

Whether she’s speaking to a room of professionals or sitting beside a child with a paintbrush, Jennie doesn’t just share stories; she reflects hope, radiates empathy, and builds bridges that stay with you.