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Myra Jones-Taylor

Senior Vice President for Impact and External Affairs

Urban Institute

Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow Alumni 2015 Cohort 2

Washington, District of Columbia

Myra Jones-Taylor is senior vice president for impact and external affairs at the Urban Institute, overseeing communications, development, government affairs, and policy impact. With these teams, she sets the vision for how researchers and policy experts across Urban can maximize the impact of their findings and evidence-based recommendations while helping tell the story of how their work changes lives and strengthens communities.

Before joining Urban, Jones-Taylor was the chief policy officer at ZERO TO THREE, where she led the development and implementation of the organization’s policy agenda, priorities, and strategies while serving as the principal spokesperson on all policy matters. She previously served as Connecticut’s founding commissioner of early childhood, leading the cabinet-level state agency that serves all children from birth to age 5 and is responsible for early care and education, home visiting, and early intervention and child care licensing. During her time as commissioner, the state agency was awarded $50 million in new, competitive federal grants and expanded access to high-quality preschool to 25 percent more 3- and 4-year-olds.

Jones-Taylor was a class of 2022 New America national fellow and has been both an Ascend fellow and a Pahara fellow of the Aspen Institute. She writes and speaks about racial identity, systemic racism, and social inequality and has appeared in the Atlantic and on the Longest Shortest Time podcast. Jones-Taylor received a joint doctorate in American studies and anthropology from Yale University.


Stories Featuring Myra Jones-Taylor
April 10, 2023
New Report: Reimagining Child Welfare
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December 9, 2020
Investing in Futures Means Investing in Families: Announcing the Two-Generation Prenatal to Three Learning and Action Community
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October 23, 2020
Here’s to Warriors and Weavers for Care
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March 13, 2019
Moving Families Toward Opportunity, Two Generations at a Time
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February 28, 2019
Great Quotes on Slaying Poverty
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February 8, 2017
Statement on Immigration Executive Order: Leaders Warn it Will Hurt Low-Income Families
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Ascend Fellows are a community of values-driven leaders who share an unwavering commitment to our shared goal of intergenerational family prosperity and well-being.