Meet Jess and Kris,

the founders of

The Nurtured Network

Jess is a longtime educator committed to equity for students, sustainability for teachers, joy in our learning, authenticity in our leadership, and connection to ourselves and others in all that we do.  As a compassionate and strategic coach and consultant, Jess uses her strengths of individualization and empathy to bring a people focused approach to everything she does.  She immediately creates safe spaces for learning and growth by thoughtfully anticipating needs, intuitively adjusting experiences, and speaking truth.  As a teacher, leader and coach in public and charter school settings, Jess gets it.  She’s been there and knows on such a deep level the importance of the work, as well as the challenges that can be present.  Jess is committed to supporting school communities as a whole - knowing that it isn’t “either or”, it’s both.  We need students, families, teachers, and leaders to thrive if our school communities are going to thrive.  On a personal level, she’s a book nerd, a yogi, a nature lover, a mama and partner, a deep thinker, traveler, and someone who loves getting to know how people learn and what motivates them to grow.  Jess is the founder of Lead and Be Well, a coaching and consulting company created to support teachers, leaders, (and anything in between) find (or refine) their voice as a coach, lead effectively from their values, and prioritize their wellbeing so they can lead with joy.  She also loves teaching yoga, and incorporates mindfulness strategies in her coaching.  It is her greatest joy to support educators to prioritize their own well being and grow their skills as they work towards more equitable outcomes for students. 

As a nurturing and adaptive coach, consultant, and chief of staff, Kris loves nothing more than providing in-it-to-win-it service grounded in focused, collaborative, and targeted support for each leader’s unique needs and context. With a teaching and school leadership background, Kris relished a path of new learning experiences that pushed and shaped her abilities to collaborate and problem solve in a variety of different settings. As a teacher, learner, and coach in public, charter, and international school settings in both rural and urban areas, Kris gravitated to new opportunities to learn and engage in diverse school communities. Kris currently serves as founder and consultant at partner through, offering leaders and teams opportunities to collaboratively identify priorities and plan meaningfully to achieve those outcomes desired by the team. Kris pivots quickly to engage teams in strategic planning, team development and management, priorities and time management, and a host of other areas. Collaborating with and learning from with a variety of inspirational school leaders and consultants during her time as a school leader, Kris felt first hand the value of partnership and learning to lean on the strength of team members and the opportunity to experiment and problem solve in new ways. In this way, Kris finds joy in supporting leaders who are in the thick of their leadership experience, and combines a balanced approach of coaching and consultancy to meet the leader’s needs and preferences.

Together, Jess and Kris have become friends through the pandemic, while also becoming moms and launching our own consulting businesses, Through this time and now, Jess and Kris contemplate the challenges our friends and colleagues experience in education, and look to find creative solutions together to support who they care about the most - educational leaders.

Jess and Kris combine their lenses of wellness, leadership and strategy to create a unique, holistic, and tailored approach for teams in The Nurtured Network.