Guest Profile
Denise Jones M.Ed
Denise Jones is the daughter of two incredibly selfless, dedicated, and passion-driven educators who made personal sacrifices for Denise and her two sisters (and now niece) to attend South Fayette. Denise’s journey was marked by early academic challenges. Despite her high achievement at her former middle school, Denise found she was unprepared for the academic rigor of South Fayette. This, however, did not deter her.
Through mentorship, external academic support, and her own volition, Denise overcame her skills gap and began excelling personally and academically. Her upward academic trajectory allowed her to access honors and AP courses where she developed an authentic love for learning and began seeing herself as a Black woman capable of pursuing post-secondary education.
Her challenges during secondary school prepared her for her new playing field at Allegheny College, where she majored in Economics and Minored in Black Studies. Upon completing her undergraduate studies, Denise won four prestigious academic honors and graduated Magma Cum Laude. A destiny-filled run-in with an on-campus mentor led Denise to apply for Teach for America. She was accepted and spent two years doing heart work in the classroom with some of the most vulnerable youth in San Antonio, Texas.
There, Denise met incredible young people who had poise and promise but were without the resources and opportunities to display their brilliance. This experience helped Denise understand the joys and limitations of teaching, particularly in bureaucratic systems. Despite all Denise poured into her youth and their learning experiences, her efforts were not enough to help her students overcome the systemic inequities they confronted. With such understanding, Denise transitioned into graduate school at Teachers College, Columbia, where she received her Master’s Degree, hoping to find the panacea for the classroom ills. However, Denise soon realized federal policy was not quite the answer either.
In search for more solutions, Denise agreed to work at her father’s community-based non-profit organization, Youth Enrichment Services (YES), to help young people become their own best resource. What started out as a three-month commitment turned into four years of designing new programs, securing partnerships and funding, building YES’ research apparatus, and helping young people chart their post-secondary pathways. As part of Denise’s tenure at YES, she helped youth access new possibilities - in doing so, they received 4 million dollars in scholarships and matriculated into the nation’s most prominent and prestigious colleges and universities.
To continue this work on a larger platform, Denise is pursuing a PhD in education and psychology from the University of Michigan, where she is building a post-secondary pipeline for youth of color. Now, in her fourth year, Denise is a doctoral candidate preparing to write her dissertation which explores how contextual and environmental factors influence Black youths’ orientations toward the future and advancement toward adulthood. Denise attributes her success to those who took a chance on her and helped her see that she was destined for so much more - in every space, someone saw Denise’s light and created opportunities for her to excel. Because of this, Denise is fully committed to paying it forward and using her research and university resources.
