Meet Brannon Jones | Author & Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brannon Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brannon, what are you inspired by?
Simply… My students! My students are the one thing that inspires me the most. Watching students that I have worked with create opportunities for themselves, persevere through adversity, and reach their goals provides and intrinsic value that is unrivaled. Guiding families through the college preparatory process is a passion and connects my work with an impactful purpose. Each year at our annual college fair, I pull students on stage who have received on the spot acceptance and scholarship offers. It’s my favorite part of of the event. I love celebrating the accomplishments of students in the community. In the last four years we have had 154 acceptances and $6.2 million in scholarship offers at our annual fair. It is moments like our annual fair, graduations, and awards nights that make all of the work worth it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am the author of the College Readiness 101 Workbook Series. This curriculum is designed to guide students from 8th grade to high school seniors on what they should do each year to prepare for post-secondary education. This series has made a tremendous impact on the college preparatory journey of students all over the country. I am most proud of receiving the 2019 Education Author of the Year for the series. In conjunction with the College Readiness 101 Workbook Series, I have released the College-Bound Parent Mini-Series. The most important person that can effect change in the outcome of a student’s journey is the parent. It is vital to educate the parents on the process and how to navigate it collaboratively with their child.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Pre-Covid, I would take my friends to listen to live music at Apache Cafe and attend a sporting event. The Battery would be a definite stop on the tour. That’s one of my favorite things to do. We would go eat at Nancy’s Pizza at the Camp Creek Marketplace and Gypsy Kitchen at the Shops of Buckead.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Next Step Education Foundation’s Board of Directors and hard working educators all over the country.

Website: www.collegereadiness101.com / www.nextstepeducation.org
Instagram: @collegereadiness101 / @nextstepeducation
Linkedin: Brannon Jones
Facebook: @collegereadiness101 / @NextStepEd

Image Credits
Ashley Strickland Hannah Cassimere Tori Sanders