By Doris Jackson, Chair
Zion Baptist Church, Interfaith Vesper
Zion Baptist Church (630 Glenwood Avenue, Avondale) will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of her Interfaith Vesper, “Sharing Dr. Martin L. King’s Dream of One Nation,” Sunday, January 12 at 3 p.m. The speaker will be Stephanie J. Jones, JD, President, The Call To Nathaniel Jones Justice Foundation and the daughter of the late Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones who was Zion’s first Vesper speaker. Stephanie and her father, former Judge US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, both embrace Dr. King’s dream of freedom and justice for all and Stephanie will continue that theme in her speech.
Dr. King began his crusade in the church and spoke at Zion in 1961. In 2005, Zion’s retired pastor, Rev. James H. Cantrell, held the first Vesper “Sharing Dr. M. L. King’s Dream of One Nation” and invited religious participants from various faiths in the community to participate in the Vesper. These diverse faiths have participated throughout the decades and will participate in the Vesper this year. The Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra Nouveau Chamber Players have provided music in the past and will provide music this year, along with the ZBC choir.
The greater Cincinnati community is invited to join Zion for the Vesper in “Keeping the Dream of One Nation.” alive. A reception follows. The Rev. Zion M. D. McGregor is Pastor of the church.
Stephanie J. Jones is the president of the Nathaniel R. Jones Foundation, the organization she co-founded with her father, the late Judge Nathaniel Jones, to advance the cause of Civil Rights by encouraging and empowering a new generation of lawyers and advocates to “answer the call” to make equal justice under the law a reality for all.
An attorney, activist, and writer, Stephanie is a senior legal advisor to the NAACP, directing the national organization’s Voter Protection legal program. She was recently a lead author and editor of the Report by the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack on the Capitol.
Stephanie previously served in the Obama Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff, Senior Counselor to the Secretary and Chief Opportunities Officer for the U.S. Department of Transportation. In these roles, Stephanie advised Secretary Anthony Foxx on an array of issues and ensured that the Department’s transportation infrastructure decisions and funded projects connect people to opportunities, create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and are responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people they impact. In this role, she directed priority initiatives and was part of the senior leadership team that managed more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget.
From 2014 to 2016, Stephanie also served at the Secretary’s request in a dual capacity as the Acting Director of USDOT’s Departmental Office of Civil Rights. In that role, she oversaw the Department’s equal opportunity programs across USDOT’s 10 Operating Administrations, including Title VI, ADA and language access compliance and enforcement, Environmental Justice, and the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, which guarantees small businesses owned by women and minorities a fair opportunity to compete for billions of dollars of federally-funded transportation contracts across the country.
Stephanie previously served for five years as the Executive Director of the National Urban League Policy Institute, the Urban League’s research, policy, and advocacy arm, and was editor-in-chief of the State of Black America.
During this time, Stephanie conceived, conducted and wrote the groundbreaking study Sunday Morning Apartheid study, which triggered a significant and measurable increase in the on-air racial diversity of network and cable news programming. Her essays and commentary on public policy, Civil Rights, and social justice have been featured in The Washington Post, Salon, and other publications.
From 2002 until 2005, Stephanie served as Chief Judiciary Committee Counsel to Senator John Edwards, advising him on his priority issues, including judicial nominations, Civil Rights and liberties, and homeland security. She worked closely with the Senator in the development of his anti-poverty, Civil Rights and urban agendas and was a senior advisor during his 2004 presidential and vice presidential campaigns. Before working for Senator Edwards, Stephanie was Chief of Staff to the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.
From 1994 until 2000, Stephanie was an appointee in the Clinton Administration, serving as Secretary’s Regional Representative in the U.S. Department of Education, where she was the Administration’s education point person for a six-state region. During this time, she also extensively traveled with President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton, coordinating scores of events and domestic and international trips, including the President’s state visits to Africa, Europe, Asia, and the First Lady’s Save Our Treasures Tour.
Before entering government service, Stephanie was an Associate Professor of Law at Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where she taught Civil and Criminal Procedure, Civil Rights Law, Entertainment Law, and Trial Advocacy.
Stephanie has also served on the adjunct faculty of Northwestern University School of Law and practiced law with the firm Graydon, Head & Ritchey in Cincinnati. Prior to her legal career, Stephanie was a staff reporter at the Cincinnati Post and the personal assistant to Lionel Richie and the Commodores.
She earned her B.A. from Smith College and her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she was a Fellow in the Urban Morgan Institute of Human Rights. She also attended Tuskegee University as an exchange student.
Feature Image: Stephanie J. Jones, JD. Photo provided