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JCIP #385 - Dr Jennifer Weber
Description
In episode 385 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Dr Jennifer Weber.
Jennifer, like friend of the pod Carolyn Gorman also currently works as a Fellow at The Manhattan Institute.
The Manhattan Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose scholars and journalists are dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in America and its great cities.
They cover a range of policy issues including policing and public safety, housing, education, law and economics and many more.
Jennifer’s work builds on educational research and behavioural science to inform systems change and connect research with practice and policy.
Jennifer’s academic areas of interest include K-12 education policy in the USA, behaviour and discipline, literacy rates and AI.
Jennifer completed her BSC Undergraduate degree in Education at Townson University in 2011, before completing her Masters in Applied Behaviour Analysis from Columbia University and finally, completing her PHD in the same degree from Columbia in 2016.
She spent the first part of her career working at various universities and consulting roles, before landing at the MI in 2026.
She says the MI has allowed her to influence policy, which she is passionate about.
In this episode we chart her professional journey, from academia, to consulting and now in the think-tank space.
For Jennifer’s mental health journey, we discuss multiple surgeries she had to have as a child, first in 1999 and then several more from that point onwards.
When she entered Townson University, one day she passed out and ended up in intensive care for four days in 2009 and required blood transfusions to survive.
We talk about the shock of that event, how she got through it, and the importance of her family and support system which helped her recover and excel to the point she is in life now.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can read all of Jennifer's articles we discussed in full below:
- Students Need Consequences, Not “Restorative Justice”
- A Step-by-Step Guide to AI in Schools — How Much to Use and When
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