James R. McGirt

James R. McGirt attended the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) where he received a B.S. in Elementary Education.

During his tenure at UDC, he became one of the youngest Education Specialist ever appointed to the District of Columbia Board of Education. Following this appointment, he served in a variety of capacities for both DC Public Schools and Friendship Charter Schools including: Lead & Master Teacher, Director of After-School Programs, Recruitment Specialist and Middle School & Adult Education Principal. Mr. McGirt continued his lifelong pursuit of learning by becoming a National Urban Fellow (NUF) as a member of the Class of 2005.

During this time, he worked as a fellow with the Kauffman Foundation & Kauffman Scholars, Inc. program in Kansas City, MO and went on to serve as Director of Mathematics Curriculum & Instruction, Site Manager & Princeton Review Partnership Liaison. He then founded the McGirt Group, a K-12 educational consulting company where he worked with both district and charter schools in Kansas City. Most recently, he relocated back to the nation’s capital where he now is Manager of Education Programs for Project Learning Tree and the American Forest Foundation where he oversees a multi-million dollar GreenSchools program which engages over 2,200 schools nationally.