Biography of David R. Jones, Esq.
When David R. Jones assumed his duties as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Service Society of New York in June, 1986, at 38, he was the youngest administrator and the first African-American to lead one of the country's oldest and largest nonprofit social welfare organizations.
The successor organization to two turn-of-the-century social service organizations, CSS has been leading the fight against poverty for 150 years. Besides continuing direct help programs, research and advocacy, CSS also focuses on litigation and community empowerment issues.
As a result of CSS's research work on the need for primary health care centers in needy communities, the Primary Health Care Development Corporation was formed to finance new medical centers in low-income neighborhoods. Mr. Jones served as PCDC's vice-chair for two years and as president of Black Agency Executives, a group of Black leaders of major New York City human service agencies, for seven years.
The son of former Assemblyman and Judge Thomas R. Jones, Mr. Jones was born in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant community on April 30, 1948. He received his B.A., from Wesleyan University in 1970 and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1974 The recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1970, he also holds an Honorary Master of Arts degree from Wesleyan University awarded in 1982.