Jeanie Cash often says educational leadership boils down to a simple equation: “2 + 2 Leadership.”

Site leaders are in charge of two things, she says: learning and culture. Plus, they need to affirmatively answer two questions each day: “Did I make a difference?” and “Did I have fun?”

But when you try to quantify the difference Cash has made in the lives of educators and students over her 40-year career in public education, that’s where the math gets a little complicated.

Count the students at the struggling elementary school who saw their school transformed while she was principal. Then factor in the principals she has personally coached, who go out and make a difference for their students each year. And don’t forget the leaders she has trained to be a coach, who in turn influence countless more lives.

The exponential nature of Cash’s influence and her deep belief in the transformative power of education have earned her ACSA’s highest honor, the 2026 Ferd. Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service Award.

Cash credits an ACSA professional development event with forever changing her outlook on leadership. It was 1992 and Cash was principal at the lowest-performing school with the highest percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged students in the Bellflower Unified School District.

Her superintendent, Dr. George Bloch, sent her to a new principals institute that ACSA was holding at UCLA in conjunction with Harvard University.

Over two weeks at the institute, she developed her “2+2” leadership philosophy and the positive mindset that she used to move her staff from a “we can’t” to a “we will” attitude. When she returned to Frank E. Woodruff Elementary School, Principal Cash implemented a number of new practices: Students gathered on the playground each morning to recite their school pledge. Teachers greeted students at the door each morning with a hug, handshake or a high-five. She created a “Kids R Us” club where students formed connections with adults on campus. She asked Kaiser doctors to volunteer their time for a weekly medical clinic at the school. She did it all without an assistant principal, a counselor or even a TOSA.

Two years later, Woodruff Elementary was a California Distinguished School — “not because of me, but because of what I learned,” Cash said.

Cash passed those lessons on to other principals each summer for 30 years as a team leader for what is now known as the ACSA Summer Leadership Institute. Cash has gently guided hundreds of site leaders as they discover their leadership style and develop a vision for transforming their schools.

Her extensive service to ACSA also allowed her to play a role in developing the first statewide definition of effective school leadership. As part of ACSA’s Council of Curriculum & Instruction Leaders, Cash helped develop the California Professional Standards for Educational Leaders in 2001, working alongside other ACSA members, the California Department of Education, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and WestEd.

Professionally, she rose to the district office and continued developing leaders as an assistant superintendent in Chino Valley USD and in Placentia-Yorba Linda USD, where she retired in 2011.

“A servant leader at heart, her impact as an assistant superintendent was immediate,” says Jim Moore, a retired superintendent who served under Cash in both Chino and Placentia-Yorba Linda. “Jeanie earned trust and built consensus, ensuring systems of support were in place prior to implementation. As a result, the district developed a cohesive, articulated K-12 instructional program, and student growth ranked among the highest in the county.”

In 2013, she founded Lead Learner Associates with fellow school leader Dr. George Manthey. The professional learning organization provides coaching and customized leadership support to districts throughout the state using the “Evocative Coaching” model. Cash has used this model to help countless leaders develop and execute school improvement efforts, and has taught this model in classes held on four continents, spreading the power of positive coaching throughout the world.

Her love of teaching has even found its way into her side projects. She has written instructional guides based on scorecards for multiple Major League Baseball teams (including her beloved Los Angeles Dodgers). She also writes a vacation bible school curriculum for International Christian Publishers, which is used with children in the Philippines, Romania, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Cash has also served as a coach in ACSA’s Clear Administrative Credential Program for 15 years and serves as an executive coach with Leadership Associates. She is currently coaching five principals, helping them navigate a role that has become more complex over the years. “Sometimes you’re their confidential thought partner,” Cash said. “And sometimes, you’re just the shoulder to cry on.”

Those who have received her coaching can attest to her talents.

“She saw my potential even on the days I questioned it myself,” said Bertha Benavides López, principal at Willard Intermediate School in Santa Ana USD. “Her investment was genuine, unwavering, and always rooted in what was best for students and staff. Mrs. Cash’s incredible wealth of knowledge, paired with her compassionate coaching style, has truly been a game changer in my development as a leader.”

When Cash first became a principal, it was an unexpected surprise. She was in a hospital room recovering from surgery when the superintendent called to tell her the board had voted 5-0 to make her principal. She hadn’t even applied for the job.

When her father visited the hospital that evening, he congratulated her and told his daughter she was a bridge-builder. It was a reference to one of his favorite poems, “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole.

Cash didn’t know the visit would be his last. Her father passed away of a heart attack just an hour later.

Those events had a deep impact on her as she resolved to be the kind of leader that would make her father proud.

Cash has indeed become the bridge builder. Her life’s work has been to create a path forward for new leaders in a profession that can sometimes feel vast and deep and wide. The positive, growth mindset she has instilled in K-12 educational leaders will continue to benefit California students for generations to come.