Lionhearted Leadership
Three Principles for Getting Things Done from our VP of Partner Success. By Jeannemarie Hendershot, VP of Partner Success
Over the past 15+ years as a school operator and leader, I've learned three principles for getting things done, even when there's red tape.
These principles have been my compass in everything from building vibrant school communities to getting through bureaucratic tangles, and yes, even the occasional cafeteria crisis.
Today, I no longer work inside schools, I work in charter school real estate at PS wrx. But I still live by these values.
I like to think of it as going from being a Heart Centered School Leader to a Lionhearted Real Estate Partner.
1. Be An Amazing Friend
As a school leader, being an amazing friend means building authentic community relationships as I did for our charter school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and again years later for a charter school network in the Bronx. We lead with generosity, showing up not because we needed something, but because we were all part of the same community fabric. As a result, everything we needed, and our friends needed, was always available inside our community.
Being an amazing friend in real estate means showing up when no one else wants to — even at 6am on a Bronx rooftop when a contractor swears the leaks are fixed and school leaders know they’re not. It means pushing back when a developer says “all you can afford” is a cheap façade, an inferior HVAC, or a hard gym floor — and insisting instead on brick that lasts, air that protects developing lungs, and floors that safeguard young athletes’ joints as they grow. That relentlessness isn’t glamorous, but it’s what fighting for students looks like.
2. Be a Reality Maker
Rather than give all of my energy to fighting bureaucratic systems, as a school leader I've always looked for creative ways to make things happen within existing structures. For example, at one of our schools we lacked community space for students to gather. We advocated for more space, yes. But we also provided a solution by seeing what was already there - unused basement locker rooms. With NYCDOE approval, we transformed them into the student community space we needed.
In real estate, being a reality maker means fulfilling the highest potential of every project. It comes from the wisdom to know when to hold the line and demand what was contracted for, and to know when the moment requires flexibility and creative problem-solving. Regardless of the way forward it’s about holding firm to the high standards every school deserves.
3. Keep Students at the Center
As a school leader, keeping students at the center can sometimes mean bending some "hard and fast" rules. Like the time when 50 hungry students in my care waited for lunch after state testing yet the required forms hadn't been submitted. "I understand we could get in trouble, but these are hungry children," I told the staff. We fed the kids and I handled paperwork later.
As a real estate partner, we keep students at the center by fighting for terms that protect educational mission, not just bottom lines, because the kids learning in those classrooms are why we're all here. Every financial model, every contract negotiation, every facility decision comes back to one question: Does this serve the students?
Heart Centered to Lionhearted
What drew me to PS wrx was experiencing their lionhearted approach firsthand: for a year and a half, I watched Ahkilah fight for what our schools deserved, push back on “quick fixes,” and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us even when it was hard.
In that time I realized my heart-centered leadership and their lionhearted partnership were the same commitment, just expressed differently. Joining PS wrx meant I could carry those values forward - making sure schools don’t have to scramble just to survive the real estate process, but can powerfully secure the buildings and resources that set students up to thrive.
