Erin Jones

Erin Jones has been involved in and around schools for 30 years. She has taught in a variety of environments, from predominantly Black to predominantly White to some of the most diverse communities in the nation. Erin received an award as the Most Innovative Foreign Language Teacher in 2007, while teaching in Tacoma and was the Washington State Milken Educator of the Year in 2008, while teaching in Spokane. She received recognition at the White House in March of 2013 as a “Champion of Change” and was Washington State PTA’s “Outstanding Educator” in 2015. After serving as a classroom teacher and instructional coach, Erin worked as an executive for two State Superintendents. Erin left the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012 to work in college-access at the school district level. She left her job to run as a candidate for State Superintendent and was the first Black woman to run for any state office in Washington state, a race she lost by a mere 1%. Erin has 3 adult children - a daughter who graduated from Central Washington University and works for the Equity in Education Coalition, a son who recently graduated from Harvey Mudd College and is in his second year of graduate school at USC and one who attends college and coaches high school football with her husband of 27 years, James, who is a teacher and head football coach at Timberline High School in the North Thurston School District. When the pandemic stopped schools and travel in March, Erin lost all her paid with, but she decided to take her skills and passion online. She offered 83 days of free teaching to both children and adults from mid-March to the end of June. Her choice to engage, especially as racial and political conflict erupted across the nation, created a platform for her to be more engaged as a speaker and trainer now than ever in her career. She has logged thousands of hours on Zoom delivering keynotes, doing school assemblies and providing training to government agencies, non-profits and schools, and she continues to facilitate free virtual gatherings for adults and children several days per week.