Dr. Jatnna Acosta

Professional Learning Coach and Program Manager at Year Up Charlotte

Dr. Jatnna Acosta was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and migrated to Brooklyn, New York when she was six years old. She is the oldest of three sisters raised by a single father with the support of immediate family. She completed most of her K-12 in schooling and relocated to North Carolina to pursue her college education. Jatnna completed her Bachelor's in Elementary Education from Wake Forest University, Master's in Curriculum and Instruction under the Teacher Leadership track from Gardner-Webb University, and her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Urban Literacy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She began her career as a classroom teacher in bilingual, Spanish world language, and out of school programs for a total of seven years before transitioning into the non-profit sector. She has also served as an Instructional Designer for a multilingual/multicultural community center in the Charlotte area. Currently, Jatnna serves as a Professional Learning Coach/Program Manager for a national non-profit focused on workforce development. She is passionate about educational equity, literacy, teacher leadership, and positive cultural/ethnic identity development.