GUEST SPEAKER

Helen Jones-Kelley, JD
Director, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

Helen Jones-Kelley is a licensed attorney. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School of Law, her Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary English Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and received graduate training there in the fields of Sociology and Gerontology.

After twenty years of service with Montgomery County, Ohio, Governor Ted Strickland appointed her to his cabinet in January 2007, as the director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Service. She oversees an $18 billion dollar budget and 4,500 staff and administers the state's Public Assistance, Child Protection, Child Support Enforcement, Medicaid, Adult Protective Services and Workforce Development Programs.

She has received several honors over the course of her career, including being selected as one of the Top Ten Women in Dayton in 1996 and one of the Top Ten African American Women in 2002. She was featured in Essence Magazine in June 1997.

PLENARY SPEAKER

Brother Raymond L. Fitz, S.M.
Ferree Professor of Social Justice

Brother Raymond L. Fitz, S.M. was the longest-serving president in the University of Dayton's history. He stepped down from his position after 23 years in June 2002 and now works in the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community as the Ferree Professor of Social Justice. This position works to connect Catholic social teaching and the social sciences thruogh the community-building mission of the Center.

In the region, Brother Ray facilitates participation, collaboration and learning while embracing the difficult problems of poverty and other social ills. He serves on the executive committee and school readiness committee of Montgomery County's Family and Children First Council, which is working to create a seamless human services system.

Brother Raymond L. Fitz, S.M. entered the Society of Mary, a Roman Catholic religious order, and began his studies at the University of Dayton in 1960. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University in New York.