Joseph Jones

Founder and President & CEO of the Center for Urban Families, Center for Urban Families
Baltimore City, Maryland

The Baltimore-based Center for Urban Families was established to empower low-income families by enhancing both the ability of women and men to contribute to their families as wage earners and of men to fulfill their roles as fathers. Prior to founding CFUF, Joe Jones developed and directed the Men’s Services program for the federally funded Baltimore Healthy Start initiative and replicated the Baltimore affiliate of the nationally recognized STRIVE employment services program. Jones has received numerous awards and honors for his leadership and programming including the Johns Hopkins University Leadership Development Program’s Distinguished Leadership Award, an honorary Doctorate in Public Service from Morgan State University, the Walter Sondheim Public Service Award, the White House Champion of Change, and was a 2013 CNN Hero.

My Truth

The problem I am trying to address is the seemingly intractable generational poverty of urban communities with a goal of not just putting band-aids on poverty but obliterating it with a focus on family and with an intentionality of including men within the family by creating scalable pathways to family stability and economic success for individuals and families.

Stories featuring Joseph Jones

Through careful and rigorous research, we know that there is a better way to approach child support policy to build strong families and communities.
BlogJanuary 11, 2023
A commitment to rigorous learning and evaluation is fundamental to the implementation of a two-generation (2Gen) approach so that we’re measuring how well programs and policies serve the whole family. This is reflected in research being the first principle of a 2Gen approach, and it’s embedded in the day-to-day work of Ascend’s 450+ nationwide Network Partners. These visionary practitioners and systems …

From Proof Points to Building Evidence: Creating A Two-Generation (2Gen) Research Agenda Read More »

Ascend NetworkMarch 10, 2022
Four outstanding organizations and partnerships have been selected to receive flexible grant funding to accelerate their work moving children and families with low incomes toward educational success, economic security, and health and well-being. Ascend Impact Fund awardees are: “The Ascend Impact Fund is an extension of our investment in values-driven leadership to advance economic mobility …

Four Outstanding Projects Selected for Ascend Impact Fund Read More »

BlogDecember 9, 2020
Black Lives Matter. As a collective of leaders committed to advancing two-generation strategies to end multigenerational poverty, we believe that the only path to that outcome is through a reckoning with our past and present, and a fundamental shift in our institutions. This requires a new social contract to remedy the harms of White supremacy â€“a …

Undo A System of White Supremacy: The Call for a New Social Contract Read More »

BlogJune 29, 2020
Dear Governors, First and foremost, thank you for your leadership during these unprecedented times, and good wishes to you, your family, and your staff. We are writing to call your attention to immediate action you may take to financially support noncustodial parents in your state now, and advance family-centered child support policies and practices long-term. …

Ascend’s Response to CARES Act Offset for Child Support Arrears Read More »

BlogMay 4, 2020
Presented by the Aspen Institute in partnership with the Atlantic, in its 15th year, the Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation’s premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to present and discuss the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. Ascend has had the honor …

Ascending at the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival Read More »

BlogJuly 12, 2019
Kwame AnkuChairman and CEOBlack Star Fund Sacramento, CAMy Vision – The problem I am focusing on solving is breaking the economic disparity cycle afflicting people of the African diaspora. I call my bold vision 100X100. It is a vision of 100 Black investment managers who will each manage $100M innovation funds by 2025. I believe we …

2018 Ascend Fellow Action Plans Read More »

Ascend FellowshipJune 19, 2019
2018 Ascend Fellows
NEWS RELEASE Contact: Lindsay Broyhill Ascend at the Aspen Institute Tel: 202.721.5596 Lindsay.broyhill@aspeninstitute.org Prestigious Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship Announces 2018 Class of Leaders Diverse Leaders Selected for Their Groundbreaking Work Advancing Opportunity for Children and Families With Low Incomes Washington, DC, September 6, 2018 – The Aspen Institute announced today the 2018 class of Aspen …

Prestigious Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship Announces 2018 Class of Leaders Read More »

Press ReleasesSeptember 6, 2018