Michele S. Jones is the Vice President of Training with Civility Management Solutions, LLC to provide leadership training, professional and personal development, diversity and inclusion training, youth development workshops and family leadership training. She is a highly sought after powerful and engaging motivational speaker.

Previously she was appointed under the Obama Administration as a member of the Senior Executive Service from July 2009-December 2012. She held several key positions during her appointment throughout federal agencies. She served as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense White House Liaison. Her responsibilities included management of the Department of Defense staffing, recruitment, vetting and clearance process for political sensitive positions, boards, and commission appointments.

She was the Principal DoD contact with the Presidential Personnel Office, White House Military Office and the Principal DoD liaison for the White House Political Affairs Office, the White House Intergovernmental Affairs, and the President’s Council on Women and Girls. Ms. Jones conducted special projects as determined by the Offices of the President, Vice President, First Lady, and other White House Agencies.

She also served as the Special Assistant and Senior Advisor to both the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) and the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness). Her responsibilities included advising on the development of an implementation strategy for organizational efficiency, providing leadership, strategic thinking, and advice on approaches and opportunities to support Veterans, Wounded Warrior Programs and military family employment. During this time, she was selected for a special detail to the United States Office of Personnel Management and served as a Co-Lead for the President’s Veteran’s Employment Initiative and the First Lady’s Military Families Initiative.

Michele was appointed as the newly created Director of External Veterans/Military Affairs and Community Outreach developing strategies, operational plans, policies and issued pertinent guidelines and instructions for recruiting, hiring, and retaining veterans and military spouses to over 200+ private sector companies in support of the President’s Veterans Employment Initiative and the First Lady’s Military Families Initiative. She worked in concert with the White House on the President’s challenge to the private sector to hire 100,000 Veterans specializing and creating innovative relationships with non-traditional entities educating on the multiple aspects and dimensions of veterans and the military family.

Additionally, she served as the United States Office of Personnel Management liaison and representative on the First Lady’s Joining Forces Initiative. She worked jointly with other agencies in continuing the progress of implementing the President’s Executive Order on Veterans Employment in the federal government.

In her military career, she was the 9^th Command Sergeant Major (CSM) of the Army Reserve from October 2002 through August 2006. She retired on March 1, 2007, after 25 years of service in both the active and reserve component.

She distinguished herself as being the first woman selected as class president at the United States Sergeants Major Academy (Class 48), the first woman to serve as a division Command Sergeant Major, and culminating as the first woman to serve as the CSM of any of the Army’s Components, Active or Reserve. Prior to her retirement, she held the highest Non-commissioned Officer position of any woman in the Army.

A career Soldier, Ms. Jones held many positions of leadership responsibility from squad leader, section leader, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant, and Command Sergeant Major. She has served during every major contingency operation including – Operations Desert Shield/Storm, Restore Hope, Provide Comfort, Joint Endeavor, Nobel Eagle, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. She toured extensively throughout Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Uzbekistan.

Some of her awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Parachutist Badge, German Army Forces Airborne Wings, and Royal Thai Airborne Wings.

Ms. Jones has been featured in multiple newspapers and magazines around the world, including Ebony, Jet and was highlighted in Essence Magazine’s Anniversary Edition as 1 of 35 of the World’s Most Remarkable Women. She has appeared on the nationally syndicated Tavis Smiley Show, Black Entertainment Television (BET), Steve Harvey Morning Show, and numerous radio stations. Additionally, she has served as a panelist at several universities across the nation and at the “Women Shaping the World Summit” in New York City.

Ms. Jones has received a multitude of honors and special recognition. She was inducted in the Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame and received an Honorary Doctorate degree from National Louis University, Chicago, Illinois in 2014. Her military history is featured at the Women in Service Memorial in Washington, D.C. and her oral history is published on “The HistoryMakers” website and is stored in the National Archives. Additionally in 2012, she was chosen as celebrity contestant in the “Funniest Celebrity in Washington” covered by Time Magazine, USA Today, CNN, and the Washington Post. She received the National Congress of Black Women’s “Shirley Chisholm Trailblazer Award” 2011.

Ms. Jones was selected to serve as the Army’s representative as a featured panelist for Major League Baseball’s Annual Civil Rights Panel in 2010. Additionally, she was honored by the Atlanta City Council for Women’s Equality Day for military service. In 2009, she received both the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Inc., Spirit of Democracy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ford Foundation’s Freedom’s Sister Award, and the Fullwood Foundation’s President’s Award. She was selected to speak at the Democratic National Convention and served as a surrogate speaker, throughout the country, during the Presidential campaign for then Senator Barack Obama. She is the 2005 recipient of the NAACP Meritorious Service Award, the only enlisted service member to receive the award in the NAACP history.

She continues to serve the community, youth, and the elderly through her company, and partnership with a multitude of organizations. She has spoken to over 45,000 middle and high school students in the U.S. and abroad. She is a facilitator for the Family Leadership Institute- conducting workshops to help parents become leaders in their homes and iShine, a 3-5 day program for at-risk girls. She serves as an advocate and ambassador for women, veterans, homeless veterans, and organizations that share in her commitment to serve.

Ms. Jones has a Bachelor of Science Degree (Cum Laude) in Business Administration from Fayetteville State University, a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina. Additionally, she is a member of numerous advisory boards across the country.