Meet Patricia Jones

The mission of the Women’s Leadership Institute is to elevate the stature of female leadership in the state of Utah. The organization was formed in January, 2015 through the visionary efforts of key business leaders to address Utah’s deficiencies in the presence of women at top levels of corporate and political leadership.

Jones was tapped as CEO because of her background and expertise in the business and political worlds as well as her ability to engage, collaborate and lead.

As co-founder and former President of Dan Jones & Associates, a successful public opinion and market research firm for 35 years, Jones helped lead and manage the company while serving on numerous community and company boards. Jones is an experienced and highly-regarded researcher, specializing in qualitative research, having conducted hundreds of focus groups throughout the country for a variety of industries since 1980.

Senator Jones served in the Utah Legislature for 14 years, serving in leadership positions 12 of those years. She was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 2000-2006 and was elected to the Utah Senate in 2006-2014, serving eight years there, including serving as the first female leader in either party and in either House. While in the Utah Legislature, Jones was a member of various committees, including Public Education, Higher Education, Health and Human Services, Judiciary, Economic Development, Law Enforcement, Government Operations and Executive Appropriations.

A University of Utah graduate in Communications (magna cum laude), Jones currently serves on the Utah Board of Regents, National Education Association Foundation Board, the Salt Lake Chamber Executive Board, Zions Bank Advisory Board, Chair of Intermountain Healthcare Community Care Foundation, Dominion Energy Advisory Board, Chair of Governor’s Education Excellence Commission, Silicon Slopes Board, Chair of Mental Health Working Group for the Board of Regents, a Commissioner on the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, Garff Foundation Success in Education Board, Utah Commission on Financial and Economic Education, and on the National Advisory Board of the University of Utah School of Dentistry.

Jones has served on the boards of United Way of Salt Lake, Zions Bank Women’s Financial Group, Utah Symphony and Opera, St. Mark’s Hospital, Hale Centre Theatre, Columbus Community Center, University of Utah Alumni Association, Coalition for People with Disabilities, This is the Place State Park, Utah Commission on Aging, and the Coalition for the Understanding of Substance Abuse Disease.

Pat Jones’ interests are many, but she prefers to move rather than sit. She enjoys exercising, biking, skiing, playing pickleball, tennis, watching sports (especially basketball and football), reading, politics, cooking, having fun with her children and grandchildren and traveling. Her least favorite thing to do is to wait in long lines.