POISE STAFF

Rev. Cornell Jones is a pastor, activist, mentor, father and husband. He is currently the Group Violence Intervention Coordinator for the City of Pittsburgh where he brings outreach teams and law enforcement together to counteract and prevent violence in the Community.   Rev. Jones served as the Protestant Chaplain at SCI Pittsburgh Prison (formerly known as Western Penitentiary) for over 10 years. While working in the prison, he was involved in many crisis de escalating and gang prevention teams such as: Security Threat Group Team, CISM, and the CERT team.  He is a crisis chaplain and a trained member of the National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA) where he assists people who have been victims of large scale crimes. He recently launched an internet radio station, WXCN Power Radio, with programs to train returning citizens from the prison system.

He truly has a heart for incarcerated youth and adults and the marginalized communities. He continues to walk the path of community activists that his father, the late Bernard H. Jones, paved for him many years ago. Rev. Jones was the program manager for Urban Youth Action, founded by his father, who inspired him to always fight for equality for those who are oppressed. He continues to work with at-risk youth in schools, detention centers and neighborhoods all over the state of Pennsylvania, who many people label as lost causes. Rev. Jones continues to provide training on topics such as violence prevention classes and rites of passage programs with people of all ages. He has been a featured speaker on many college campuses including the University of Pittsburgh, California State University, John Jay College, Penn State, CCAC, Carlow College, Pittsburgh Public Schools and numerous community organizations.

Rev. Jones is a workforce development specialist, a violence prevention specialist, an advisory member of the Allegheny County Violence Prevention Advisory Board and a member of My Brother’s Keeper Committee for the City of Pittsburgh, (founded by President Obama). He was recently featured in the newly published book called “YNGBLKPGH”, which focuses on Pittsburgh’s young leadership and mentors.

Rev. Jones has received many community service awards including the “Dare to Dream”  Visionary Award from the South Side Coalition for Peace, the Bernard Jones Community Service Award which is  the highest award given by Urban Youth Action and the UYA volunteer of the Year Award. He is also the recipient of the Pittsburgh Black Media’s Communicator of the Year Award and the winner of the Champion Enterprises Local Hero’s Community Award. He was a proud winner of the New Pittsburgh Courier’s Top 40 under 40 people in Pittsburgh and in 2014 he was given the Men of Excellence Award from the New Pittsburgh Courier Newspaper. In 2017 he won the Circle of Courage awards and he recently won the BMe Leadership Award as a result, he was invited to the White House for his amazing work with Black Males.  

As former co-owner of Team Neva, he and his business partner organized the first motorcycle Ride 4 Peace, which brought hundreds of bikers to ride in unity through the city’s rough neighborhoods where there have been numerous killings. Team Neva was also the originators of the t-shirt that stated “Stop Killing” to combat the once popular “Stop Snitching” t-shirt. This controversy stirred up national attention. He is the founder and Pastor of Iron Cross Community Ministries, a community empowerment and anti-violence ministry dealing with street intervention, motorcycle ministries, health, fitness, and Christ Centered Outreach.

He is the son of the late Bernard H. Jones, founder of Urban Youth Action and POISE Foundation, and Geraldine Jones. He is married to Toya Jones LCSW and the proud father of Cornell, 12 years old and Naomi, who is 8 years old.