Jennifer Jones will be the new chief strategy officer for Prevent Child Abuse America, leaving her position as director of the Change in Mind Institute at the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.
Jones will assume her new duties on Feb. 15, bringing with her a passion for integrating the growing scientific understanding of brain development into social and public policy.
Melissa Merrick, president and CEO of the Chicago-based organization, said Jones should be a perfect fit as chief strategy officer, in part because the two women have collaborated on several projects over the years.
“We’re thrilled that she’ll be joining us, bringing tremendous passion, expertise and acuity to our efforts to provide the safe, stable and nurturing relationships and environments that enable children, families and entire communities to thrive — today and for generations to come,” Merrick said in a news release announcing the hire. She called Jones “a well-respected leader in the areas of brain science, child welfare and child and family well-being.”
“Prevent Child Abuse America’s important work to reshape child welfare in the United States, focusing on prevention and equity and proactively creating the conditions and contexts for strong families and communities, dovetails seamlessly with the work I’ve been doing for the past two decades, which I’m eager to continue with them,” Jones said in the same statement.
At the alliance’s Change in Mind Institute, Jones recently raised $1.7 million for the Texas Change in Mind Learning Collaborative and National Impact Study. She also directs the U.S. Justice Department’s Child Safety Forward Initiative, a three-year cooperative agreement working with five jurisdictions to develop community-led, systematic solutions to reduce fatal child maltreatment.
The outfit Jones will leave, the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, recently announced a merger with the Council on Accreditation. The Imprint has learned that the Change in Mind Institute will remain as an arm of the newly merged, yet-to-be-named organization.