They say actions speak louder than words.
Not her words.
Kari Jones' written work has been featured in publications such as NYLON, Ishmael Reed's Konch magazine, National Nurse magazine, Metro Times Detroit, and the Detroit News, and her awards include the International Labor Communications Association's Max Steinbock highest single award for journalistic excellence, and honorable mention in the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)'s national intro journals project. She holds a BA in English/creative writing from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, and an MA in English/creative writing from Detroit's Wayne State University. She also attended University of Oregon’s MFA fiction program and spent time writing and performing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
For the greater part of a decade, Kari has wrangled words and media for the largest union of registered nurses in the United States, National Nurses United (NNU). She currently works to elevate the voice of NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, writing speeches, national op-eds (Teen Vogue, USA Today), award-winning blog posts, and other executive communications. In her work with NNU, she has deployed across the United States to cover labor issues, stood with volunteer nurses at Standing Rock, covered nurse protests in El Paso demanding an end to family separation at the border, and ridden a bus across country for months at a time covering the 2016 election. Her past work includes consulting on organizational communications for global education nonprofit ISKME, helping an environmental education nonprofit revise its communications strategy, and spending way too many years in grad school. In her 20s, she also served as a prototype for Mad Men's Peggy Olson while writing ad copy for Ford Motor Company.
An activist at heart, Kari has volunteered her own time to causes that are meaningful to her, including co-producing and running media for a 500-person rally on the steps of Oakland, California's city hall, dedicated to ending sexual violence. She has also been dancing since age four, and when she isn't typing her way toward a better world, she can sometimes still be found on stage. Her performance work has been featured in Vice, the Huffington Post, Jezebel, San Francisco Weekly, and more.
Deploying to Standing Rock in December is no joke. Pro tip: record your interviews because the ink in your pen will freeze.
Running media for a Medicare for All rally, Los Angeles, CA.