Reverend John Jones has a passion for children. As a father of four, he knows firsthand the blessings and the challenges of being a parent. He also knows what it takes to help children succeed. As CEO and President of HOPE Toledo and HOPE Promise, he is determined to provide those opportunities for all children in the greater Toledo community.
“HOPE Toledo is a nonprofit, and we focus on education to support and ensure high quality education from cradle to career,” Rev. Jones said. “The focus is around preschool and post-secondary education. We do that to try to benefit our families and community to create generational economic change.”
Before heading up the non-profit, Jones had an 18-year career in accounting and finance with ProMedica. “With ProMedica, I was focused on the social determinants of health and, obviously, education is a social determinant of health. That led to us being engaged in this work around preschool and trying to get universal access to preschool in Toledo. One thing led to another, and here I am.”
Jones began working with HOPE in October of 2020. In September of 2022, Jones was chosen by the Kresge Foundation to participate in the Thrive Leaders Network, where other innovators and leaders of color who head nonprofits can share and connect. “HOPE Promise is thrilled to be one of the Kresge Foundation’s partners. They saw something unique in our work in this two-generational approach, wherein we fund scholarships with the student who is graduating from Scott High School and one parent or legal guardian.”
HOPE Toledo follows a front-end approach to education by funding early childhood tuition with 20 local partnering providers. HOPE Promise, with help from the Kadens Family Foundation, continues with a backend approach, providing post-secondary scholarships for high school students and one parent or guardian.
“We believe firmly in equity and equitable access to education,” explains Jones. “We also believe that you can’t solve multi-generational issues with single-generation solutions. Scholarships are excellent for students, but when you can add a parent and you can have a whole family approach, we believe that leads to real solid work.”
Research has indicated that this bookend approach to education is producing positive results.
“We believe that research is going to be crucial. We are looking to share our research so that the community knows that yes, it is successful, and here is where it is working, and here is how it is working.”
HOPE is continuing to seek funding from corporate sponsors, community members and grants as they plan to expand their scholarship opportunities to other schools in the community. “We’ve got a real opportunity in Toledo to do something special for our kids that will last generationally,” Rev. Jones said.
For more info on HOPE Toledo, visit hope-toledo.org. Visit toledoparent.com to read an additional article about what HOPE Promise has accomplished for local students.
Q and A with Reverend John Jones
Tell us about your family.
We have a blended family with my wife, Charity, daughters Alexa (27), Naomi(21), Catherine(19) and John Michael(13).
Biggest blessing of being a dad:
To be able to watch the children that God provided to grow and develop in so many wonderful ways. I love being a dad and am thrilled with the calling that God placed on my life to be able to serve in that way.
Biggest challenge of being a dad:
You want to step in and make decisions for your kids. At the end of the day, it’s trusting the process and all the things you poured into them. Let go, but still hold them close and love them.
Favorite way to spend a day off:
Golfing, spending time with family and relaxing.
Favorite local restaurants:
Mancy’s and Gino’s Pizza.
Dream Vacation:
Getting back to South Africa. [Rev. Jones visited when he was studying for his MBA at the University of Toledo] It was a monumental trip and a great experience.
Favorite local gem:
The Toledo Zoo. I’ve had the privilege of serving on the Zoo Board. All of the education and conservation work they do around the globe to make sure that our ecosystem and animal population is what it needs to be…they are doing it phenomenally.
For parents who are not vegetarians, the idea that their children might want to explore a vegetarian lifestyle can be overwhelming. Vegetarian diets for kids and teens is not abnormal, and lately that diet choice is becoming more popular. Kelly Layton, a clinical dietician at 
However, Layton did warn that many junk foods are also considered vegetarian, so “switching from a diet that includes meat to a diet consisting of mainly refined white pastas and breads, junk food snacks and sweets is not a healthy way to be vegetarian.” Layton explains that, in order to follow a healthy and safe vegetarian diet, children need to eat a variety of healthy alternative proteins that substitute for meat in their daily diet. Alternative choices include low-fat dairy, beans, eggs, nuts or soy products like tofu. Each meal should have at least one of these alternatives incorporated. Adding these foods also ensures that enough iron is incorporated into the child’s diet. 
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