WS Chronicle

Throughout the month of March The Chronicle will be highlighting women in our community who are setting an example and paving the way for the next generation of leaders. This week we shine our light on city native Porsche Jones. 

When most people hear the name Porsche Jones, they think back to her days as a standout basketball player at Carver High School in the early 2000s. With two state championships and enough individual honors and accolades to fill a few trophy cases, there’s plenty of reasons why. 

“One thing about Carver is that it was a family. It was a community. The teachers really worked with us and tried to help us believe in ourselves and we took pride in being a Carver Yellowjacket and that just carried over to the court,” said Jones. “My junior year when we went 30-0 and won the state championship, that’s what elevated me and helped me understand the importance of going to college.”

Following her stellar career with the Yellowjackets, Jones received a full scholarship to attend Wake Forest University (WFU) where she set program records for most steals in a game (10) and assists-to-turnover ratio (1.58).

While it’s impossible to deny Jones’ talents on the court, her best numbers may be off the court inspiring young girls and boys to follow their dreams.

After graduating in 2006, Jones started B.O.N.D. (Building On New Development), a youth travel basketball organization for girls. Jones said when she was growing up travel basketball taught her a lot of life lessons and she wanted to create those same opportunities for girls in the community.

“There’s a lot of things I learned through that process as a player and as an adult I wanted to give girls those same opportunities plus more,” said Jones. “I wanted to teach them about character, leadership and just to train their minds to think about goal setting.”

Jones worked with the original members of Team B.O.N.D. through high school and every member of the team received full scholarships to continue their education and over the years, dozens of other girls would do the same.

Looking to make a bigger impact in the community, Jones decided to take the same method she used to help young girls in the community with boys. Over the years B.O.N.D. has also grown into a sports event company that hosts youth basketball tournaments throughout the year.

Jones said although B.O.N.D. has grown, her goal to use basketball as a tool to teach young people the importance of being productive citizens remains the same.

“I’m not as involved with the boys as I was with the girls, but we have a sixth grade team, an eighth grade team and a ninth grade team,” continued Jones. “Our goal, even if they don’t get the full scholarships to college, is to make sure they understand the value of education and they understand the value of being a good productive citizen.”

During a recent conversation with The Chronicle, Jones said her passion for giving back is one of the qualities instilled in her at an early age by her grandmother, the late Dr. Manderline Scales. On what would have been Scales’ 92nd birthday, Jones said her entire mindset stems from her grandmother, a local educator who is credited for starting the Spanish program at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU).

“Just seeing her in clubs and organizations and her involvement in the community, promoting African-American excellence is what I was raised on. She raised me to be a person of service, to have a heart of service, and really treat everyone from the custodian to the top person the same way,” she said. “So a lot of what I do in my everyday life is really based off things I witnessed her do and the things she instilled in me.”

Dr. Scales was also the inspiration behind Jones’ decision to pursue her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling at WSSU in 2014. Jones said after seeing her grandmother work at the HBCU for more than 40 years, when she decided to pursue her masters, attending WSSU was a no-brainer. Just like her grandmother, Jones uses her degree to educate others as well. For the past five years, she has served as a health coach at Novant Health.

While holding down a full-time job, running an AAU organization and sports event organizations, Jones still finds time to run her own dump truck company, JMAC Hauling, Inc.

Founded in 2013, Jones said a coach from high school approached her with the idea a few years ago and she saw it as an opportunity to create jobs and break into an industry that is dominated by men.

“I’m a person that if I see an opportunity that will help me build and create jobs and create things for others, then that’s something that I’m definitely interested in. It’s a tough industry, but it’s something I have taken great pride in,” said Jones. “I was raised to be a leader and where I see an opportunity to lead, it’s kind of where I migrate to.”

When asked how she’s able to balance the different ventures she has a hand in, Jones said, “I don’t know what my end goal is, but I know I’m not going to waste this life resting. I’ll rest when I don’t open my eyes anymore.

“As long as we have breath in our body, our mission should be to live out our purpose. So that’s why I enjoy creating opportunities not just for myself, but to show other black females that they can do the same thing. We don’t have to be put in these barriers where we just cook and clean; we can be bosses. We can be leaders and as long as we have good faith and good work ethic, anything is possible and I’m an example of that.”