Jocelyn Arnold

Jocelyn Arnold

Jocelyn Jones Arnold holds a deep and unique expertise in the
philanthropic, nonprofit, and local government sectors. Throughout
her three decades of professional experience, Jocelyn served as
program staff at the Philadelphia Foundation, Trustee and Board
Chair of the Valentine Foundation, Assistant Director of Pembroke
Philanthropy Advisors, the first Development Director of Mural Arts
Philadelphia, and Deputy Director for the City of Philadelphia’s Office
of Recovery & Grants. In this role, Jocelyn has facilitated broad and
diverse collaborations among City agencies and community partners
that led to the City obtaining more than $150 million in public &
private investments, grant awards, and federal designations. These
include the first of President Obama’s 10-year Promise Zone
designations for West Philadelphia, management of a three-year
federal grant, and partnership between the Philadelphia Police
Department, the School District of Philadelphia, and local criminal
justice partners which led to an unprecedented 71% decrease in the
Philadelphia’s school-to-prison pipeline, and a $22M grant from
FEMA that enabled the Philadelphia Fire Department to hire 168 new
firefighter positions.

Jocelyn is a skilled communicator and cross-sector connector whose
areas of expertise include: Racial equity, social & economic justice,
development & fundraising, grantmaking & philanthropy, community
empowerment, arts & culture, criminal & Juvenile justice reform,
women and girls (gender oppressed, LGBTQ & trans), civic
engagement, and multi-sector partnerships. Jocelyn is also an
historian and genealogist who loves nothing more than digging
through her family archives to uncover stories of their bravery,
struggles, and triumphs. Her passion was sparked by the recent
discovery of her 4th great-grandfather, Jerthro Jones (1733 – 1828) a
free African-American master toolmaker who served six years of
honorable service in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary
War. Her research into her ancestry gives her an unending sense of
strength and pride and her fascination with their perseverance fuels
her desire to share untold stories of Black Americans and Indigenous
peoples with the world.

Jocelyn is a trustee of the Gender Justice Fund, a board member of
the Philadelphia Histories Collaborative, and member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution’s (DAR’s), Flag House Chapter
at Betsy Ross House and Col. Timothy Bigelow Chapter in Worcester,
MA.