Ms. Jennifer Ashburn
Board of Education Member
Current Term: January 2026 - December 2029
Elder Jennifer Ashburn is the daughter of the late Rev. Richard R. Ashburn, Gene Holmes Ashburn, and Dr. Exie B. Ashburn.
She was born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio, and is a proud graduate of Sandusky High School. She also received a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University, majoring in Elementary Education; a master’s degree from Cleveland State University in Educational Administration; and a master’s degree from Shenandoah University, certifying her as a Reading Specialist. She matriculated at the Howard University School of Divinity and is a licensed, ordained minister of the Gospel.
Jennifer was an educator for 35 years in Sandusky, Ohio; Lorain, Ohio; and Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. She taught creative writing at George Mason University through the Northern Virginia Writing Project Student Summer Institute for 20 years as a teacher consultant.
While teaching in FCPS, Ms. Ashburn initiated a partnership with the Kennedy Center Ceta Program (Changing Education Through the Arts) and was trained to work with teacher artists to integrate the arts across the curriculum.
Her class collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project and created poetry inspired by the Bach Suites, which they performed with Mr. Ma at the Smithsonian’s Ripley Auditorium in Washington, DC.
After retiring, Ms. Ashburn returned to her hometown of Sandusky and currently serves the community as an Associate Minister at The Historic Second Baptist Church; Founder of The Sandusky Literacy Project; Chair of the NAACP, AKA, and NCNW Education Committee; past president of The National Council of Negro Women; past vice president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance; Black History Instructor at the Firelands Community College Elder College; and an elected member of The Sandusky School Board.