NORTHAMPTON – Earlier this fall, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra signed a proclamation in celebration of Markus Jones for his philanthropic work within Northampton over the past few years.

Jones, who serves as the chair of the development committee for the International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI), was recognized for his “active commitment to the principles of philanthropy and nonprofit service” and his “extraordinary combination of braininess and heartfelt respect for all of our neighbors.”

For almost 40 years, ILI has been a worldwide staple in Northampton by providing high-quality language instruction and teacher training. Since its inception in 1984, thousands of students from across 90 countries have completed courses and classes in a variety of languages, including French, Spanish, German and more. In 2022 alone, 121 immigrants from 30 different countries gained new English skills in ILI’s free English classes, 337 local residents joined classes and tutorials in multiple languages, 92 employees at regional businesses participated in workplace language training, and 45 community volunteer tutors teamed up with 49 English learners to help students achieve their education and career goals.

Jones’ philanthropic and fundraising experience has been key to ILI’s growing presence in the community, especially since the organization operates as a nonprofit. Aside from his current position as chair of the development committee, Jones also served as ILI’s board president for three-plus years before turning over the reins to Dr. Leslie Saulsberry earlier this fall.

His love for fundraising and philanthropy began in his home state of Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina devastated the region while he was still in college. “I went to work on the coast trying to manage volunteers and raise money to rehab and rebuild houses and nonprofit businesses,” said Jones, in an interview with Reminder Publishing. “I really just fell in love with the idea of philanthropy and people giving back to support other people in some way.”

Since then, Jones has spent his entire life working in a nonprofit setting and exploring different ways to offer a helping hand where he can.

After traveling a lot for work, Jones and his wife relocated to Western Massachusetts in 2014, where Jones decided he wanted to plant deeper roots in the community. In 2016, ILI invited Jones to serve on its board, since they were looking for someone who had fundraising experience in the past.

Shortly after stepping into that role, Jones transitioned into the position of board president in 2019, where he navigated ILI through the hardships of the pandemic using his philanthropic spirit. “I really fell in love with the organization,” Jones said. “My mother is an immigrant who came to this country from Germany when she was 14 and landed in south Mississippi … so I understand a little bit about the process and struggles people have coming to a new country, trying to learn a new language, trying to fit in. I think that has a lot to do with why I chose to join ILI.”

As chair of the development committee, Jones has been focused on working with ILI’s staff and other volunteers to write a strategy for their annual fundraising campaign and other events they do.

As someone who navigated the seismic disaster of Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago, Jones understood what it took to push through another disaster in the coronavirus pandemic. He credits ILI’s strong and persistent leadership, including ILI’s executive director Caroline Gear, for weathering the storm and mitigating the challenges.

“In times of distress and times of disaster, when everything is upside-down … leadership matters,” said Jones. “ILI and other nonprofits who have strong leadership across the board were able to survive and weather the pandemic better than those who don’t have strong leadership.”

According to Jones, ILI was able to raise more money through fundraising during COVID-19 than years prior, due to a change in strategy and also the simple fact that donors cared about ILI’s mission.

“Donors tend to focus in on the organizations they care the most about during times of distress,” said Jones. “They stepped up and said, ‘this is something we can’t live without. We want this in our community, and we believe in this organization.’”

Prior to COVID-19, ILI hosted an in-person fundraising event each year, but had to pause it because of coronavirus restrictions. Instead, the organization pivoted to a hybrid/virtual fundraising experience, which proved to be even more successful.

“We also changed the ways that we raised money throughout the year,” Jones added. “Rather than rely so heavily on the in-person event, we found ways through email communication, through social media, through peer-to-peer fundraising. We found other ways throughout the year to make up that lost revenue we would’ve seen at that in-person event.”

Because ILI was able to experience more fundraising success through these other channels, Jones said it was able to turn its in-person event into more of a celebration of the students and their individual successes.

“We focused heavily on telling their stories and didn’t ask for a single dollar at the event,” said Jones. “We were able to do that because of our other strategies throughout the year.”

“We evolved as a nonprofit,” he continued. “And we’ll continue to find new and innovative ways to raise money.”

With new strategies implemented, Jones said the focus of the committee will now be on fundraising for the future of ILI, whether that be for innovative programming, improved physical space, support for teachers, students and scholarships.

“We’re going to enter a period where we’re able to start to raise some serious money that can be used to sustain the school well into the future,” he said.

As we enter 2023, Jones will continue to be a key cog in the future of ILI. When asked how it felt to be recognized by the city for all his work, Jones said he got a little emotional.

“I was speechless, honestly,” said Jones. “It’s very rare that I’m left at a loss for words, but I was indeed at a loss for words. To say it was deeply meaningful is an understatement.”

People can learn more about ILI by visiting its website, https://ili.edu/. It is located at 25 New South St.