Captivity Narrative
- Tara Whiteman-Fager
- Feb 26
- 3 min read
NTT Cohost: A Blast from the Past!
The cast of characters continue to appear from Tara’s history and we see it blending with current times. Given the capacity of NTT’s mission, the one she alluded to in her most recent letter, it stands to reason that Tara called on her longest standing friendship to help expand NTT’s efforts.
Now, reunited in purpose, they bring awareness to transgenerational trauma. Their connection spans many moons and survived the eclectic and quirky trials and tribulations of life. Joining us fresh from Philly, Jeremy Grant-Skinner brings a flair to the plot that is evidenced by his amazing recall from the banks of shared memories made while growing up in the heart of the Hudson. As the newest cohost to NTT Podcast, it quickly became clear that although he has a very fun side, Mr. Grant-Skinner knows when to focus. He champions years of helping others reign it in when it is time to learn, and or teach.
Being a mover and groover by nature, after leaving Fort Plain and his beloved community stairwell leading up to his alma mater, Jeremy committed his career to ensuring that all young people have access to a barrier-breaking educational experience by strengthening teaching, learning, and leadership systems at scale. Since beginning his career as a teacher in Baltimore City twenty-five years ago, he led system-level work with students, educators, and schools, driving transformative change and achieving breakthrough results in some of the largest, most diverse cities.
A Broad Fellow, Jeremy is currently CEO of Better People. As an executive coach and consultant, he helps district leaders strengthen instructional quality, leadership capacity, and organizational coherence through innovative approaches to recruiting, developing, engaging, and retaining high-impact educators, leaders, and staff. He is also a Senior Fellow with ILO Group, and works with experts and government partners to navigate the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence in education.
Jeremy served as Deputy Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia until 2024 where he supervised a team of 450 staff responsible for Talent, Professional Learning, Equity, Strategy, and Technology. He led cross-functional work to strengthen the instructional core, which included curriculum adoption, professional learning, and Year 1 implementation of the district’s strategic plan, while improving alignment and execution across the district.
Jeremy spent more than a decade as Chief Talent Officer in four districts, serving up to 200,000 students and 25,000 staff in Philadelphia and Houston. In Baltimore City Public Schools, he served five years and drove nine consecutive years of nationally recognized literacy growth. His leadership contributed to record-high teacher retention, record-high numbers of Latinx teachers and Black male teachers, and record-low first-day teacher vacancies. He also served as Deputy Assistant Superintendent for DC’s state education agency, directing federal programs and school improvement across sixty local education agencies, and led innovative programs with TNTP and Teach For America.
A first-generation college graduate, Jeremy earned a B.A. in Politics and Mathematics from New York University. He was named a John Kenneth Galbraith Scholar by Harvard University for his commitment to advancing equity and social policy. He earned a Master’s Degree in Education from Johns Hopkins University, a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and Superintendent Certification through the Texas Region 4 Education Service Center. He is also an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation with training from Teleos Leadership Institute.
Given his accomplished resume, one could assume that he is all work and no fun. Turns out that Now’s The Time to see his lighter and more creative side.
We proudly welcome Green Eyed Jay, (Jeremy), to the podcast as this season’s cohost.
When in character as creative content collaborator, he responds as GreenEyedJay tuning in from Channel 19.
Jeremy’s listening suggestion from our shared and public Spotify Playlist TLW152 is:
Empathy by Alanis Morissette.
How many stairs lead up to FP High?
88
109
90
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