Jesse Ilhardt

Executive Director & Co-Founder
Jesse@VOCEL.org

"Children embody so much of what’s good in our world — interestingly, the qualities that we so often need as adults — like curiosity, creativity, empathy, joy, love. It’s our greatest responsibility as their parents, caregivers and educators to nurture these gifts."

With 15 years teaching preschool and implementing educator development programs, Jesse co-founded VOCEL in 2013 and now leads VOCEL’s vision, strategy and team as our Executive Director. Never at a loss for new ideas, Jesse has channeled her bold, empathetic and entrepreneurial leadership while navigating challenges and opportunities, and nurturing a high-performing, compassionate team culture. Leveraging her B.A. in Journalism and M.A. in Early Childhood Education, Jesse loves talking with individuals and speaking to large audiences about excellence in early learning and distilling complex brain science into digestible concepts we all can use. 

Jesse’s enterprising nature carries over to her personal life, where you can find her visiting the newest foodie hotspots with her husband, and curating everyday adventures with her 5-year-old and 1-year-old boys.