The Rev. Shanan E. Jones, a native of Atlanta, attended Ebenezer Baptist Church as a child. His father and brother are both ordained Baptist ministers.  Rev. Jones received his ecclesiastical call as a teenager and was licensed to preach in the United Church of Christ in 1999. While still in high school, Rev. Jones helped found Black Teens for Advancement (BTA), a student nonviolent organization established to curtail gang-centered violence throughout the Atlanta Public Schools. His activism continued at Northeastern University, where he founded the National Black Student Leadership Conference. Currently, Rev. Jones is a candidate for both the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian Education degrees at the Interdenominational Theological Center Morehouse School of Religion. Rev. Jones is married to the former Kattya Vernet.