Nona C. Jones
Community Relations Director
Nona Jones was appointed Community Relations Director of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) in April 2008. She is responsible for maintaining positive relationships with GRU’s customer groups and various community organizations. She accomplishes this by participating in a wide variety of community organizations, seizing opportunities to invest GRU’s resources to address community needs, and working with Organizational Development to ensure a diverse workforce.
Nona acts as GRU’s official representative to the community and provides guidance to her executive colleagues on how GRU may enhance service delivery to a very diverse consumer population. During her time with the company, she developed and implemented GRU’s first Community Relations Strategy and led a community coalition initiative to place a science lab in Metcalfe Elementary School. She has also developed and implemented a number of signature GRU programs to connect GRU with the community including the Community Energy Fair, Community Meeting & Luncheon, and Faith EmPOWERment Month.
Prior to joining GRU, Nona managed Community Relations for Nationwide Insurance Florida Operations. In this role, she was responsible for maintaining positive community relations between Nationwide and six major cities throughout the state of Florida, including Gainesville, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, and Tallahassee. She invested more than $600,000 into the community during her tenure and garnered six major awards for the company.
Nona’s community involvement includes leadership on the PACE Center for Girls of Alachua Board of Directors, East Gainesville Development Corporation Board of Directors, East Gainesville Relay for Life Steering Committee, and the City of Gainesville Affirmative Action Committee. Her additional board service includes the PACE Center for Girls Board of Trustees, Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, the United Way of North Central Florida, and the AvMed Health Plans Community Advisory Board.
She is a member of the Rotary Club of Gainesville, Leadership Gainesville Alumni Association, and the Gainesville Women’s Forum. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications and a Master of Business Administration, both from the University of Florida. She has also studied public relations strategies through the Harvard Business School Executive Education program. She is married to Timothy L. Jones and expecting their first child, Timothy L. Jones, Jr., in May of 2010.
