Leonette Henderson
Director of Development Partnerships
Higher Purpose Co.
Leonette Henderson serves as the Director of Development and Partnership for Higher Purpose Co., a 501c3 economic justice nonprofit, building community wealth with Black residents across Mississippi by supporting the ownership of financial, cultural, and political power. Leonette has spent 14 years in higher education, education reform and secondary education collectively, six of which as a nonprofit professional. She has served on the Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development team for the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine. Prior to returning to the University of Virginia, Leonette joined New Leaders, a national non-profit that develops transformational school leaders, where she served as the Program Coordinator and later the Program Manager for the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) in Memphis City Schools. She then served as the organization’s Interim Development Manager.
Leonette has served as a guest co-lecturer at the University of Virginia on the “Obesity in the African American Community,” and as a guest speaker on “Philanthroculture” for the North Carolina Planned Giving Council. She has served as a board chair for Sisters Conquering Cancer, board member of Shelter for Help in Emergency in Virginia and Higher Purpose Co (MS). Leonette has a Masters in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and is a proud HBCU alum with a BA in History from Tuskegee University.