Jenny Kartupelis

Biography

Jenny Kartupelis started her career in public relations; having set up the PR arm of a regional advertising agency, she went on to establish her own consultancies, based in Cambridge, UK. Kartupelis Associates won a number of awards for Outstanding Consultancy Practice from its professional body for work on behalf of clients in animal health, conservation and engineering. Its successor, Elements PR undertook campaigns for the University of Cambridge, Stansted Airport and a number of charities. In 1998, while still running her PR business, Jenny was invited by faith leaders to help establish a multi faith body supported by faith contributions, local and national government grants. For her work as its director, she was awarded the MBE for services to interfaith relations.

Education

BA (Hons), University of Kent, Canterbury (UK), 1975
MA, University of Sussex, Brighton (UK), 1978
MPhil, University of Sussex, Brighton (UK), 1979
PGCE, University of Cambridge (Emmanuel College), 1980

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

A theme running through all Jenny's professional life has been the question 'What makes us human?'. Her research and practical work have both been directed towards exploring the nature of relationships that support resilience, wellbeing and joy. Some 20 years of her working life have been spent in promoting good interfaith relations: as co-founder and director of a regional faith council, and strategic director of an international interfaith body. Both these roles involved research into how good relationships between different faiths, and between faith and civic society, are formed and sustained. This work resulted in her writing a wide range of advisory reports and guidance documents.

Following a commission from one of the UK's largest charitable care home owners, to survey and report on spiritual wellbeing in its homes, Jenny developed her findings - gained through more than 100 in-depth interviews - into a theory of mutually compassionate care and the conditions that favour it.  She has written two books presenting the practical impact of these findings, the first published in 2018 (Developing a Relational Model of Care for Older People co-authored with James Woodward) and Making Relational Care Work for Older People, to be published by Routledge in 2020.

Personal Interests

With first and postgraduate degrees in English literature, Jenny retains a lifetime interest in writing her own creative work (mainly poetry) and has taught adult classes on subjects including Victorian ghost stories (the subject of her thesis), melodrama and Dickens’ heroines.

She is a keen outdoor swimmer and has completed the iconic Hellespont crossing (raising funds for water projects in Africa) and the Alcatraz swim.

Possibly Jenny’s main pleasure is being with animals: wildlife watching; looking after hedgehogs needing over-winter care; and enjoying her own pets (two elderly cats and a labradoodle puppy with ambitions to become a care home therapy dog).

Books

Articles