I am a senior writer, editor, and content strategist at Whiteboard Advisors in Washington, DC.
Like many writers, I began my career as a student reporter. Unlike many of my peers at the time, I was also a first-generation college student from a low-income military family. That experience shaped my career, drawing me to stories about educational opportunity and the people working to expand it. Today, I help college presidents and faculty, K-12 leaders and teachers, former governors and White House officials, policy experts and researchers, and executives and founders turn their insights into clear, powerful prose.
For nearly a decade, I have worked at Whiteboard Advisors, where I helped build the firm’s content creation practice. I have written and edited hundreds of op-eds, speeches, talking points, newsletters, columns, book chapters, white papers, case studies, and articles about early childhood, K-12, postsecondary learning, and workforce development, as well as philanthropy, technology, and business. My ghostwriting has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s, and Time among many other major publications and trade outlets.
Before joining Whiteboard, I covered higher education for Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education, where my reporting focused on nontraditional students, education technology, college athletics, mental health, and student learning.
Under my own byline, I also write about movies, books, history, and culture. My work as a reporter has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Bright Wall/Dark Room, Slate, The Nib, Teen Vogue, PBS NewsHour, and Indianapolis Monthly. My forthcoming book, out Fall 2027 from the University of Minnesota Press, examines U.S.–Japan relations through the lens of the Godzilla franchise. When I’m not writing, I’m usually taking photographs.
Writing
At Whiteboard, I help clients translate complex policy and research into compelling writing. I can’t share most of my ghostwriting publicly (that’s the name of the game), but I also occasionally write under my own byline, mostly about education, film, books, and culture. Here are a few of those pieces, along with some client work I’m able to share:
INSIDETRACK ↗
How to Help Community Colleges Re-Enroll Stopped-Out Students
A white paper on re-engaging learners over 25 who return to complete their degrees, written on behalf of InsideTrack
CARNEGIE FOUNDATION ↗
K-12 to Postsecondary Pathway Programs
An action paper on successful programs that help students transition to college or the workforce, written on behalf of the Carnegie Foundation
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE ↗
What’s Behind Steven Spielberg’s Obsession With Flying Saucers and Extraterrestrial Visitors?
A freelance magazine feature about the “Disclosure Day” director’s fascination with alien encounters in American suburbia
BRIGHT WALL/DARK ROOM ↗
Godzilla and the Peculiar Beauties of Destruction
A freelance feature about postwar Japanese history and the Godzilla media franchise. This piece is the basis for a book, out 2027 from University of Minnesota Press
INSIDETRACK ↗
Reimagining Student Affairs for Modern Learners
A white paper on supporting non-traditional learners, produced by Whiteboard Advisors in partnership with InsideTrack, NASPA, and UPCEA
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION ↗
Herbert Richardson v. the World
A feature about a scholarly press publisher who believes the world is out to get him, pursuing high-profile lawsuits against his critics
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION ↗
An Open Access Crusader’s Legacy
A story about Aaron Swartz, the computer programmer and activist who illegally downloaded more than four million articles from JSTOR
INSIDE HIGHER ED ↗
The Temptation of Baylor
A feature about Baylor University’s efforts to stay true to its religious roots while refashioning itself as a big-time football school
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION ↗
The Ed-Tech Gold Rush
A freelance feature about the start-ups promising to solve the toughest problems in American higher education
INDIANAPOLIS MONTHLY ↗
Why Civil Rights Activist John Lewis Wrote a Comic Book Memoir
A story about “March,” a trilogy chronicling the life and legacy of the celebrated congressman from Georgia
Contact Me
Get in touch at jaketnew@gmail.com.











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