Dr. HARRY R. JACKSON
Former President of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ), Current Vice President of the Fairfax County Association for the Gifted, Host of television show ‘Education Matters’ on USANOW.TV
Dr. Jackson is the first African American to be elected president of the TJ PTSA and has extensive experience in education, program management, acquisition, as well as cybersecurity. He is a professor at numerous colleges and universities, a recognized expert in industry-standard cyber security certifications, and, more importantly, an ardent education activist focused on diversity and excellence.
Dr. Jackson specializes in diversity in gifted education, and he works with several advocacy groups such as the Black Student Fund. He launched the first-ever Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) provider conference for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) Parent Teachers Student Association (PTSA) Diversity Committee, where he brought together over 30 STEM providers that had a mechanism to provide free and reduced-fee services to gifted children in Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun Counties, and coordinated this information with all the middle school guidance counselors in these counties.
Currently, Dr. Jackson is the Vice President of the Fairfax Country Association for the Gifted, where he also chairs the organization’s diversity committee, where he works on policy to address the K-8 educational pipeline impacting underrepresented communities. Dr. Jackson holds leadership positions in several other educational advocacy organizations such as Parents Defending Education, Coalition For TJ, and he works extensively with the Black Student Fund. Dr. Jackson is uniquely qualified to address racial achievement gaps in the Commonwealth with solutions that do not require additional income taxes, promotes education access opportunities, and leverages public-private partnerships.