Jennifer Metzlar, educator, storyteller, and advocate for human-centered care.

Jen has spent her life working to build spaces where people feel safe, heard, and empowered. Her path has been anything but ordinary—from competing in storytelling contests in childhood to working as a commercial diver and training scuba instructors. Advocacy and the power of personal stories have guided her journey, while curiosity and creativity continue to fuel her work. At its core, her work is rooted in a dedication to education and building inclusive, human-centered spaces.

In 2017, she co-created the Consent on the Mat Project at the Victoria Yoga Conference, introducing “Consent Cards” designed to empower practitioners with real choice. In a yoga culture where hands-on adjustments were often expected and given without explicit consent, the cards reframed choice—so that opting into or out of touch was equally valid and self-respecting.

In 2020, when it seemed like everyone was starting a podcast, Jen launched The Journeys We Take. Through candid conversations, she explored how people move through experiences of trauma and adversity, alongside the pressures of societal expectations—inviting listeners to reimagine what resilience can look like in practice.

Jen brings a trauma-informed lens to her work, grounded in training that emphasizes safety, autonomy, and mental health. She is developing ways to share this approach more widely through presentations and workshops. Today, as the founder of the Human-Centered Healthcare Movement, she is working to advance compassionate, whole-person care by uplifting stories that reveal unmet needs, spark empathy, and inspire cultural change in healthcare.