Jessica Johnsen is CEO of Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Centers, a multi-location early education provider in the Minneapolis area. She joined the organization at a point when it was facing financial and cultural difficulties, and has worked alongside her leadership team to turn it into a more sustainable business, including growing it through the acquisition of other early education providers.
Johnsen has become known outside her own organization as a speaker and mentor to other business leaders in the early education field, with a leadership approach centered on strong workplace culture, fair teacher compensation, and child-centered education grounded in national early-childhood standards. Her philosophy emphasizes that happy teachers create happy children, with an emphasis on outdoor learning and individualized attention to each child's development.
Drawing on her upbringing in rural Iowa and mentors she found throughout the early childhood industry, she has pushed for a culture that welcomes new ideas and prioritizes getting things done, with the aim of continuing to expand access to affordable, high-quality early education.
