Jessenia Leaphart

Jessenia Leaphart

LeadershipPartnershipsOperations

  • STEM MBA, University at Buffalo
  • White House Social Innovator Award

Jessenia builds programs in education and healthcare, then makes them run. In 10+ years she has opened schools in two states, briefed a health plan’s board and CEO, and built a free childcare model the Kenan Center now runs. She builds the partnership, wins over the town hall and models the numbers behind the plan.

Get in touchSee my work

Jessenia Leaphart
  • Program84 familiesand 120 children in the first week of The Village at Kenan, built on my free childcare model
  • Launch8 siteshelped open across two states, serving 150+ students on school-year deadlines
  • Turnaround33% to 96%engagement at the lowest-performing program site, in under 12 months
  • Build4 buildsAI, data and finance tools, from a Claude-powered travel advisor to investment models

In the news

Spectrum News 1The Village at Kenan Helps to Fill Void of Shuttered Family Resource CentersOctober 2026 University at Buffalo NewsUniversity at Buffalo and Black Achievers Launch Impact Leadership ProgramSeptember 2026 The Buffalo NewsUniversity at Buffalo School of Management Honors Exceptional Graduates from 2026 ClassMay 2026

Experience

Current Jan 2025 - Present

Advisory Council Member, Partnerships & Programs

University at Buffalo Center for Leadership & Global Impact

I help the Center’s team turn first inquiries into enrollments, including lead-generation automation that tracks every prospective participant. Our partnerships connect students with sustainability-focused businesses in Florence and Milan and with United Nations SDG programs in New York. I was part of the team that launched the Impact Leadership Program with Black Achievers, Inc. in September 2026.

Oct 2025 - May 2026

Jordan A. Daniels Nonprofit Board Fellow

The Kenan Center, non-voting board member

I built Bringing the Village Back on my own, from research to board presentation. It is a free, drop-in childcare model that gets kids off screens and into play while giving parents real support. I ran five IRB-approved focus groups and piloted the model in six months. The Center adopted it as The Village at Kenan, with its own staff and building, and 84 families came in the first week.

The Village at KenanSpectrum News 1 storybringingthevillageback.com

  1. May 2024 - Jun 2026

    Jacobson Fellow, Growth & Partnerships Initiatives

    University at Buffalo School of Management

  2. Dec 2025 - Feb 2026

    Graduate Research Assistant

    University at Buffalo School of Management, with a University of Florida research team

  3. Jun 2022 - Apr 2024

    Growth & Operations, Founding Team

    Primer Microschools

  4. Aug 2021 - Aug 2023

    Principal, Operations & Growth Advisory

    Jessenia Leaphart LLC

  5. Sep 2015 - Aug 2021

    Estate Manager & Executive Operations

    Private Family Offices

  6. May 2014 - Sep 2015

    Founding After-School Director

    Girls Prep Bronx Middle School

  7. Mar 2012 - Jan 2014

    Project Manager, Operations Reliability Program

    Healthfirst

  8. Sep 2006 - Sep 2011

    Program Coordinator; Chapter Founder

    iMentor; Strong Women Strong Girls

Technical builds

PointPilot

AI travel advisor that finds the smartest way to pay for a flight, using live fares and Claude to explain the pick.

  • Python
  • Claude API
  • Duffel API

Earnings call tone

FinBERT scores tone in earnings calls and political press, then tests it against the company's share price.

  • Python
  • FinBERT
  • NLP

Global energy model

Power BI dashboard benchmarking 20 years of global energy data against UN Sustainable Development Goal 7.

  • Power BI
  • Forecasting

Renewable investment models

NPV, IRR, MOIC and payback models comparing two renewable energy portfolios for a Nuveen Infrastructure project.

  • Financial modeling
  • Excel

Education and honors

Education

University at Buffalo School of Management
MBA, Management Science (STEM). AI, analytics and finance. GPA 3.8.
Jun 2026

Florida International University
B.A., Psychology, Behavior Analysis
Dec 2008

Honors

Social Innovator Award
The White House

Dr. Jerry and Mrs. Dina Wind Award
University at Buffalo, 2026

Irene and Jeffrey Jacobson Fellow
University at Buffalo School of Management, 2024-2026

Global Ambassador, International Business in Europe
University at Buffalo Center for Leadership & Global Impact

Research

Employee voice meta-analysis
A meta-analysis pulling together the research on employee voice, how people speak up at work with ideas and concerns. As a Graduate Research Assistant at the University at Buffalo School of Management, working with a University of Florida research team, coded about 20 peer-reviewed articles a week toward a final dataset of roughly 3,800 studies.

Skills

Tech stack

AI tools
Claude, ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini, Copilot, Ollama (local models), Hugging Face, UX Pilot, prompt design
AI builds
Claude and OpenAI APIs, AI agents, scheduled automations, RAG (LlamaIndex, ChromaDB), Streamlit, API integrations
Data
Python, Power BI, Excel, NLP, database management
Finance
Financial modeling (NPV, IRR, MOIC)
Operations
Salesforce, HubSpot, Asana, Monday.com, Notion, Airtable, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project
Workplace
Microsoft 365 (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Teams), Google Workspace

Languages
English and Spanish (fluent), Italian

Policy and community

Jessenia Leaphart

Policy

  • Rare Disease Diversity CoalitionLegislation & Policy and Patient, Provider and Caregiver working groups. Helped shape a national curriculum for community health workers. RDDC
  • RARE Foundation (formerly EveryLife Foundation)Rare Disease Legislative Advocate. Met with senators and elected officials on legislation for the rare disease community. Rare Disease Legislative Advocates
  • Disability Belongs (formerly RespectAbility)Policy Apprentice, Jul 2022 - Jan 2023. Wrote and published the organization's response to the proposed Community Reinvestment Act modernization, making the case for disability entrepreneurship.
  • School choice in FloridaGroundwork helped inform Florida HB 1285 (2024), estimated to open 50,000+ locations to schools. Primer on HB 1285

Published

  • RespectAbility Responds to Proposed Regulatory Changes to Support Disability EntrepreneurshipDisability Belongs (formerly RespectAbility), August 2022. Read the PDF
  • Inequities in the Rare Disease Community: The Voices of Diverse Patients and CaregiversRare Disease Diversity Coalition and NORD, 2024. Read the report
  • A Report of Survey Findings: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts in Rare Disease OrganizationsRare Disease Diversity Coalition, 2023. Read the report

Community and boards

  • Lafayette Think Tank Business CompetitionWith Say Yes Buffalo and Lafayette International High School, University at Buffalo honors students coached high schoolers from idea to pitch. Both years, students won funding for their businesses.
  • She Should RunInaugural Local Leader Lab cohort. Local Leader Lab

Off the résumé

I'm all about people, possibility and a bit of wonder.

  • My first business was the tried and true lemonade stand. Except the stand was my nightstand, and the lemonade was powdered Lipton Iced Tea.
  • I recently bought an Airstream!
  • I love plants. Meet the crew currently living in my house.
  • Core value: childlike wonder. And yes, I was Mary Poppins once.
Jessenia as a child
Back when the nightstand was open for business.

Click a plant. The hoya likes water.

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