Lee Jones is regional executive and senior officer of the Nashville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is responsible for the Branch's Board of Directors, oversees Nashville's economic and financial education programs, and provides regional input into the Atlanta Fed's monetary policy process.
Mr. Jones's primary role is being the "face of the Federal Reserve" in the branch's region, which consists of Middle and East Tennessee. In this capacity, he represents the Fed in developing relationships and organizing and participating in activities throughout the region designed to gather both quantitative data and anecdotal grassroots information on economic conditions. He provides this information to Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and his staff of economists for formulating monetary policy at Federal Open Market Committee meetings chaired by Ben Bernanke. Other activities that Mr. Jones directs in support of the Fed's monetary policy mission include managing the branch's seven-member board of directors who meet in advance of each FOMC meeting to provide updates on economic conditions and a twelve-member advisory board of small and mid-sized entrepreneurial business owners from throughout the Southeast who meet twice a year. Mr. Jones and others on his team are also actively involved in outreach activities to promote economic education and financial literacy in schools and communities throughout the region.
Mr. Jones began his career with the Fed in 1980 at the Atlanta headquarters. Since then, he has held a variety of positions with the Bank including at the branch offices in Jacksonville, Fl. (1986–91); Nashville, Tenn. (1992–2001); and Birmingham, Al. (2002–08). In April 2008, Lee returned to Nashville to assume his current responsibilities.
Prior to joining the Bank, he was a research associate at Payment Systems Inc. in Atlanta and an economic research analyst with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Jones earned both a bachelor of science degree in mass communications and a master of arts degree in economics from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Emory University in Atlanta and has attended executive leadership programs at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. He served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1973 and had a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam.
Mr. Jones is currently on the Board of Trustees of the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and is a member of the Rotary Club of Nashville. He is also involved in teaching economics and personal finance to local high school students through Junior Achievement.
