Meet Our Staff & Board

Mrs. Allisha Jones-Pickens is the Executive Program Director of Community of Hope, a non -profit organization that focuses on providing social services and resources to at risk women and young girls in the St. Louis area to help them become Self Sufficient. She also works as the Director’s Assistant for the Cure Violence - Walnut Park Program, focusing on at-risk youth and the de-escalation of conflicts before potentially elevating to gun violence. Ms. Jones-Pickens is an Author of eleven published novels, a Playwright, Life Coach, Mentor and Motivational Speaker who works with both youth and adult women to overcome obstacles, both known and unknown, that may be hindering them from reaching their full potential.

 

It was during her own incarceration in the Prison System that Allisha began to face the obstacles of her own past. It was also where she learned that she, like many other women and young adults, could not move forward because they were still mentally and emotionally imprisoned by the hurts, pains and events stemming from a troubled “yesterday.” Most of their obstacles generated from childhood, where a clear majority suffered some form of abuse. As an abuse survivor herself, Allisha believes that the only way to truly move freely into your future and walk in your purpose, is to confront the past along with any issues that may have been buried within. Through various forms of media outlets, such as Podcasts, Workshops, retreats and Novels, Allisha challenges her audience to face those obstacles to achieve the emotional, mental and spiritual freedom we all seek in our lives. Allisha uses her own life trials, tribulations and experiences as the foundation to encourage and educate her mentees and peers in an effort to save them from the things she herself has survived. Along with transparency, she provides them with several motivational tools to replace the pain with promise, the hurt with healing and the past with purpose.

 

Allisha has received several awards for the work she does with the youth and her female peers, including three Lifetime Achievement awards: Lifetime Achievement Award (2021) from Women’s Empowerment Network – Kansas City, MO, Community Hero Award (2021) from the American Basketball Association, The Legacy of Light Award (2017) from Black Women’s Network and The Phenomenal Woman Award (2017) from Fox 2 News & Foxy 95.5FM. These awards go along with an array of Recognition Awards, TV appearances, Radio appearances and Acknowledgments within the community.

 

Allisha hold two Degrees, AAS in General Studies from St. Louis Community College and a AAS in Information Technology for Business from Kansas State University. When asked why she choose not to pursue her education further, she responded, “Life experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly, has been my best teacher.”

 

Allisha Jones-Pickens is the epitome of every woman who has conquered every crisis or situation imaginable and still able to stand, helping to encourage, motivate and mold both young ladies and women alike to become the best that they can be. Through ruins she aims to bring forth diamonds and continues to bring hope to a hurting world.

 

 

Contact Information:

PHONE: (314) 887-5941

EMAIL: Allishajpickens@communityofhopestl.org