I was born September 20, 1950, in Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham was probably one of the most segregated cities in the country (there were no black police officers, firefighters, store clerks, bus drivers, bank tellers, store cashiers, etc.), but growing up, segregation didn’t mean a lot, because I lived in an all-black neighborhood, went to an all-black school and attended an all-black church. That was all I knew. I imagine our families did a good job shielding us from discrimination because we rarely came in contact with white people. I do recall when going downtown to the movies, we would have to go around to the back and go up some stairs that took us to the balcony, which was the only place we could sit.
Jonathan Jones
Jonathan Jones has over fifty years of experience in program management and serving as a management consultant to clients in public, private and nonprofit sectors in planning, housing, community, economic and workforce development.
In 2017, Jones retired from full-time service as Director, Planning, Building and Zoning for the City of Forest Park, GA. In this position, he was responsible for identifying developers and encouraging investment in the community, approving permit applications, performing plan reviews, building inspections and determining code and ordinance interpretations.
Jones previously served as CEO of the Housing Authority of Fulton County (GA) providing leadership to a public housing authority which owned/managed over 500 public housing units, administering nearly 3000 rental assistance vouchers and managing a consolidated budget exceeding $24 million. In the Authority’s role as housing finance agency, Jones directly coordinated financing for developers of affordable housing including over $500 million for nearly 9,000 affordable mixed-income housing units.
Jonathan received undergraduate (BA) and graduate (MA) education at Fisk University (Nashville, TN) and (Clark) Atlanta University respectively. He has received a certificate of completion for the Mini MBA in Finance from the Georgia State University, with additional certification in Strategic Planning & Implementation and Project Management.
Since 1977, he has been married to Valerie Denise Jones. He is the father of five and the grandfather of eight. For nearly 40 years, he was a faithful and involved member of the Saint Philip AME Church, serving as president of the Steward Board, a Sunday School teacher and member of several choirs. Since 2015, he and his wife have been faithful and involved members of Elizabeth Baptist Church under the leadership of Bishop Craig L, Oliver, Sr.