Brianna Jones will graduate later this month with a bachelor’s degree in social work and then begin a full-time position with United Cerebral Palsy Heartland. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

Briana Jones exemplifies the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ mission to transform lives. During her time at the university, she has pursued her passion, dedicating herself to academics and campus life, while also gracefully navigating unexpected challenges.

Jones has been deeply involved with the Student Social Work Association, where she currently serves as president, and participated in Pride Alliance. Her work in the classroom helped her earn a merit scholarship, and this spring, her work outside of it helped her win the 2024 UMSL Student Leadership Award for Outstanding Service to the Community.

Having completed two practicum experiences with LinkStL and the North Newstead Association, Jones will graduate later this month with a bachelor’s degree in social work and then begin a full-time position with United Cerebral Palsy Heartland. In that role, she’ll work with individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities in the organization’s day program.

“It’s really rewarding to see that all of my hard work is coming together,” Jones said. “I’m also full of gratitude because I didn’t get here by myself. It didn’t happen in a silo. I’ve had a lot of people, like friends and family, who have supported me through this. It just feels very rewarding to be able to do this for myself, but also to honor and thank everybody who helped me get here.”

Jones grew up in the southwestern region of the state between two small towns, Nevada, Missouri, and El Dorado Springs, Missouri. From a young age, she showed a propensity for serving others.

“I’ve always been driven toward working with people,” Jones said. “When I was younger, I actually wanted to be an elementary art teacher, but then over time, that kind of changed. I thought, ‘Well, how can I make a big impact?’ Regardless if I was an elementary teacher or working in social services, I feel like both of those involve guiding, supporting and inspiring others.”

After graduating from El Dorado Springs High School, she began working full-time for Preferred Family Healthcare while pursuing an associate degree at Crowder College. The health care provider offers mental health and substance use disorder services as well as assistance for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The position would foreshadow her undergraduate work at UMSL.

The Office of Student Involvement hosted the 2024 Student Leadership Awards Banquet in April. Brianna Jones accepted the award for Outstanding Service to the Community at the celebration.

At Crowder, introductory courses in social work and criminal justice piqued Jones’ interest in a future career in social work. However, as she worked toward her degree, she dropped out of classes for a couple years as she tried to strike the right balance between school and work before eventually resuming her schooling.

“I feel motivated to channel all of those hardships into positive change for other people,” she said. “I took the phrase ‘be the change you wish to see’ very seriously. I’m going to apply that.”

Jones was able to do just that at UMSL. Its reputation as a Tier 1 research university combined with its affordable, flexible courses were major selling points for her. She was also eager to experience a new environment beyond the rural surroundings of her youth.

The School of Social Work offered a welcoming home for Jones in a new city. The faculty and staff embraced her with open arms, particularly Senior Academic Advisor Tchule Moore and Associate Teaching Professor Diane O’Brien, whom she described as beacons of support throughout her time at UMSL.

“I feel like my experience has fostered a big impact on my personal and professional growth,” she said. “I look back from where I started to where I am now, and I can just see noticeable changes in how I see myself, how I see others, how I see the world. I was able to affirm my values, my beliefs that I already had, but have a better understanding of who I am and who I’m becoming. I get to see that same personal and professional growth in other people that are graduating, too.”

Indeed, UMSL’s mission is to transform lives, but change is not a one-way street. Passionate members of the UMSL community, like Jones, impact the university and the St. Louis region every day. She’s primarily done that through her work with the Student Social Workers Association.

Initially, she joined the SSWA as a regular member and then assumed leadership roles within the organization, including the Student Government Association representative and president. She has organized volunteer opportunities and social events and, in the process, become a familiar face on campus.

“As the President of the Student Social Work Association, Brianna was an outstanding leader on campus,” Moore said. “She is deeply passionate about serving others within and beyond the university community. Brianna spearheaded the Feed the People project in collaboration with UMSL Sustainability, and her efforts earned her the Outstanding Service to the Community Award at the 2024 Student Leadership Awards. Throughout her time at UMSL, Brianna has gained valuable experiences that promise a bright future as a social worker.”

Feed the People is a seed starter initiative that aims to grow and give away as many food plants as possible. The collaborative effort also earned a 2024 UMSL Student Leadership Award for Most Impactful Program and Best Overall Program.

The SSWA has helped Jones sharpen practical skills such as event planning, interpersonal communication, public speaking and time management, which in turn, have informed her professional practice in the social work program.

During the summer and fall semester, she split her required practicum hours between two local social service agencies, LinkStL and the North Newstead Association. The former is a community organization focused on connecting residents of north St. Louis to resources and opportunities in the city, while the latter is a community organization aimed at supporting north St. Louis residents via affordable, reliable housing, community building programs and economic development opportunities.

The internships have provided valuable real-world experience, but they haven’t been without their challenges. At LinkStL, Jones was set to serve as a caseworker with families in the organization’s summer camp program. However, a burst pipe flooded the organization’s headquarters leading to the cancellation of the program. The upheaval continued when the executive director resigned shortly after Jones came aboard. The unexpected circumstances led to her assisting with many high-level tasks as the search for new leadership began. At the North Newstead Association, she has mostly worked on community engagement programming such as neighborhood cleanup events and active seniors programs.

“I do a range of different things to support those efforts,” Jones said. “I wear many hats, but they all fit.”

Throughout her time in the School of Social Work, she’s learned the value in approaching new situations, even the challenging ones, with positivity and understanding.

“I think the main thing is to look for the good in humanity and everybody,” she said. “Sometimes, because we’re people, we make quick judgments about others who we might or might not know. We say, ‘Oh, this person’s just an addict.’ But you also have to look at the whole person and situation, even if you don’t understand it, even if you don’t have firsthand or secondhand experience with it.”

After graduation, Jones will embark on her new career with United Cerebral Palsy Heartland, but she has big plans for the future. She intends to pursue an MBA with an emphasis in nonprofit management at University of Missouri–Kansas City and apply all she’s learned in a leadership position.

“I see myself as a director of programming, so not anything crazy like a CEO, but right in the middle where I can be doing multiple things and creating programs that help change on a community level,” she said. “My feedback from my first practicum, my supervisor said that I have the qualities of an executive director. That was a huge confidence boost. So, no matter what my job title is, I see myself in a leadership position well after graduation.”