Yumekia S. Jones serves as the Senior Program & Office Manager and Community Outreach Coordinator for Mississippi Center for Justice’s Indianola office. With over 15 years in the social impact sector, Yumekia is passionate about bridging the gap between available resources and community members that solve problems impacting low-income communities.
Yumekia manages the New Roots Credit Partnership (NRCP), an alternative to predatory lending practices in the state of Mississippi, which brings employers, community members, and financial institutions together to engage Mississippians excluded from the economic mainstream. Because of her work, Yumekia was featured in USA Today, CNN, and in a documentary in the UK’s Financial Times (FT).
Yumekia has earned several honors highlighting her work, including being named as the first non-attorney to receive the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project’s 2023 Pro Bono Award of the Year for her service in supporting community members receive access to justice.
As a member of the 2024 Cohort of the Southern Economic Advancement Project’s Policy Entrepreneurship Program (PEP), Yumekia worked to strengthen policy creation and advocacy to contribute more informed, effective, and compassionate governance and organizational practices in Mississippi.
Before joining MCJ in 2012, Yumekia worked cross-functional roles in office management and supervision through years of implementing organizational operations for various organizations.
Yumekia holds a Bachelor’s and Master of Business Administration from Delta State University. She spends her spare time with her family and volunteers for several organizations that fosters economically sound and healthier communities.