GDC LEADERSHIP
CJ Jones, LCSW
Chief Operations Officer
Leadership That Makes Space for People to Keep Growing
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, educator, supervisor, and Chief Operations Officer at GDC. Across my work, I have remained especially interested in the people who spend their careers caring for, teaching, advocating for, and supporting others.
My clinical background is grounded in trauma-informed practice, social justice, identity, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and communities of color. Those experiences have shaped the way I think about leadership and operations as well. The systems surrounding helping professionals matter. Workplace culture matters. Representation and belonging matter. And the people doing emotionally demanding work need environments that allow them to remain whole while doing it.
At GDC, I bring that perspective into operational leadership, clinician support, program development, and the continued work of creating structures that help our team and the communities we serve grow sustainably.
& Educator
Consultant
Areas of Expertise
Clinician & Supervisor Sustainability
Helping professionals routinely carry significant emotional and relational responsibility. I am passionate about helping clinicians and supervisors develop practices, boundaries, support systems, and professional environments that make meaningful work more sustainable.
My approach considers both individual wellbeing and the organizational conditions that influence burnout, professional growth, connection, and longevity.
LGBTQ+ & BIPOC Inclusion and Belonging
My clinical, leadership, and community experiences have given me a particular interest in how organizations support people across race, gender, sexuality, and intersecting identities.
I help move conversations beyond representation alone by considering the policies, practices, relationships, communication, and culture that influence whether people genuinely experience inclusion and belonging.
Trauma-Informed & Social Justice Practice
Extensive trauma training and clinical work continue to shape the way I understand people and systems.
I approach this work through an eclectic and social justice-oriented lens, considering not only individual experiences but also the environments, identities, power structures, and systemic conditions that influence wellbeing.
Program Development & Systems Evaluation
I bring a people-centered lens to the development and strengthening of programs, particularly those serving clinicians, helping professionals, LGBTQ+ communities, communities of color, and other populations navigating systemic barriers.
I am particularly interested in helping organizations build programs that are thoughtful about who they serve, how people experience the service, and what is necessary for meaningful participation and sustainability.
“Over time, that work also deepened my interest in the wellbeing of clinicians, supervisors, and other helping professionals.”
Supporting the People Who Support Others
Much of my professional work has centered on people navigating complex systems, demanding roles, and identities that are not always fully understood or supported within the environments around them.
Clinically, I have worked extensively through a trauma-informed and social justice lens, with particular attention to LGBTQ+ individuals, clients of color, and people whose experiences sit at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.
Helping professions ask people to be consistently present for the needs, crises, growth, and healing of others. Without intentional support, that responsibility can become difficult to sustain. I believe organizations have an important role in creating environments where helping professionals can develop their skills, receive meaningful supervision, maintain boundaries, experience belonging, and continue doing important work without losing themselves in the process.
That belief influences how I approach clinical work, supervision, education, organizational leadership, and my role at GDC centering hope.
Professional Background
My professional experience spans clinical practice, supervision, education, organizational leadership, nonprofit service, residential treatment and shelter environments, and higher education.
I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Social Work from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where I am also completing my doctoral education toward an Ed.D.
My work as an educator and supervisor has become an important extension of my clinical practice. I have served as a practicum experience supervisor since 2021 and as an adjunct instructor since 2022, supporting developing professionals as they strengthen their clinical judgment, professional identity, and ability to navigate the realities of helping work.
My leadership experience has also included service beyond clinical settings. From 2021 through 2023, I served as a board member and chaired the Recruitment, Inclusion, and Partnerships Committee for the St. Louis Anti-Violence Project. From 2023 through 2026, I served as a national advisory committee member for the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
These experiences have strengthened my understanding of how representation, inclusion, organizational structure, and thoughtful program development can influence whether people simply gain access to a space or genuinely experience belonging within it.
Education
Teaching & Supervision
Leadership & Community Service
What Guides My Work
“I believe meaningful support begins with recognizing that people do not experience their lives, identities, workplaces, or communities in separate pieces.”
Trauma, race, gender, sexuality, professional identity, community, power, and access can all influence how someone experiences a space and whether that space feels safe enough for them to participate fully.
That is why my work is grounded in both trauma-informed practice and social justice.
I am especially interested in what happens when we move beyond simply inviting people into existing systems and begin asking whether those systems were designed to support them in the first place.
That question matters in clinical care, supervision, education, organizational culture, and leadership.
It also shapes my commitment to helping the helpers. Clinicians, supervisors, educators, advocates, and other helping professionals need more than resilience. They need thoughtful systems, meaningful community, strong supervision, opportunities for growth, and permission to remain people while doing work that can ask so much of them.
My goal is to help create environments where people can contribute meaningfully, continue developing, and sustain themselves in the process.
Pathways of Support
My role at GDC allows me to bring together clinical experience, supervision, education, operations, and a commitment to creating more sustainable and inclusive environments for helping professionals.
Clinician & Supervisor Support
Learning and development experiences designed to strengthen professional growth, reflective practice, supervision, boundaries, and sustainability for people doing emotionally demanding work.
Professional Development
Interactive education focused on trauma-informed practice, identity, inclusion, belonging, clinician wellbeing, and the realities of helping professions.
Organizational Consultation
Collaborative support for organizations examining LGBTQ+ and BIPOC inclusion, belonging, workplace practices, team culture, and the experiences of people navigating multiple marginalized identities.
Program Development & Systems Evaluation
Support for the creation or strengthening of programs that are responsive, inclusive, sustainable, and grounded in the needs of the people they are intended to serve.
Beyond the Work
I am a lifelong learner, and reading remains one of my favorite ways to stay curious, encounter new ideas, and continue expanding the way I understand people and the world around me.
Movement is another important part of my life. Whether I am biking or running, I appreciate the opportunity to reconnect with myself through movement and time away from the demands of professional life.
I also value creativity and intentionally look for opportunities to cultivate it. Learning, movement, and creativity each give me different ways to remain curious, grounded, and connected beyond my professional roles.