Jacqueline Jones LaMon created JJL Coaching following a long career in creative writing, publishing, and higher education. A longtime advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives in the workplace, her vision is to support her clients to seek the pathways forward that will lead to increased understanding of themselves and the systemic obstacles that have historically impeded success.

As vice president and chief diversity officer, LaMon provided her vision and leadership for the continued advancement of Adelphi University’s diversity and inclusion resources and programs. A proven innovator and leader, LaMon served as a key contributor to Adelphi for more than 15 years—as a full professor of English, former director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, prior department chair and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She co-chaired the inaugural College of Arts and Sciences Diversity and Inclusion Committee and served as board member, development chair, and subsequently president of Cave Canem Foundation, Inc., an organization committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. LaMon earned her bachelor’s degree at Mount Holyoke College, her Juris Doctorate at the UCLA School of Law, and her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Indiana University, Bloomington.

 The author of three collections, What Water Knows (an NAACP Image Award finalist for Outstanding Literature—Poetry); Last Seen (a Felix Pollak Poetry Prize selection, and also an NAACP Image Award finalist); and Gravity, U.S.A. (recipient of the Quercus Review Press Poetry Series Book Award), she is also the author of the chapbook, The Legend of Clarence Thomas, winner of the Integral Music Chapbook Prize; and author of the novel, In the Arms of One Who Loves Me, published by Random House/Ballantine Books.