Jess Mc Murray

Jess McMurray is a British educator, writer, and communications specialist with a second base in Calabria, working with JUMP Erasmus to deliver innovative training programmes for teachers and educational providers across Europe. A graduate of Oxford University, where she studied Law, Jess began her career as a freelance academic writing tutor before moving into communications for international technology firms.

Her professional and personal life have taken her across Europe and Asia – living in Slovakia, Montenegro, Italy, Thailand, and the Czech Republic – experiences that have deeply shaped her intercultural approach to education and communication. Jess holds a second degree in Liberal Arts from Charles University, Prague, specialising in Irish literature, philosophy, and Soviet history. Alongside her academic background, she has trained as both a chef and a mechanic, and even worked in a Scottish whisky distillery – a fitting pursuit given her lifelong passion for whisky.

An avid traveller and long-distance walker, Jess has completed numerous journeys on foot, including the Camino de Santiago and a 62-day walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats. These experiences inform her reflective, holistic perspective on learning and personal growth. At JUMP, Jess focuses particularly on language education and student engagement, advocating for teaching approaches that move beyond traditional classroom models. Her training sessions emphasise practical, participatory methods and encourage teachers to become active agents of change – not only in their classrooms, but across their entire educational communities. Jess speaks Italian and a slightly odd mix of Czech and Slovak, and is learning Thai and Swedish, and believes passionately that language learning is one of the most powerful tools for empathy, connection, and transformation in modern education.