Jones — who was named as the Executive Director of the Arkadelphia Promise in January 2011, just 3 months after the Arkansas community announced it would be joining the small group of cities offering scholarships to local high school graduates — has spent his entire career helping high school and college students while serving them as a teacher, coach and mentor.

Jones — who is active in his church and serves as a city councilman — is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and has lived in Arkadelphia for the past 16 years with his wife Rebecca and their two sons, Anderson (11) and Sullivan (8).