Bio

Jones is a writer, producer, photographer and mother from Detroit, MI.  In 2008, she founded Blackboard Plays, which began as Blackboard Reading Series and was founded with a mission to support Black playwrights across the African Diaspora.  The goal: readings and 20 minutes of feedback for the writer during their developmental process. Its original home was at Nancy Manocherian’s the cellin New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.  It went on to have a regular home in the Mary Rodger’s Room at The Dramatists Guild before the pandemic shifted everything online.  Since its inception, Blackboard has given first readings to Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play and Jordan E. Cooper’s Tony-nominated Ain’t No Mo’,.  During the summer of 2020, the Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival (BMPFest) was born as a partnership between the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL)  (where she sits on the leadership team), and Blackboard Plays.  BMPFest is a national and digital festival uplifting the stories of Black families by Black parents and caregivers.  Its 3rd Season is streaming now. 

A founding producer of Harlem9, OBIE Award winners for 48Hours in…™Harlem, Jones’ essays have appeared in The New York Times,The Washington Post, and American Theatre. She is an MFA graduate in Playwriting from The New School for Drama and has been both a guest artist and Adjunct professor  at Wayne State University and The New School, everything from Playwrighting and Black Theatre to Arts as Entrepreneurship courses.  Her work as a playwright has been supported by the cell, The Fire This Time Festival, The 24-hour plays: #24viralmonologues and Detroit Public Theatre.   She worked on an MA in African American and African Diaspora studies at Indiana University before coming to New York for her MFA in Playwriting which she earned at The New School for Drama. 

Jones’ professional experience also includes serving as Line Producer at The Public Theater, working on productions like Socrates, Much Ado About Nothing (filmed for PBS), and for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. In 2022, she was promoted to Director of Innovation and New Media at The Public, where she relaunched and hosted the podcast Public Square 2.0. Outside of New York, she is Associate Artistic Director and Senior Creative Producer for the Obsidian Theatre Festival in Detroit and Marketing Manager at Detroit Public Theatre. She is a frequent guest / keynote speaker.