The annual awards ceremony celebrates and honors the mission set forth by Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of peace, equality and freedom and highlights the talent, determination and success of John Jay students.
Our keynote speaker, Jennifer Jones Austin, is a fourth-generation leader of faith and social justice. As CEO of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), an anti-poverty, policy and advocacy organization with 170 member agencies and faith partners, she has led and secured monumental changes in social policy to strengthen and empower the disenfranchised and marginalized. Jones Austin brings to her work a profound understanding of the link between race, poverty, law and social policy in America, and the role religion plays.
Prior to joining FPWA, Jones Austin served as senior vice president of the United Way of New York City; the City of New York’s first family services coordinator; deputy commissioner for the NYC Administration for Children’s Services; civil rights deputy bureau chief for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; and vice president for LearnNow/Edison Schools, Inc.
Jones Austin is also the co-chair of the National True Cost of Living Coalition, created to effect a national measure of need that moves beyond poverty and basic needs to center on economic security as the standard for all Americans’ well-being. Appointed by NYS Governor Kathy Hochul, she also serves as a commissioner on the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, which pursuant to authorizing legislation is tasked with examining the impacts of slavery and persisting racial injustices and putting forth recommendations for repairing and preventing future harms; and as a member of the NYS Interfaith Council.