Debra A. Jones

Debra Jones serves as Save the Children’s Director and UN Representative in New York. Ms. Jones leads Save the Children’s UN advocacy in New York, engaging with UN agencies, delegations, and civil society partners to create lasting positive change for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children. Her portfolio includes: child protection, child rights, humanitarian reform, health, nutrition, and more. Prior to joining Save the Children, Ms. Jones was Director of Global Advocacy for Family Care International (FCI) managing strategies for global, US, UN, and developing country level advocacy on reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health. She also served as FCI’s National Director in the Dominican Republic for two years. As co-founder of the Paraíso Assistance Program (PAP), Ms. Jones worked with Haitian and Dominican community leaders in the early 1990’s to construct a community health facility and train local health promoters to provide health education programs in the rural southwest of the Dominican Republic. Ms. Jones co-founded and directed the International Organization for Adolescents which addresses adolescent and child trafficking, and girls’ leadership development. Ms. Jones has held positions at the Rockefeller Foundation, the Presbyterian UN Office, and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and has served as a consultant with the World Bank, International Planned Parenthood Federation (WHR), Profamilia in the Dominican Republic, and other institutions. She was an adjunct professor for six years at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In 2011 and 2012, Ms. Jones served as part of the World Bank’s Civil Society Consultative Group on Health, Nutrition, and Population as co-chair. Ms. Jones holds master’s degrees in public health (population and family health) and international affairs (economic and political development) from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from New York University.