Jessenia
Leaphart

In the arena. Building what the future needs.

My Work Let's Talk
Jessenia Leaphart

Who I Am

I build teams that work.

For more than 15 years, I have partnered with leaders through growth and complexity across education, tech, healthcare, and private enterprise. Trained in psychology and completing a STEM MBA, I care about both human behavior and the data that informs decisions.

My focus is simple: people doing their best work and the business stronger because of it.

Education

STEM MBA Candidate
University at Buffalo
Jacobson Fellow · Dean's Ambassador
Expected May 2026


B.A. Psychology, Behavior Analysis
Florida International University
May 2009

Recognition

The White House
Social Innovator Award
Washington, D.C.

Career

Where the work gets done.

Aug 2025 – Present

Dean's Ambassador

University at Buffalo, School of Management · Buffalo, NY

  • Appointed to lead largest ambassador team in program history (3.5x standard size), maintaining 86% SLA compliance on first pass and 100% resolution rate
  • Drove engagement strategy converting 25% of unique visitors to sign-ups, with 50% engaging in direct conversation across 15 countries
  • Expanded program scope beyond original mandate through voluntary social media and webinar adoption, building a prospect pipeline with a 17% progression-to-admit rate
Current

Aug 2024 – Present

Irene & Jeffrey Jacobson Fellow

Graduate Assistant, Diversity & Inclusion · University at Buffalo, School of Management · Buffalo, NY

  • Partner with Assistant Dean to sustain institutional impact through a period of significant organizational and legislative change, balancing program continuity with organizational risk and legal exposure
  • Built the School’s inaugural mentoring program from zero, aligning 10+ cross-sector stakeholders, including the design and facilitation of training
  • Developed the operational framework for long-term sustainability, structured to run independently after my tenure
Current

May 2022 – Feb 2024

Founding Member, Growth & Operations

Primer Microschools · Miami, FL

  • Recruited from consulting practice to join founding team, full-time with equity
  • Helped scale operations across 7 campuses during rapid enrollment growth
  • Increased enrollment 4x and improved lead conversion by 31%
  • Built event playbooks and training systems deployed across all 7 campuses to drive lead generation and conversion, with impact that outlasted my tenure

Aug 2021 – Sept 2023

Founder, CEO

Jessenia Leaphart, LLC · Miami, FL

  • Advised founders and executive teams on hiring, structure, and retention
  • Helped one client expand from regional to national presence within six months
  • Reduced turnover by 40% through redesigned performance and hiring systems
  • Supported acquisition and partnership decisions resulting in $700K in cost savings

2019 – 2021

Executive Assistant

Private Family Office · NY, CA, FL

  • Managed multi-property operations for principal overseeing $100M+ in assets
  • Recruited, trained, and led a 5-person team across multiple locations
  • Addressed performance, conflict resolution, and compliance matters in high-stakes environments
  • Improved internal communication systems, reducing response time by 30%

Personal Assistant, 2017–2019 · Nanny, 2015–2017

2014 – 2015

After School Program Director

Girls Prep Bronx Middle School · New York, NY

  • Built afterschool program from zero, hiring and onboarding a team of 7, managing community vendor partnerships, and overseeing a $1.5M program budget

2012 – 2014

Project Coordinator

Healthfirst · New York, NY

  • Supported 3 VPs in strategy and regulatory initiatives
  • Conducted biweekly executive briefings on company-wide operational failures, translating Excel-based data analysis into visual presentations for C-suite and department heads across all business units
  • Built company-wide resolution tracking system distinguishing short-term fixes from systemic failures, driving cross-departmental accountability at the executive level

Selected Projects

Work that crossed disciplines.

Financial Modeling

Did DEI Rollbacks Really Matter?

University at Buffalo

PhD-level research. Analyzed 40 earnings call transcripts from 10 S&P 500 firms using Python and FinBERT NLP sentiment model.

Python FinBERT NLP Sentiment Analysis EPS Modeling
Applied AI

AI-Powered Web App & Local RAG Architecture

University at Buffalo

Building a local RAG architecture for enterprise knowledge management and deploying a fully functional AI-powered web application using open source large language models, prompt engineering, and generative AI tooling.

RAG Architecture LLMs Prompt Engineering Generative AI Open Source AI Web Application Development
International Business in Europe

Investment Management: Portfolio Strategy

Nuveen Infrastructure · London & Italy

Consulted for institutional asset manager on a €150M investment decision. Built full financial models comparing two renewable energy portfolios across a 30-year asset horizon with global market exposure.

NPV IRR MOIC Payback Period Project Finance PPA Structures Debt Modeling
Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

KCCD Community Development Business Plan

KC Community Development

Developed a full business plan for a nascent nonprofit applying Stanford University's Collective Impact model. Included launch strategy, sustainability framework, and six-month implementation roadmap. Presented to organizational leadership.

Stakeholder Strategy Change Management Program Design Cross-sector Partnerships Impact Measurement
Database Management Systems

Relational Database Architecture

University at Buffalo

Designed and implemented a complete relational database from scratch. Entity-relationship modeling, normalization through 4NF, primary and foreign key architecture, and query development to generate business insights.

SQL ER Modeling 4NF Normalization Schema Design Query Optimization
Organizational Behavior

Team Performance & Change Leadership

University at Buffalo

Led 6 first-year MBA students through one of the most demanding academic environments in the program, including a live corporate consulting competition. Diagnosed and resolved a team crisis mid-semester, shifting group dynamics from dysfunction to high performance and a strong competition finish.

Team Development Crisis Intervention Performance Management Change Management

Research

The work behind the work.

🔬

Meta-Analysis on Employee Voice

University at Buffalo · University of Florida, Warrington College of Business

Coded 350+ peer-reviewed studies for a large-scale meta-analysis on employee voice. Analyzed the conditions under which employees raise concerns, challenge decisions, or withhold critical information across global organizational contexts.

It helped me build a working understanding of how culture functions as an early warning infrastructure that shapes accountability, performance, and long-term enterprise resilience.

🏠

Community Childcare Model

University at Buffalo, Internal Review Board · In Development

Developing a free, open-source community childcare model through the University at Buffalo's Internal Review Board, designed to be implemented anywhere.

The business case is straightforward: when working parents lack reliable childcare, organizations lose productivity, retention, and access to talent. This model is designed to support the removal of that barrier so that businesses benefit from a workforce that can actually show up.

Community Impact

In the field. At the table.

Center for Leadership and Global Impact

Board Member

The Kenan Center

Board Member

Collaborative Center for Social Innovation

Catalyst, Committee Member

Every Life Foundation

Legislative Advocate · Capitol Hill

Contact

Let's Talk.

Signal over noise.
Let's build what's next.