PRESS RELEASE
-For Immediate Release-
September 10, 2008

Contact: Brian Gumm, (202) 683-4812, bgumm@ombwatch.org

David R. Jones Wins Award for Outstanding Public Interest Work in New York

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2008—OMB Watch is pleased to announce that David R. Jones, President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), has won a Public Interest Hall of Fame Award for his outstanding public interest work in New York. Jones is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Yale Law School.

The Public Interest Hall of Fame Awards are part of OMB Watch's year-long 25th Anniversary celebration and honor the "unsung heroes" who have made their mark in making the world a better place and will leave an important legacy. Public Interest Hall of Fame Award winners will be recognized at OMB Watch's 25th Anniversary event in Washington, DC, the evening of Sept. 17.

Under Jones' leadership, CSS launched "The Unheard Third," which is the nation's only regular public opinion survey that documents the concerns, attitudes, and hardships of low-income communities that are often ignored by mainstream pollsters. Mr. Jones also led CSS to establish the NYCWorks initiative as a result of the group's research into the limited employment prospects of African American and Latino men and young people. His peers nominated him for this award because he has put in a lifetime of work into fighting for "the little guy."

"I am honored to be recognized by OMB Watch," said Jones. "OMB Watch continues to have an extraordinary role in protecting democratic values in American society over the last 25 years. I look forward to continuing our partnership on behalf of the public interest, both locally and nationally."

Gary D. Bass, Executive Director of OMB Watch, offered his congratulations. "David has overcome recent personal hardships and has continued to fight valiantly for the rights and opportunities of low-income residents of New York City. While successfully launching programs and initiatives as the head of CSS, he has also chaired the board of directors of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a crucial organization for all of us who work in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. OMB Watch is overjoyed at being able to give David one of seven Public Interest Hall of Fame Awards."

The full list of award winners is available at /files/25th. There were roughly 100 nominees considered for the award. For more information about OMB Watch, see http://www.ombwatch.org/article/archive/250.

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David R. Jones Bio

David R. Jones is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that promotes economic advancement and full civic participation for low-income New Yorkers. Mr. Jones writes bi-weekly newspaper columns in the New York Amsterdam News and El Diario/La Prensa that serve to educate the public and government officials on issues of importance to minority and poor communities. Mr. Jones has led CSS since 1986. From 1983 to 1986, he served as Executive Director of the New York City Youth Bureau. He was Special Advisor to Mayor Koch from 1979 to 1983 with responsibilities in race relations, urban development, immigration reform, and education.

Mr. Jones was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to several commissions, including his transition committee. He is Vice Chair of the Advisory Board of New York City's Independent Budget Office and a board member of the Scherman Foundation. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Nation Institute and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a leading philanthropic watchdog organization. From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Jones was Chairman of the Board of Carver Federal Savings Bank, the largest African-American managed bank in the nation. He also served on the board of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and was Vice Chairman of the Primary Care Development Corporation, which finances health care programs and facilities in medically underserved communities.

While receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University, Mr. Jones interned for the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the Yale Law School in 1974, afterwards clerking for Judge Constance Baker Motley of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Jones was a recipient of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Prior to his nonprofit and public service careers, he specialized in corporate antitrust cases and contract litigation at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

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OMB Watch is a nonprofit government watchdog organization dedicated to promoting government accountability, citizen participation in public policy decisions, and the use of fiscal and regulatory policy to serve the public interest