Passing on Hope for A Dream Realized

The “transformative” experience that Dannielle Jones-Pinson, BA ’15, MPA ’17, had when she entered Suffolk as a transfer student is one of the reasons she became donor.

Dannielle Jones-Pinson

Entering Suffolk as a transfer student was an experience that 2020-2021 10 Under 10 Honoree and Summa donor Dannielle Jones-Pinson, BA ’15, MPA ’17, describes as “transformative.” That experience is also one of the reasons she became a donor. “If it were not for Suffolk University, I do not know where I would be today. The education I received and relationships I built have been invaluable both personally and professionally. I give so that future students receive the same level of attention and care to pursue their academic aspirations.”

Dannielle also appreciates the importance of philanthropy from a professional standpoint, having worked as a corporate relations manager for the Greater Boston Food Bank. During her two-and-a-half-year tenure there, she helped to raise more than $7.5 million annually, in addition to raising emergency relief funds during the pandemic. One lesson from her Suffolk experience, and the MPA program in particular, that she applied in that role and continues to draw from, is the importance of relationship-building. This key skill serves her in her current position as Vice President of Client and Community Relations for PNC Bank and is an asset for her volunteer work as well.

That volunteer work includes serving on the Learning and Development Advisory Committee for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and as a member of Suffolk’s College of Arts & Sciences Alumni Board. For a number of years, Dannielle was also an alumni mentor for undergraduate students through the Ram Alumni Mentoring Program, coordinated by the University’s Career Center. She sees giving of one’s time as another valuable way for alumni to “pay it forward” and support current students.

This double Ram has not only been an active alumni volunteer and donor, she has also been an adjunct professor through the Moakley Center for Public Management. That experience, as well as being an MPA program alum, led Dannielle to designate part of her annual gift to the MPA Excellence Fund, noting that she wants “to contribute to the program’s longstanding success in preparing and refining world class public servants.” She designates the other portion of her gift to the Suffolk University Black Alumni Network Fund because “it is critical that Suffolk’s black student body has the resources they need to ensure their future success, particularly in today’s current climate.”

Dannielle has come a very long way from her first days at Suffolk, returning to college after time away, but she has not forgotten what it felt like to be starting that uncertain journey. Now, having successfully overcome the obstacles that once delayed her dreams, she hopes that her support “can help provide even a small glimmer of hope for a student who may not be on the traditional path to college—similar to my story.” Her ongoing generosity and commitment will surely provide that hope and much more.