This special article is in honor and memory of Barbara Jones, whose continuous participation and great generosity to WANDA enabled many struggling single mothers in our community to achieve financial stability.
Barbara Ellis Jones passed away on July 13, 2019, after a short battle with aggressive lung cancer. She left us peacefully, with a view of her beautiful Palo Alto garden, her children holding her hands.
A philanthropist, civic leader, and community volunteer, Barb was a founding member of the Maverick Collective, a new philanthropic model aimed at ending extreme poverty by investing in girls and women. She spearheaded a project in Myanmar that made enormous strides in reducing gender-based violence. She was also an early major investor in WANDA over 10 years ago, a California nonprofit that helps lift single mothers out of poverty.
“I have been unbelievably fortunate in my life,” she said to a group of women in Myanmar, “and have seen so many places where women are not. I want to do what I can to help.”