Jared A. Morris serves as Educational Specialist and Co-Lead for Democracy in Dialogue Virtual Exchange, a program of the Office of the Under Secretary for Education at the Smithsonian Institution. Jared worked as Curriculum Innovation Lead for Madison County Public Schools. In this role he developed a program to engage students and staff with issues of local, national, and global importance. During this time, he co-developed and co-facilitated an education initiative called “Building Bridges.” This program aimed to connect teachers and students throughout the country in order to build perspective and empathy, working towards civil discourse and civic friendship. Jared served on the Virginia Department of Education’s History and Social Science Practitioners Steering Committee. In this capacity, he helped develop curriculum standards and educator resources for Virginia public school students and teachers K-12, with a focus on inquiry. He also served on Governor Northam’s “Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices” Committee. Jared began his career in a middle school Social Studies classroom where he taught U.S. History for nine years. He had the opportunity to serve on the National Humanities Center Educator Advisory Council and is a member of the Virginia Geographic Alliance.