Ph.D. Student

University of Melbourne – Center for Wellbeing Science

Jessica A. Taylor is a Systems-Informed Wellbeing strategist, consultant, practitioner, curriculum writer, and researcher with expertise across the fields of education and wellbeing. As a senior wellbeing consultant for Geelong Grammar School’s Institute of Positive Education, Jessica has collaborated with schools, organizations, and governments globally, including UAE Prime Minister’s Office and the Singapore Ministry of Education, to assist them place wellbeing at the heart of their vision and practice. Enjoying her time in an elite sporting context while working for the Geelong Cats Australian Football League (AFL), Jessica helped build knowledge and application of mental health and wellbeing initiatives at the player, organization, and community levels. More recently Jessica was appointed the inaugural Director of Wellbeing at The Geelong College, where at the executive level, she drew upon Wellbeing Science, Positive Organisational Scholarship, and Systems Science to strategize and lead a systems-wide wellbeing approach for over two thousand people. Passionate about helping people understand the interdependent and complex nature of wellbeing and the role that responsibility can play in cultivating conditions for all to flourish and thrive, especially across our schools and organisations, Jessica is currently completing her Doctorate with the Centre of Wellbeing Science at the University of Melbourne. Through her research she seeks to reframe responsibility for wellbeing away from a culture of self-governing individualism towards cultivating a compassionate system of wellbeing which seeks to build capability within the system for generative and sustainable change. Currently part of the teaching team at the University of Melbourne, she contributes to undergraduate breadth subjects in the Master of Education, the Wellbeing Literacy Research Stream at the Centre for Wellbeing Science and has co-authored several publications and book chapters, including Systems Informed Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Literacy as an Emancipatory and Transformative Capability. Honoured to hold the Positive Education Schools Association (PESA) Victorian Chapter Chair, Jessica leads educational leaders and practitioners in supporting the growth of wellbeing science and systems-informed approaches in educational communities across Victoria, Australia.