Learning · Strategy · Performance
I build systems, develop people, and lead programs from strategy through implementation.
Across more than 25 years, I have led from inside organizations and as a founder, consultant, educator, producer, and entrepreneur—building programs, strengthening institutions, developing people, and coordinating implementation across education, government, public policy, regulated operations, media, and emerging ventures in the United States and Antigua & Barbuda.
Leadership Capabilities
Strategy carried through implementation
Across sectors, my work follows the same operating discipline: diagnose the problem, design the system, prepare the people, coordinate execution, and use evidence to improve performance.
Executive & Organizational Leadership
Institutional direction, team leadership, operating systems, fiscal planning, accreditation, cross-functional coordination, and continuous improvement.
Workforce Learning & Organizational Development
Needs analysis, role-based learning, onboarding, facilitation, coaching, train-the-trainer systems, assessment, and performance support.
Program Operations & Implementation
Program architecture, milestones, budgets, procedures, quality controls, logistics, stakeholder alignment, and execution under fixed deadlines.
Public Policy & Stakeholder Engagement
Policy education, government-facing convenings, coalition relationships, sponsorship development, civic engagement, and participant-to-action pathways.
Education & Institutional Improvement
School development, curriculum, assessment, professional learning, literacy intervention, accreditation, and data-informed improvement.
Event, Media & Convening Production
Program development, audience operations, talent and speaker coordination, hospitality, vendors, communications, run of show, and live delivery.
Entrepreneurship & Regional Business Development
Service design, market testing, client discovery, operating models, partnerships, and venture development serving U.S. and Antigua & Barbuda markets.
How I Work
From learning to measurable performance
A seven-stage approach to workforce and organizational improvement—beginning with the performance objective, identifying the real barrier, building the appropriate intervention, and following the evidence through implementation and impact.
Operating principle
I begin by diagnosing the problem and uncovering the most critical need—even when it has not yet been clearly defined. That understanding shapes a clear vision of success and a practical path that aligns people, processes, priorities, and resources.
Diagnose
Define the performance challenge, identify its causes, and determine whether training or another intervention is appropriate.
Design
Translate organizational needs into required capabilities, practical learning experiences, and clear success measures.
Align
Coordinate stakeholders, resources, responsibilities, timelines, communications, and implementation priorities.
Activate
Engage learners through explanation, questioning, guided practice, feedback, and realistic application.
Reinforce
Assess understanding, address gaps, strengthen retention, and support transfer to workplace performance.
Measure
Use participation, assessment, observation, performance, and operational evidence to evaluate capability and behavior change.
Evaluate Impact
Determine whether the intervention contributed to the intended outcome, document the evidence, and refine what happens next.
Evidence is matched to the work. Depending on the initiative, impact may include readiness, procedural accuracy, reduced risk or errors, learner growth, sustained implementation, stakeholder action, or financial return when reliable ROI data are available.
Selected Work
Leadership evidence across institutions, people, policy, and production
Representative work showing how I move from analysis and design to implementation, performance, and measurable evidence. Confidential materials and sensitive operating details are intentionally excluded.
01
Government workforce readiness
Election Training & Public-Service Implementation
Delivered compliance-focused training reaching approximately 4,000 election officials across multiple Maryland jurisdictions during 2024 and 2026 election assignments.
- Translated Maryland election law, approved procedures, and voting-system workflows into practice-based adult learning.
- Led guided practice with electronic pollbooks, ballot-marking devices, scanning units, and role-based procedures.
- Used observation and learner evidence to surface readiness gaps and strengthen consistent delivery.
02
Institutional leadership
Charter-School Development, Accreditation & Improvement
Helped move a charter-school concept into operation, then led curriculum, staff performance, school operations, fiscal planning, institutional standards, and the school’s first accreditation process.
- Coordinated evidence, policies, staff preparation, and operating standards to secure a five-year accreditation.
- Led improvements associated with a 15% increase in standardized-test performance.
- Strengthened workflows that reduced administrative errors by 40%.
03
Curriculum, assessment, and intervention
K–8 Literacy Learning Systems
Led literacy programming, professional learning, curriculum development, benchmark assessment, instructional coaching, and intervention for students and educators.
- Authored PARCC-aligned benchmark assessments and supporting curriculum resources.
- Wrote Talented and Gifted and general summer-school curricula.
- Served as the building’s only certified Scholastic READ 180 reading intervention specialist—trained one-on-one by Scholastic to lead implementation and model the program within the Friendship network.
04
Organizational development and regulated operations
Workforce Systems & Business Transition
Built onboarding, employee learning, operating procedures, patient communications, and business-continuity systems for a licensed D.C. medical cannabis dispensary, then coordinated the regulated transfer of its license.
- Created an employee handbook, role-based onboarding, SOPs, job aids, and leadership-learning materials.
- Designed regulator-aligned delivery and temporary curbside workflows during COVID-19.
- Sourced a buyer and coordinated legal, regulatory, and stakeholder steps for a license-only ownership transfer.
05
Government affairs and national convening
Minority Policy Summit & Stakeholder Mobilization
Progressed from contributor to production-team member to lead producer of a national policy convening connecting government leaders, subject-matter experts, community organizations, sponsors, speakers, and participants.
- Led the 2025 Summit’s four-month production cycle serving approximately 200–250 attendees and about 10 major sponsors.
- Coordinated programming, sponsorships, contracts, speakers, travel, vendors, communications, participant experience, and run of show.
- Designed the experience to move participants from community problems through policy education, stakeholder connection, advocacy planning, and local action.
06
Public affairs and policy production
Policy Convenings, Civic Education & Coalition Work
Produced and supported government-facing programs that translated policy questions into accessible public dialogue, stakeholder engagement, and action.
- Produced the first cannabis-focused plenary session for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.
- Produced a Capitol Hill policy-inclusion session and developed a symposium at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
- Extended convening work into civic-education workshops, virtual programming, and coalition engagement.
07
Television, live audience, and documentary
Media & Live Production
Supported live television production through audience operations, talent coordination, hospitality, promotion, and on-site execution.
- Brought onto the production team by series creator and executive producer Karl Carter for Season 3 of Master of the Mix in Miami across 16 consecutive taping days.
- Managed live-audience recruitment and attendance while supporting talent coordination, hospitality, promotion, and on-site execution.
- Appeared as an on-screen, credited participant in the 2023 feature-length documentary Higher Power, focused on D.C. statehood, cannabis legalization, Black economic participation, and the District’s policy environment.
Leadership Profile
A career built around people, systems, and implementation
Kia L. Jackson is an executive leader, educator, founder, consultant, producer, and entrepreneur. Her career combines leadership inside schools, public systems, and virtual learning organizations with independent consulting, business ownership, policy work, live production, and venture development. Her work spans Maryland, Washington, D.C., Antigua & Barbuda, and earlier international teaching and training in Pakistan.
Founder & Principal · Tillstone House LLC
Workforce training, organizational consulting, program solutions, facilitation, and implementation support.
Venture Development · Antigua & Barbuda
Building The HR Express Antigua as an on-demand small-business HR support pilot and developing Water for the Soul, a Caribbean-rooted guided ocean-wellness venture.
Election Training Specialist · Maryland Election Cycles
Reached approximately 4,000 election officials through training across multiple Maryland jurisdictions and provided additional 2026 election-readiness and operations support.
Independent Organizational, Program & Policy Consultant / Event Producer
Organizational development, workforce systems, policy education, national convenings, regulated operations, and cross-functional delivery.
Virtual ELA Tutor · Cignition
Assessment-driven K–12 literacy instruction, intervention, progress monitoring, and virtual learner support.
Reading Specialist, Literacy Coach & Professional Development Leader
Literacy systems, teacher coaching, curriculum, assessment, READ 180 implementation, and professional learning.
Founding Principal / School Administrator
Charter-school development, operations, staff leadership, curriculum, accreditation, fiscal planning, and institutional improvement.
High School Teacher · Florida Virtual School
Virtual instruction, learner support, progress monitoring, and technology-enabled teaching.
Technology Coordinator / Educator · Gwinnett County
Technology integration, educator support, instructional coordination, and school-based implementation.
Lead ELA Teacher / School Improvement Team · Prince George’s County Public Schools
ELA leadership, curriculum, instruction, student support, and collaborative school improvement.
ELA Teacher / Technology Coordinator · Friendship Public Charter School
Classroom instruction, curriculum, student development, and technology-supported learning.
Middle School Social Studies Teacher · Baltimore City Public Schools
Content instruction, student engagement, assessment, and classroom leadership.
Assistant Principal & International Teacher / Trainer
Additional experience includes school administration with District of Columbia Public Schools and international education and training in Pakistan through the American Institutes for Research.
Professional Footprint
Leadership inside organizations, through consulting, and across new ventures
My professional identity is broader than one title. I contribute within organizations and public systems, lead client work through my company, and develop ventures around needs I have identified in Antigua & Barbuda.
Employee & Contract Leadership
Public-service training, election operations, virtual literacy instruction, institutional leadership, and implementation work delivered within organizations and public systems.
Owner & Consultant
Founder and Principal of Tillstone House LLC, a Maryland-based professional-services firm providing workforce training, organizational consulting, and program solutions.
Entrepreneurship in Antigua & Barbuda
Building The HR Express Antigua as an on-demand HR-support pilot for small businesses while developing Water for the Soul: Guided Ocean Wellness Experiences.
Ways to Work Together
Leadership, consulting, and partnership
The portfolio serves three audiences without asking one role to contain the entire career.
Executive Leadership
Remote or hybrid leadership roles in organizational development, learning strategy, program operations, institutional improvement, or implementation.
Consulting Through Tillstone House
Workforce learning, program design, facilitation, implementation support, operating procedures, organizational systems, and high-stakes delivery.
Strategic Partnerships
Policy education, public-impact initiatives, stakeholder convenings, civic engagement, event production, and mission-driven collaborations.
Connect
Let’s discuss the system, program, or initiative you need to move forward.
Available for remote or hybrid leadership, project-based consulting, selected public-impact partnerships, and assignments or collaborations spanning Maryland and Antigua & Barbuda.