Catalyze: Education Equity

In the second episode of Capital Region Catalyze, Greater Washington Partnership CEO JB Holston talks equity and inclusive growth with Katherine Bradley, Founder of CityBridge, Tony Lewis, Region Vice President at Verizon, and Russ Ramsey, CEO of Ramsey Asset Management. Our guests share insights and learnings from their efforts to develop and support a thriving and equitable education system in the Capital Region and the glaring inequities that COVID-19 has laid bare.

Hosted by JB Holston. Produced by Maribeth Romslo and Nina Sharma. Edited by Maribeth Romslo. Engineered by Micah Johnson. With support from Jenna Klym, Ian Lutz, and Justin Matheson-Turner.

About our guests:

Katherine Brittain Bradley is the founder and chair of CityBridge Education. CityBridge makes early-stage investments to bring to market the next generation of innovative public schools in Washington, D.C. Focusing on new models that improve personalization, equity, and student achievement, CityBridge works with educators, school leaders, and school-based teams to launch brand-new schools and innovative education projects. Katherine serves as board chair of the KIPP Foundation, as well as a board member of Princeton University, the DC College Access Program, and the National Geographic Society. She is a former chair and current member of the Washington regional board for Teach For America. Katherine graduated from Princeton University in 1986.

Tony Lewis is region vice president of state public policy and government affairs for Verizon. He oversees the corporations’ interests in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Mr. Lewis serves on various boards including Fight for Children, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the corporate advisory board of the Johns Hopkins University Cary School of Business, District of Columbia College Access Program, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and KIPP DC. Mr. Lewis graduated from Elizabeth City State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business in 1986. He completed the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business Leadership Development Program and the Johns Hopkins Leadership Development Program in 1996. He obtained his MBA from the Johns Hopkins University in 2000.

W. Russell "Russ" Ramsey is an American financier and philanthropist, and the founder, chairman, and CEO of asset management firm Ramsey Asset Management. He previously co-founded the Washington, D.C., investment firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group in 1989, where he served as president, secretary, and co-CEO through 2001. He also served as JV partner and a member of the Board of Directors until his retirement in 2007. He is also a founding investor in the non-profit investment organization Venture Philanthropy Partners. In 2014, Ramsey led an attempt to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to his native Washington, D.C., serving as chairman and CEO of Washington 2024. In 2016, Ramsey founded the Greater Washington Partnership, an entity consisting of CEOs and regional business leaders in the Capital Region from Baltimore to Richmond, to focus on large economic and social/community opportunities led by the business community.