Meet Jess

Founder | Operator | People & Systems Builder

Jess Rodriguez Hernandez is a founder, operator, and systems builder with deep experience spanning philanthropy, federal grant execution, large-scale operations, and revenue-driven growth. Her work lives at the intersection of impact and execution—turning funding, ideas, and vision into programs that actually work.

Jess has led and managed federally funded trade-school and workforce development initiatives, overseeing end-to-end execution including grant compliance and reporting, curriculum development, instructor hiring, team management, and program delivery. She has also built and launched youth welding and skilled-trades programs from scratch, taking them from concept and curriculum design through instructor recruitment and real-world project execution.

In the private sector, Jess has managed accounting and financial operations for businesses generating up to $10 million annually, including multi-location restaurants, while simultaneously leading high-scale project management efforts across operations, construction, and growth initiatives. Her ability to translate numbers into decisions—and decisions into results—has made her a trusted operator in fast-moving environments.

Earlier in her career, Jess built a sales portfolio responsible for $36 million in recurring revenue, securing Fortune 500 clients, negotiating complex contracts, and helping organizations identify, enter, and scale into new markets. She is known for her ability to see opportunity early, build the infrastructure to support it, and execute without burning teams or budgets.

Beyond her professional work, Jess is a punk-rock-loving mom of three who homeschools her children while running multiple businesses—proof that discipline, creativity, and grit are not mutually exclusive. Born in Mexico and proudly rooted in Indiana, she brings a bicultural perspective to everything she builds, grounded in community, family, and hard work.

Today, Jess applies a systems-first mindset to entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and workforce development, with a singular focus: build it right, make it sustainable, and make it matter.