Dr. Tiffany Jones will be joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as its deputy director of measurement, learning and evaluation. Formerly the senior director of higher education policy at The Education Trust, Jones has spent four years at the national nonprofit for higher education reform, advocating for students of color and students from low-income families.
In her new position, Jones is most excited to go back into “student mode.”
As an advocacy organization, “what we’re able to do in my work at EdTrust is use good data to make the case that something’s wrong, and, over time, it’s been great to watch people receive that message and want to act in response,” she said.
At the same time, she wants to do a “deep dive” into questions like, “What is it specifically that we need systems and institutions to do? How might that look different depending on the type of institution and the types of students they serve?” she added. “… The examples of what’s working and for who it’s working are just too thin in terms of my personal understanding and development.”
Through her research at the Gates Foundation – which invests in colleges trying new strategies to close opportunity gaps – Jones wants to take another step toward those answers.
Her transition is bittersweet for her colleagues.
“Tiffany is a champion,” said Satra Taylor, manager of higher education justice initiatives at The Education Trust and formerly an intern under Jones. “Tiffany has foresight and vision that I have not seen before. Her ability to connect pieces and dots across disciplines, across organizations, for a higher purpose is impeccable.”
