Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World
We bring you in-depth interviews with exceptional leaders who drive toward a different bottom line — leaders from health care, philanthropy, non-profits, education and rescue services who are doing exceptional work for the good of the world. Exploring their origin stories, their leadership journey and the lessons they learned on their path -- sometimes the hard way -- we bring you close to understand how exceptional leaders tick.
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Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World
12. Tierionna Pinkston - Leading as YOU is What Everyone Wants
Tierionna Pinkston is a dynamic school leader, educator, and community advocate currently serving as the principal of The Noble Academy in Chicago. Tierionna brings both fierce intellect and deep heart to her work. Known for her commitment to antiracist education and restorative practices, she leads with vision, vulnerability, and a relentless belief in the brilliance of young people. Her leadership is shaped by experience in the classroom, lessons from her own family, and a growing network of Black school leaders committed to healing and liberation in education.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Tierionna’s journey from Louisville to Chicago and why she chose urban education as her life’s work.
- Lessons learned the hard way about transferring leadership skills to a brand-new campus (spoiler: listen before you fix).
- Surviving — and then thriving — in a “brutal” first year as principal by reclaiming authenticity and wellness.
- Building belonging through design-thinking: how re-imagining physical space and culture helped steady a school.
- Legacy Scholars, a Cabrini-Green–focused pathway at The Noble Academy aimed at reparative justice and college readiness.
- Why a principal’s self-care isn’t selfish:
“If I am not well, nothing else is. The schoolhouse is well when the principal is well.”
Relevant Links & Resources:
The Noble Academy – campus site & enrollment info
https://nobleschools.org/nobleacademy/
Noble Schools
Tierionna Pinkston on LinkedIn – follow her leadership reflections
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tierionna-pinkston-403b07131
Surge Fellowship
https://surgeinstitute.org/surge-fellowship/
Cabrini-Green Homes history – context for the neighborhood The Noble Academy serves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrini%E2%80%93Green_Homes
Give to support Legacy Scholars - an education program that supports young people whose families experienced the displacement and injustice of the policies around Cabrini Green:
https://give.nobleschools.org/give/673051/#!/donation/checkout
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Producer, editor and host: Ryan Maxwell
Theme music: Ryan Raddatz
Guitar music: