"Never
risk anything you can't afford to lose."
- Mary S. Jones
Mary
S. Jones first and foremost is an educator and speaker who
has assumed the challenge of leading individuals to the
threshold of their mind. She says, “I can give you
all the information I have within my grasp, but I cannot
give you my understanding”. You must take the information,
process it and make a decision. Mary warns, “Be mindful
the decisions you make in one moment, which can define you
forever”.
As
a highly motivated and dedicated professional, Mary has been
a key catalyst for change in the delivery of health care messages
and the empowerment of individuals around the world; she is
a leading authority in HIV/AIDS education outreach and prevention
programs and has developed creative culturally sensitive mass
media campaigns to promote the availability of educational
services, testing, and care for individuals and families infected
and affected by HIV/AIDS.
A
qualified consultant on health care issues, Mary designs and
conducts training programs for health care professional and
lay persons. She is in great demand as an evaluator of public
and private education programs on HIV/AIDS and team building
within communities and organizations.
Born
and reared in the Mississippi Delta, Mrs. Jones is amply qualified
to lead the campaign for the development and dissemination
of educational materials and messages. A consultant and technical
assistant expert, Mary worked with colleges/university, community
development programs/ agencies, substance abuse centers designing
training program, evaluation instruments, and needs assessment
tools.
Certified
in Total Quality Management, Street Outreach, Client Center
Counseling, Mary has earned certifications in HIV/AIDS Education
from the American Red Cross, Meharry Medical College and Centers
for Disease Control.
Mrs.
Mary Jones has earned a Bachelor Degree: Community Health
Education and Safety and a Masters of Arts: Human Behavior
and Management from the University of Memphis and a Masters
in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Mary
is empathetic to the plight of persons with HIV/AIDS as an
outward signal of her commitment to the cause to bring dignity
to the reality of man’s inhumanity to man, she designed
a panel on the AIDS Memorial Quilt which has been displayed
all over the world. She has further demonstrated her commitment
by serving as a member of Tennessee HIV Prevention Community
Planning, Regional Advisory Committee, Memphis AIDS Council
for Education, Women Health Initiative, and Baby Love, a rehab
program for women.
In
April 2007, Mary went to Ghana and Togo West Africa to coordinate
education, testing, and develop possible partnerships for
long term care in the Volta Region of West Africa. Partnering
with Amazing Grace Gospel Church International, Mary Jones
and her interpreter Bishop Issac Akorli were able to educate
individuals in four remote villages and the City of Aflao
in Ghana and Lome, Togo. The positive feedback and response
was overwhelming thus creating a need to acquire additional
support and resources. Mary met with local doctors and leaders
such as a pharmacist in Aflao, the head Doctor over the Aflao
hospital, and the Director of the West African Aids Foundation
to adequately assess how resources and services can be intergraded
to maximize education, testing, and care. This project will
require many future trips and networking with additional agencies
world-wide including the World Health Organization, Center
for Disease Control, and the United Nations.
Mary
Jones has used her gifts of sewing to open the Grace and Mary
Vocational and Training Center located in Aflao, Ghana West
Africa. The vocational school was started with 18 sewing machines
and four qualified instructors were selected by Mary and a
team of evaluators. The first 18 month class started May 2,
2007, and is designed to give individuals marketable skills
in tailoring.