Ingrid Saunders Jones papers

Ingrid Saunders Jones was born December 27, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan to Georgia and Homer Saunders. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Michigan State University and a master's degree in education at Eastern Michigan University. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

She taught in public schools in her native Detroit, Michigan—later becoming the executive director of the Detroit-Wayne County Child Care Coordinating... Council. Following her move to Atlanta, Georgia in 1974, she became executive director of the Child Care Coordinating Council; she then shifted her focus to politics and spent three years as executive assistant to Mayor Maynard Jackson, and then two years as legislative analyst for the president of the Atlanta City Council Carl Ware.

In another career transition, she joined the Coca-Cola Company in 1982 as the assistant to Carl Ware who had become the vice president of Urban Affairs. Then, she served as director and assistant vice president of Urban Affairs before being elected to vice president of Corporate External Affairs in 1991. Beginning in 1990, she was chairperson of the Coca-Cola Foundation. She retired from the company in 2013.

Throughout her career at Coca-Cola, Jones was involved in community engagement in Atlanta, including helping the city prepare for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Jones is also a member of many organizations and has also served on many boards and committees. From 2012-2018, she served as National Chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women. Other organizations include Clark Atlanta University, the Woodruff Arts Center, The Links Incorporated, Girl Scouts, the National Black Arts Festival, and the Carter Center.