Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Deandre “Dee” Jones . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Deandre “Dee”, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Growing up I always felt like I was going to be rich I always knew I was going to start my own business or company i just didn’t know where to start and where it was going to start. in 2018 I was working at a faith based non-profit called Steepletown Neighborhood Services they do lawn care & shoveling for our senior citizens. I enjoyed the work because I enjoy giving back to our community eventually you get older and disabilities and different things stop you from being able to do different things so it helped me gain a better sense of humility than I already had over my years of community work and volunteering. I was one of the leaders at Steepletown Neighborhood Services so they asked me to do this apprenticeship called the LEAD program through our community children. it was a two week apprenticeship that offered workshops, civic engagement, and different learning experiences i enjoyed the apprenticeship. The Second week of it everyone was presented a yellow folder that had a flier to the Safe Pitch Task Force $1000 for individuals and $10,000 for nonprofits. I was like I don’t want $1000 I want $10,000 so I asked the woman who was a giving the presentation to us at the time can she help me put together my business pitch. Her name is Ariana Waller she was a winner of the Start Garden 100 so i had to ask her for help. I knew she knew what it took to win a large amount of cash so i asked her to help me out.

We connected at the T2C studio at the library downtown and I went on to pitch my business idea with Korey Anderson Program Director at Steepletown I was excited to have an opportunity to pitch my business idea because Steepletown said that they would be the fiduciary for the funds since I worked at the nonprofit i was eligible to pitch for the $10,000 which I won and created my program Jump Ahead L3C it was based off stipends, service learning, special events and workshops. I did alot of networking so I created the program from scratch literally put all the resources I had and connections and created an award winning company. For 3 weeks we did eco-friendly and sustainable work, did financial literacy and helped the youth get certifications and credentials on their resume & attended the Whitecaps game, The Kroc Center & Craig’s Cruisers for our special events. One of the craziest things that i’m always excited to say is that we had a guy named Richard Reiffer who helped Steve Jobs market his first invention which was the NeXT computer that had the ios software inside of it eventually he would come out with Apple.

Since the start of the first pilot project was successful I already had a vision of what I wanted Jump Ahead L3C to be! I wanted to develop a community center that focuses on workforce development job training and sustainability and renewable energy. I am working towards developing a community center powered by renewable energy & sustainable energy. I hope to be LEED certified platinum the highest level of sustainability offering amenities like Esports, Basketball, Fitness Rooms, Green Rooms, Podcast rooms, Music Studios, Practice Kitchen, Barbershop/Salon & 3D printing.

While working to reduce the equity gap, creating job opportunities that are above the poverty line, creating better police and community relations, and helping reduce crime and increasing the opportunities for people in low income areas and living in poverty while being equitable and equal with all opportunities. I hope to get to the core root of society’s problems while creating systematic change. I hope to be a global business leader franchising my business helping 3rd world countries develop and create real equitable paying jobs in different countries. I hope to change the way businesses and CEO’s treat their employees and build sustainable renewable businesses that make the world a greener and cleaner place for generations to come. We also want to be a leader and pillar in the Esports space as I’ve been getting resources to our school district, and community centers, and i was given the opportunity to present to the Kent District libraries leadership board on developing Esports labs in our libraries across Kent County! I obtained the resources to help our community at the EsportsNext Conference in Chicago, Illinois Through the Esports Trade Association.

I learned from creating the pilot project that $10,000 isn’t enough to keep a program running, but it can give kids in low income areas opportunities that they never imagined and keep them off the streets and teach them valuable life lessons and how to contribute to society. Now that i’m working towards developing a community center i’m learning how to set myself up to take on investments, what investors look at and it takes time to create something of quality I thought it would come faster, but i’m happy with the progress and learning to enjoy the process cause slow progress is better than no progress.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Deandre Jones known as Dee Jones I prefer the nickname. Im an entrepreneur visionary, a leader, a best selling author and civil activist. I believe in what you put out comes back to you and if you help enough people get to where you want to go someone will help you reach your goals.

I got into the nonprofit space in 2018 of course I’ve known about nonprofits for a long time but never knew what type of company i was going to create. Im the owner of an “L3C” which is a hybrid company of a for-profit and nonprofit you can get all the benefits of a for profit company and nonprofit except we are not tax exempt you can become a tax exempt “L3C” i just don’t know how to properly set the company up to be structured in that fashion. I am a passionate visionary leader who works hard everyday to make my goals a reality and gives back a lot to my community my goal is to provide the best workforce development job training I can, Jump Ahead L3C will work hard to get potential candidates into some of the best highest paying jobs and corporations across the globe. I’m a global thinker and only think as big as my mind can expand or the knowledge I gain to expand my horizons.

Jump Ahead L3C will provide workforce development & job training, amenities like basketball, green rooms, music studios, 3D printing, practice kitchen, barbershop/saloon & Esports & community work spaces & fitness rooms.

We help clients solve the problem of being able to obtain your own creative work usually nonprofits don’t let you make any profit from work that you create using their equipment or facilities Jump Ahead L3C will let you do both! We work to get to the core root of systematic and societal problems that affect people of all walks of life, and don’t look to put a band aid on problems that need new seeds planted and the old ones out. We will be attractive to private foundations and mega-million foundations because we are an “L3C” so we can give a ROI to foundations and investors through PRIs which is Program Related Investments. there are other types of investments we can take on that give potential clients ROIs also which will help us grow and help other foundations create revenue to invest in other projects or their corporation for the benefit of their employees or however they’d like to spend their returns.

We will let other entrepreneurs and businesses utilize our facilities if they have programming and other business operations or workshops they’d like to host usually the big recreational centers don’t let companies and other organizations utilize there facilities which will only help the burden of companies and entrepreneurs who have amazing programs, businesses, and workshops they’d like to host for the betterment of the community. We are also the organization leading the charge on Esports in our city, we have been working with the school district, other community centers, and the libraries to develop Esports lounges and labs. Especially in undeserved communities and communities that are in poverty. The Esports industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars surpassing the music and movie industry. We will be a leader in the workforce development job training space for youth, young adults, college students, and elders that want to transition and gain employment and jobs in the gaming and Esports space.

We look to be a Eco-Friendly Earth friendly company that will power every building with renewable and sustainable energy at the highest standard of LEED certification, All of our merchandise will be Eco-friendly and sustainable we had our branding on official Champion Tshirts. We want to collaborate with luxury brands, street wear brands, and sustainable and renewable companies. We want to have a sophisticated cool appeal like the company Supreme while helping change the social economic status of people of all walks of like especially the undeserved and impoverished communities.

We will have memberships that are affordable and allow you access to a space where you can be your 100% authentic self & get the best benefits as possible utilizing our facilities and services we provide. We want everyone to feel loved appreciated and cared for we cannot build and grow without the love and support of community members and consumers and want them to feel like we love them and care for them also because we do.

We want to be a create as many opportunities as possible help people get to the next level of whatever it is they want to pursue and give them or find the resources to make their dreams a reality. We want to enrich the lives of everyone that comes to Jump Ahead L3C.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The book “Winner’s Mindset: Peak Performance Strategies for Success” not only because my own story is in that book and inspiring there are 33 authors from across the globe some are Olympic champions, to combat veterans, business leaders, Doctors, Physical Trainers and others that have invaluable experiences, great business advice, how to stay focused, inspired and how to have a winner’s mindset! its so many powerful stories and amazing authors that I was able to collaborate with! I listen to thought leaders, world leaders, people like Gary V, because i see myself as a business rock star, I like listening to Steve Jobs, Compassionate leaders, Elon Musk, Kanye West, I watch Alux Videos which are the best of the best luxury type of videos. Some former Presidents also.

These people to me are outside the box thinkers and became billionaires and always stayed true to their vision.
They are who they are unapologetically. I also like the underdog stories or stories on how people treat their staff properly and with love and care and they end up doing amazing as a company. I also flew to Dubai it was the first time I’ve ever been outside of the United States it was for a business event and i was presented so many opportunities to pitch my business in Dubai and other countries a organization named Goldfingr has so many opportunities and it was very resourceful.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I remember going to several school board meetings, and speaking about Esports and getting Esports labs in our schools because it aligns with STEM or STEAM & finally after so long my feedback was taken into consideration and the resources I got from the Esports Trade Association event was considered i paid $800 to go to that event & it was worth it. I’ve been advocating for Esports in our schools for so long now I show it was higher education opportunities internships and careers in gaming. I truly want the best of our community and communities across the globe I know one day ill be a global business leader.

I also have been attending our Kent County Government meetings educating our commissioners on Esports and giving them information how Esports benefits cities, counties and states attending those meetings gave me an opportunity to present to our Kent District Library on building Esports labs or lounges across different cities in our county that could be a huge economic boost to our county as a whole, a revenue generator for our libraries, and a way to build infrastructure and create social economic change. Its time for new ideas & innovation and creative thinking. The State of Michigan, The City of GR, & Kent County can be a leader in a billion dollar industry and i want to be a pillar in the community that leads us to transformational economic change.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheJumpedAhead.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jumpaheadgr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jump-Ahead-L3C-101034391732234
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deandre-jones-325b35128/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JumpAhead3