Peter
Lawson Jones is a Renaissance man who continually reinvents himself to
achieve the most out of life while serving others.
In 2002, Jones became a member of the Cuyahoga County
Board of County Commissioners in Cleveland and is the only African-American
county commissioner in Ohio. He previously served in the Ohio House of
Representatives, where he was the ranking member of the House Finance
and Appropriations Committee, and as vice mayor and city councilman in
Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Jones returned to local government to garner greater
influence by representing Ohio’s largest county. His political base
went from 130,000 to more than 1.3 million people, says Jones, who may
one day run for governor of Ohio.
A native of Cleveland, Jones excelled in high school,
which enabled him to attend and graduate from Harvard College and Harvard
Law School.
Peter Lawson Jones
Afterward, he worked as a law clerk with the Supreme Court
of Ohio, in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and for the
1976 Carter/Mondale presidential campaign. Other positions in the legal arena
include having served as special counsel for the Ohio Attorney General’s
Office and associate bar examiner for the Supreme Court of Ohio.
"In
all you do, strive to leave the world a better place for your having
been here."
Jones is a partner with Roetzel & Andress law firm. He
serves on the board of directors for the County Commissioners Association of
Ohio and is chairman of its Urban Counties Committee. Jones also is an executive
committee member of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and serves on the board
of trustees of Miami (Ohio) University and the Cleveland Leadership Center.
He is also passionate about his work on fatherhood issues. Indeed, he is considered
the “father” of both the Ohio Fatherhood Commission and the Cuyahoga
County Fatherhood Initiative, both of which seek to help low-income, noncustodial
fathers achieve employment and parenting skills.
Jones has received numerous honors and awards for his achievements,
including the Association of Black Psychologists Community Service Award and
the National Organization of African Americans in Housing Chairman’s
Award.
A love for theater inspires Jones’ playwrighting
abilities. His play, The Family Line, has been produced at Karamu Performing
Arts Theatre and at Harvard and Ohio Universities.
He tells young people: "In all you do, strive to leave the world a better
place for your having been here."
