Sonya Pryor-Jones

Sonya Pryor-Jones serves as the Chief for Youth and Family Success for the 58th Mayor of Cleveland, Justin Bibb. Her portfolio focuses on improving the quality of life of residents from birth through aging. This includes the city’s partnerships with the early childhood sector, Out of School Time (OST), and the city’s departments of Aging and Prevention, Intervention, and Opportunity. As a member of the mayor’s cabinet, Sonya is also responsible for violence prevention strategies including serving as chair of the Neighborhood Safety Fund, and oversight of Cleveland Thrive, the city’s violence prevention network funded by the Department of Justice. Before joining Mayor Bibb’s administration, Sonya served as the Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at MIT’s Fab Foundation, a Boston-based non-profit focused on technology and digital fabrication. While there, Sonya managed a $10M partnership with Chevron to support STEM learning across the U.S. She also launched a mobile STEM education program for over 6,000 students with the Boston Celtics, The GE Foundation, and Boston area schools. She secured $2.5M in funding to launch an online platform, professional development program for K-12 educators, and a new program to establish fab labs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Sonya was the inaugural Director for the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood at the Sisters of Charity Foundation. Prior, she was the executive director of the STEM public-private partnership, MC2 STEM Hub, and was charged with promoting and amplifying STEM education in Northeast Ohio. This effort secured over $3.5M in funds; led to the design and opening of two STEM high schools; and supported over a dozen STEM programs.

A Cleveland native from the Glenville neighborhood and a graduate of Cleveland public schools, Sonya earned a master’s degree in education from Cleveland State University and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Kenyon College. Sonya was a CORO Executive Fellow at the Cleveland Foundation, a German Marshall Memorial Fellow, and a 2016 White House Champion of Change. Sonya also serves as the board chair for a new nonprofit committed to serving communities of color through technology, Mantles and Makers Inc., and recently completed her appointment as a trustee for Kenyon College.