Pamela Sims Jones
Pamela Sims Jones, of Trenton, N.J., fellow of The John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy and director of Leadership Trenton at Thomas Edison State University, was appointed by Mayor Douglas H. Palmer as co-chair of the Complete Count Committee (CCC) to prepare for the 2010 census.
Sims Jones will co-chair this grassroots effort that will map out plans to achieve the goal of an accurate 2010 census count of Trenton residents with Roberto Hernandez, program director of El Centro Recursos Para Familias. The timeline runs from February 2010, when questionnaires will be distributed, through Census Day on April 1, 2010. The committee, which will consist of approximately 40 representatives from many of the ancestral groups and historic neighborhoods of Trenton, will be charged with developing ways to effectively reach out to those communities to ensure their involvement.
“Kudos to Pam for being selected by Mayor Palmer to lead the city’s grassroots effort to ensure an accurate 2010 census” said Barbara George Johnson, acting deputy director of the Watson Institute. “Collection of accurate information is key to the survival of cities, which depend on federal funding. Furthermore, census data informs the federal process as old funding formulas are reviewed and new ones proposed to address the needs of our citizens. This is exactly the type of project that Leadership Trenton alumni and fellows should be engaged in, and I am elated to see that the Mayor recognizes LT’s work, impact and connection.”
In making the announcement, Mayor Palmer noted that Trenton has more than 40 ancestral groups, ranging from the Eastern European and Polish communities in the North Ward to the highly diverse sub-Saharan African and Latino populations. He challenged Sims Jones and Hernandez to consider creative ways to involve all of those communities in helping people complete the census questionnaire, so that the city’s population is fully counted.
“I am very humbled and excited about the opportunity to co-chair Trenton’s Complete Count Committee for the 2010 census,” Sims Jones said. “I look forward to working with Roberto again - we are both 2002 Leadership Trenton graduates. We have the opportunity to galvanize community, civic, ecumenical and nonprofit organizations in an effort to provide a complete census count of Trenton’s citizens. We also have the assistance of the Philadelphia Regional Census Center of the U.S. Census Bureau in conducting an efficient and representative census.”
Sims Jones, who has worked at the University for more than six years, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Allegheny College. In addition to her work with Thomas Edison State University, Sims Jones serves as a member of the Bellevue Area Civic Association, Fourth Estate Newspaper Editorial Board (Mercer County), chair of the Beyond Diversity Resource Center’s Board of Trustees (Mt. Laurel), and chair of the Executive Advisory Board of the New Jersey Coretta Scott King Humanitarian Group.
Toni M. Terry, BA