Maurice Antonia Jones (born September 14, 1964) is the former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of OneTen, a coalition of companies dedicated to creating one million jobs for

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

by the end of the 2020s. Prior to OneTen, he was president and CEO of the

Local Initiatives Support Corporation The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a US non-profit organization, non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI) that supports community development initiatives across the country. It has offices in nearly 40 citi ...

, a national

community development financial institution A community development financial institution (US) or community development finance institution (UK) - abbreviated in both cases to CDFI - is a financial institution that provides credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations ...

. Previously, he served as the deputy secretary of HUD in the Obama administration, and then as Virginia Secretary of Commerce in the cabinet of Governor

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

. Jones was born in rural Mecklenburg County and grew up on his grandparents'

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

farm near the town of Kenbridge. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from

Hampden–Sydney College Hampden–Sydney College (H-SC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Men's colleges in the United States, college for men in Hampden Sydney, Virginia. Founded in 1775, it is the oldest privatel ...

, where he graduated

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

, before attending St. John's College, Oxford on a

Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

and the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

. In November 2020, Jones was named a candidate for

United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succession. T ...

in the

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, but was not chosen.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Maurice 1964 births African-American people in Virginia politics African-American state cabinet secretaries American Rhodes Scholars Hampden–Sydney College alumni Living people People from Kenbridge, Virginia People from Mecklenburg County, Virginia State cabinet secretaries of Virginia United States deputy secretaries of housing and urban development University of Virginia School of Law alumni Obama administration personnel