Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Jones
Hi Kristina , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Being a single mother, raising two gorgeous girls, I have been and still am terrified of the different things that my girls may (or may not) have to experience in life. In 2019 while I was still living in Fort Smith, Arkansas I remember crying to my mom one evening about all of the different things I was hearing that was going on in the local schools on top of the story I had just watched on the news about a young girl losing her life at school after being bullied in the bathroom. Not only things that my girls were dealing with, but even other students–those that I don’t even know. I cried to her asking for advice on what to do because I want to protect my girls and others. Together we decided to put together a small group, just to mentor young girls and talk about all of the things that was going on in their lives. I made a flyer, posted it, and the next day I was overwhelmed with the response, so I went back to my mom and was like “hey, it’s much bigger than a small group, we have to re-strategize!” It was such an amazing feeling knowing that other parents read my post and felt the exact same way I did. At that time, my mother worked at the Sebastian County Health Department in which they graciously donated their building to us to use on a Saturday morning, and that is how #YouCanSitWithUs Young Girls Conference was born. The mission of #YCSWU is to educate and inspire our youth through educational conferences to cultivate kindness, friendship, and excellence. Each conference is designed to discuss topics like bullying, mental health, internet safety, human trafficking, sexual abuse, and more. These conferences are intended to provide a safe space to discuss these topics that is all inclusive, informative, full of compassion, and full of love. We are a traveling conference, so each city we visit, we look for local guest speakers, volunteers, and vendors to help execute the conferences. We do it this way because the goal is to form connections, meet like-minded people, and build a phenomenal village of support. After our first conference in 2019 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, we did our second conference in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Moving forward, we were geared up to do our third conference in 2020 (in Fort Smith) but we were going to do it co-ed style. The conference was set on a Saturday, and the world shut down the Friday before due to COVID. Due to the cancellation, we conducted an online conference instead. After that, we were silent for a while until 2024 when we got our call back to action and conducted our 4th conference in Fort Worth, Texas. At this time, we have a reunion conference scheduled back in Fort Smith, Arkansas at the end of October, however, we do have cities in line for conferences such as Houston, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Lake Tahoe, Fayetteville, Dallas, and Keller.
We also launched our #YouCanSitWithUs Ambassador program which is led by my oldest daughter. This is a great way to get more youth involved and encouraged to get out there and be kind and showing others that kindness is actually pretty cool.
Being that I am not a 501c3 yet, all of the above has mostly been self-funded. I do ask for in-kind donations to help alleviate my cost for the event. I am working on becoming an actual nonprofit.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Honestly, this normally comes together to easily because I have not met a person who does not relate, or no someone who can relate to one, a few, or all of the topics that we discuss at each conference. We market for the conference to be ages 11-17, however, every conference has had girls from a little younger all the way up to 18. Every person who I reach out to and ask for assistance has always given me a teary eyed YES, because they can relate, or their daughter or sister can.
The toughest part of this is gathering the funds to pay for the items that are not donated, such as the t-shirts for the youth, and sometimes the venue. It varies per city, however, naturally since this originated in Fort Smith, Arkansas, that location has the lowest output of money to execute the conference.
Nonetheless, the only thing that has stopped a conference from happening was COVID.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am in Healthcare Marketing, working for Hurst Nursing and Rehab as the Director of Marketing and Admissions. I absolutely LOVE working in marketing, and especially in healthcare because I get a chance to make an impact each day with my families and residents.
Professionally, I am most proud of my education, which I believe shows that I like a challenge, and I don’t back down from much. I have my Bachelor of Science, specialization of Organizational Leadership, I have my MBA, Academic Practitioner, I have my Master of Philosophy, and I am currently in pursuant of my PhD in Management with a concentration of Leadership and Organizational Strategy.
I think what sets me apart from others is probably my passion for the vulnerable. I love our youth, and I love our seniors. They are the most abused, the ones whom voices are often silenced, and the ones who sometimes suffer alone. I have a passion to ensure that they don’t, and I know for sure the ones I come in contact with (both youth and seniors) leave me happier than when they met me.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In terms of my professional life, the healthcare industry spins in circles and is going nowhere real fast. The only differences I see happening is more AI involvement, and intensifying issues with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, but that is a conversation for another time.
In terms of #YouCanSitWithUs, I pray that in the next 5-10 years we are thriving, and I am able to work for myself, traveling the country (even world) to educate and inspire our youth. This would be an amazing legacy to pass on to my daughters.
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