Jenna McGuinness
Course Creator
Jenna brings over 20 years of experience working in and with teams across the public and private sectors, as well as within churches. Her breadth of experience at local, national, and international levels has given her a unique perspective on leadership in diverse contexts.
She currently serves her local church as Outreach and NextGen Director and is part of the leadership team for Every Nation Europe Evangelism. Jenna is also a course author for Leadership 215, Every Nation’s global minimum theological standards, where she contributed to the Church Evangelism course.
With a strong foundation of biblical knowledge and proven practical skills, Jenna has a passion to raise up leaders of all ages who will serve with humility, lead with courage, and live with integrity.
My Story
From a young age, I was encouraged to step out and lead. My dad – a brilliant leader – taught me to speak up for what I believe in, treat people well, and help others succeed. Those lessons shaped me early and gave me a lasting passion for leadership.
At school, I was entrusted with opportunities to serve and take responsibility: from being a prefect and organising the senior prom, to placing second in a regional business enterprise competition. Serving as a youth leader at holiday clubs opened doors to international mission trips, where I first experienced what it meant to combine leadership with faith.
At university in St Andrews, I stepped into my first formal leadership role as worship team leader at the Christian Union. Studying Marine Biology meant navigating an environment that was often resistant to faith, and those years taught me resilience and the importance of leading with conviction.
After graduation, I joined a global engineering company where courage, integrity, and a commitment to excellence quickly created opportunities to manage small and medium-sized projects. Despite being relatively junior, I brought in more clients than many of my managers by building strong relationships, treating people well, and delivering outstanding results.
Later, working in the oil & gas and marine renewables sector, I was part of teams that delivered large-scale international projects. Coordinating across time zones sharpened my skills in collaboration and efficiency, and a career highlight was being seconded as a consultant—trusted by both my firm and the client to help the team deliver a multi-billion-pound offshore energy project.
Today, I serve as part of the Every Nation Europe leadership team, where I have the privilege of teaching on leadership and speaking at conferences. I’ve also been invited to the School of Evangelism in Belfast with Crown Jesus Ministries and Belfast Bible College to share on building and leading teams.
Over the years, I have learned from some outstanding leaders—and from others whose example showed me how not to lead. But at the heart of it all, my leadership has always been grounded in scripture. The biblical principles of courage, humility, and integrity are not only timeless but transformational.
Through Leadership Academy, my aim is to pass on those foundational truths—giving students the chance to not only hear them but to live them out through hands-on opportunities. My hope and prayer is that these principles will shape the next generation of leaders, whether they go on to influence one or one thousand and one.
