Goshen College President-elect Brenneman names new vice president for institutional advancement

GOSHEN, Ind. – In his first appointment since being confirmed five months ago as the next president of Goshen College, President-Elect Jim Brenneman has announced the appointment of William A. Jones as vice president for institutional advancement. With Brenneman, Jones will start his term at Goshen College in early July, leaving his current post as director of the Berea Fund at Berea (Ky.) College.

Jones isn’t arriving in unknown territory: the city of Goshen’s historic-district brick streets and caring next-door neighbors are among his earliest childhood memories, as his family lived in Michiana briefly when Jones was a youngster. He is also familiar with Goshen College’s faith-based roots, having attended a Mennonite church while working in Washington, D.C., prior to joining Berea.

A graduate of Berea College himself, the ink was barely dry on Jones’s diploma when he started a nonprofit program with regional mountain colleges, called Food for Thought, designed to bridge generational gaps through storytelling and community gardening projects. He also began to be active in Kentucky politics. With that organizational leadership experience, he sharpened his vocational goals in accepting executive positions in faith-based organizations and higher education.

Said Brenneman, “Throughout his career, Will has distinguished himself with exceptional management, communication and creativity at nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. He is goal-oriented as well as people-oriented, and knows how to reach out to key constituencies. We are blessed that Will senses a call to take on this assignment at Goshen College.”

As director of the Berea Fund since 2003, Jones was part of Berea’s college and alumni relations leadership team. Overseeing a staff of 12, he provided strategic leadership and management of an office that raised $4 million a year by partnering with donors, to achieve their philanthropic goals, and alumni and friends.

Prior to returning to his native Kentucky in 2003 to work at Berea, his undergraduate alma mater, Jones had held the post of national coordinator and managing director of the Washington, D.C.-based Call to Renewal – a faith-based organization focused on overcoming poverty that is a sister organization of Sojourners, both founded by Christian speaker and author Jim Wallis. Jones provided oversight to all program areas for Call to Renewal, including planning and executing fundraising strategies and managing an anti-poverty network of more than 24,000 organizational members and 2,000 churches and faith-based organizations in all 50 states.

Jones will join the Goshen College President’s Council as part of his responsibilities. He said he is eager to begin his work with the institutional advancement office in strengthening relationships with alumni, the church, community and friends that support the college’s mission and core values.

“Creating effective systems and strategies is important, yet the most essential aspects of institutional advancement are lots of prayer and nurturing meaningful relationships – connecting with individuals, churches and businesses, recognizing those who contribute and communicating openly about the college with the communities that care about Goshen College,” said Jones. “I believe, with Dr. Brenneman, that the world will benefit from the values that Goshen College has to share, and that there are individuals and organizations who will be excited about joining those who already support the college’s life changing, and world changing, mission.

In addition to holding a degree from Berea College, Jones also studied at Lexington Theological Seminary. He and his wife Amy, who holds a master’s degree in special education, have four children.

- By Rachel Lapp

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.