In an education system that often asks students to bend, break, or conform to fit in, Mary Snell chose a different path, one marked by intention, compassion, and an unshakable belief in human worth. As CEO of New Leaf Organization, Mary doesn’t just lead a nonprofit. She leads a quiet revolution, one that redefines what it denotes to educate, to reach, to heal. With a heart echoing Simon Sinek’s wisdom, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge,” she endures. This notion, which she has held for decades with the same calm conviction, guides all of her decisions. Where others see deficits, Mary sees design flaws in the system itself. So, she rebuilds it in a way that doesn’t ask students to change who they are but dares the system to meet them where they are.
In her words: “Our model doesn’t ask students to change who they are to fit a system—it’s designed to fit them, to meet them where they are, and help them thrive.” Now, we call it a renaissance, and Mary is its architect.
Mary didn’t set out to become a founder. She simply answered a call that others ignored. At the London Academy in Ohio, she was first hired as an assistant, a role that, on paper, didn’t carry much authority. But when she walked through those halls and looked into the eyes of students battling far more than coursework, she felt a deeper assignment taking shape. Mary filled the gap; mentor, counselor, teacher, and listener. And what she heard changed everything.
The students weren’t failing. The system was failing them. That was her turning point. “When you listen to those the world often overlooks,” she reflects, “you discover the kind of brilliance, resilience, and potential that can transform entire communities.” Mary sat with students whose lives had been dismissed by traditional schools. This understanding incited her core philosophy: “We don’t ask students to fit the system—we build systems that fit the student. Because every child deserves a chance to rise, no matter where they begin.”
What she built next was born from those stories. New Leaf Organization emerged as a nonprofit committed to designing schools that restore rather than reject. With a framework centered on education, purpose, healing, and hope, the goal is reclamation, not compliance.
Innovating Education to Rebuild Communities
The veteran outlines how New Leaf Organization moves beyond traditional academics to meet the real-world needs of students and their neighborhoods. Every school reflects local challenges and strengths, with programs designed through close partnerships and a focus on practical skills. For instance, their automotive courses, developed with local dealerships, offer hands-on training that directly leads to jobs. Farm-to-table projects, including greenhouses and grow towers, feed monthly produce markets, where students gain entrepreneurial experience while supporting local families.
Plans for new career programs in cosmetology, hospitality, and STNA certification alongside medical clinics within school facilities will provide vital services and introduce students to healthcare careers.
New Leaf’s approach begins by understanding the whole student—their barriers, their dreams, and their untapped potential. “Our model is intentionally holistic,” Mary describes, reflecting the organization’s commitment to personalized learning plans tailored not to the institution but to each individual learner.
It’s a deliberate fusion of academic rigor and real-world relevance. The goal is to prepare students for life beyond the classroom, ready to succeed on their own terms. New Leaf has cultivated deep partnerships with local employers, ensuring that its programs remain aligned with the evolving needs of the workforce. This collaboration means instructors sometimes meet students not just in classrooms, but also on job sites or in community spaces, extending the school day (until 6:00 p.m.) to where it matters most.
New Leaf teams up closely with families to address basic needs like food insecurity, housing instability, illness, or transportation issues that might otherwise block academic progress.
This student-centered approach also defines their mastery-based curriculum. Students must demonstrate a minimum of 75% proficiency on every exam to advance. Yet these assessments are not about rote memorization; they are designed to nurture genuine understanding, mirroring state testing formats to prepare students for the future.
Last year, over 50% of New Leaf’s students graduated through traditional pathways—a success rate that outperforms many dropout prevention programs. Mary believes this achievement is no accident. “Impact isn’t measured by applause,” she says, “it’s measured by the lives changed when someone finally believes they’re worth the effort.”
From 100 to Thousands: New Leaf’s Growing Influence
From a humble start with just one school and 100 students, the story of New Leaf Organization has blossomed into a network that impacts thousands of lives. This remarkable growth now encompasses five high-performing Buckeye Community Schools serving over 2,200 students each year with plans for further expansion.
New Leaf understands a fundamental truth, one beautifully articulated by Rita Pierson: “Every child deserves a champion—an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists they become the best they can possibly be.” It is precisely this champion-like dedication that has enabled New Leaf to empower over 5,500 previously disengaged and at-risk students not just to earn a high school diploma but to discover a renewed sense of purpose, confidence, and opportunity that ripples outwards, strengthening their families and their broader communities.
Leading With Purpose and Emotional Intelligence
Mary’s leadership at New Leaf Organization is grounded in a strong sense of mission, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and innovation. “True leadership isn’t about control—it’s about compassion, clarity, and the courage to lead from purpose, not position,” she highlights. For her, guiding others isn’t about power but about lifting each one and encouraging their growth with a servant’s spirit.
From the beginning, the goal has been clear: to serve students overlooked by traditional systems and help them reclaim their futures. Every choice she makes as CEO is rooted in empowering students to acknowledge their value, get their credentials, and pursue meaningful futures. Teamwork, open communication, and shared accountability are fundamental, and the team works in alignment without ego. She stresses that empathy and cultural responsiveness are essential traits for staff, particularly when working with students facing homelessness, foster care, food insecurity, illness, or teen parenthood. She maintains that judgment has no place in their schools and that staff must meet students where they are and support their individual growth.
Mary also stresses the importance of learning environments. Their schools are intentionally designed to feel welcoming and safe, featuring calming design elements, open spaces, free food, and wellness-informed aesthetics to help students feel secure and re-engage with learning. She affirms that New Leaf’s mission-aligned leadership, innovative instruction, and nurturing environments are central to the organization’s impact. These guiding principles are reflected in every school they open, every student they serve, and every community they touch. Their presence is the reason the organization remains a formidable option for students seeking a second chance at success.
Holding the Line: Turning Resistance into Resolve
Leading New Leaf Organization has brought Mary both deep fulfillment and challenging tests. While their schools’ growth tells a powerful story: innovation, especially when it disrupts convention often invites resistance. Introducing bold models for disenfranchised students challenged educational norms and drew skepticism from those who misunderstood their purpose. Mary meets opposition with calm resolve. She perceives criticism not as a threat but as a mirror revealing fears, gaps, or the need for clarity. Her approach remains steady. “Answer questions honestly, work diligently, and stay focused on the mission and vision,” she insists. “Don’t let critics define or distract you.”
This mindset has helped New Leaf stay focused through turbulent moments. The team prioritizes transparency, data, and advocacy, earning trust through concrete impact, not rhetoric. And over time, even the harshest critics have become allies.
What Success Really Looks Like at New Leaf
The New Leaf Organization employs a two-pronged model centered on funding and operations. Funding is tied to credits earned, incentivizing genuine academic mastery over mere attendance. Operationally, personalized learning plans, guided by lead instructors, cater to individual student needs and goals. A strict 75% mastery threshold ensures deep understanding. The model also offers college credit and career technical education aligned with local industries.
As Mary articulates, “We don’t just measure success by diplomas—we measure it by lives changed, futures reclaimed, and communities strengthened through every student we reach.” This sentiment is evident in the stories of once-disengaged students graduating, teen parents completing studies, and graduates confidently pursuing careers, college, or military service. Over 5,500 diplomas earned exemplify resilience and redemption. Beyond statistics, New Leaf prioritizes relationship building, mindset shifts, and reimagined futures, defining success through transformative impact.
A Future Rooted in Purpose
The CEO speaks with conviction about the road ahead for New Leaf Organization. She shares a steadfast vision to expand their footprint by opening more community-based schools that wrap education in care, creativity, and connection. For them, transformation is not just academic—it’s emotional, social, and artistic.
This profound conviction reinforces New Leaf’s commitment to launching career pathways in cosmetology, hospitality, and nursing, enabling students with credentials that lead to real opportunities. Health clinics within school walls and expanded farm-to-table programs will nurture both wellness and self-reliance, while school-based greenhouses and grow towers foster hands-on learning in sustainability and entrepreneurship.
Mary also points out the organization’s renewed investment in the arts—from dance and scriptwriting to music—believing creative expression is essential to a young person’s growth.
At New Leaf, success is a dynamic journey of reflection, innovation, and growth. By staying adaptable and responsive to learners’ evolving needs, New Leaf aims to remain a relevant and transformative force in education.
With a resilient Executive Team by her side, Mary sees New Leaf as more than ready to grow—poised, she says, to become an even greater force for equity, empowerment, and holistic community revitalization in the years to come.
What Happens When Hunger Meets Hope?
Mary’s commitment to education is born from experience. She’s known hunger, watched her mother skip meals for her children, and made the same quiet sacrifice. Those moments taught her the hard truth that learning can’t happen when basic needs go unmet. For her, removing barriers like hunger, isolation, or discouragement is the first act of real education.
Being introspective by nature, Mary has seen firsthand the enormous responsibilities that young people bear. Unfortunately, they still turn up. That perseverance moves her. It’s what keeps her showing up, too. Reflecting on their strength, Mary states, “I’ve seen kids carry burdens far beyond their years and still show up hoping for a better future. That alone is reason enough to keep showing up for them.”
What drives Mary is a genuine desire to help others rise. She believes in the collective strength and power of education as one of the strongest forces for lasting equity, healing, and hope. This conviction echoes the powerful words of Nelson Mandela, who declared, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” And Mary lives by it.
Take on Balance and Self-Renewal
Leading a mission-driven organization like New Leaf demands stamina, heart, and intention. Mary has discovered that an enduring impression stems from personal sustainability. Emphasizing self-care, she prioritizes physical wellness, cultivates gratitude, and practices self-compassion, particularly during challenging times. Journaling and quiet reflection aid her grounding. Despite chronic pain, Mary creates space for rest, finding strength in faith and joy. Art, through music, theater, and visual expression, nourishes her spirit. Shawn Bailey’s “Rough Draft” deeply resonates with her path. Mary believes balance is alignment, not perfection. By protecting her energy and upholding her values, she leads wholeheartedly, sustaining her well-being to serve authentically and with care.
Proud Achievements
Recognized as one of “The 10 Most Impactful Business Leaders to Watch in 2025,” Mary transforms adversity into architecture—building schools, systems, and second chances for those often overlooked. Her most meaningful achievement is student success. Reflecting on many she has mentored, Mary shares, “Every time I hear about a student’s success, I’m reminded why I was divinely purposed for this role and why I continue to persevere—even on the hard days.” Another proud moment came through her authorship journey; contributing to The Audacity to Phenomenally Become Her with 17 remarkable women was a healing, courageous act, amplifying unheard voices. Finally, New Leaf’s PBS feature by Empowered validated their mission and brought renewed hope to their communities, milestones underscoring Mary’s impactful leadership and dedication.
Guidance for Aspiring Leaders
This seasoned C-suite executive advises aspiring leaders to remain steadfast in their passion and faith, despite criticism, when challenging established systems. She emphasizes safeguarding identity and purpose from external pressures, reminding them that their unique contributions matter. Urging future changemakers to prioritize well-being and vision, she acknowledges the journey’s difficulty but highlights its lasting impact. In her words, Muhammad Ali’s profound truth resonates: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” Leading with integrity, Mary believes, is the truest form of service—transforming lives immeasurably and fostering belief in what is possible for others.
