FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 30, 2019

ATLANTA – Allen Jones (1937-2019), Founder of the Atlanta Executive Network, now the Metro Atlanta Association of Professionals, passed away Sunday, December 29, 2019.

“Allen Jones was a true visionary, dedicating years of public service to the LGBTQ+ community,” MAAP President Joshua D. Lorenz shared. “Not only did Allen found and preside as AEN President for five years, he organized the AIDS fundraising group Helping Hands of Atlanta and continued hosting monthly business networking luncheons for years after his term at AEN ended, even while fighting brain cancer.”

Jones paved the way for the growth and success of AEN with his belief that gay and lesbian business professionals had much to offer each other and the community and by utilizing tactics such as event invitations being sent in unmarked brown envelopes to ensure the privacy of its members. Just two years after it’s launch, 94% of the organization's members voted to opening its doors to the media, boosting a membership in excess of 500. Several major news outlets, including the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Magazine and Southern Voice, ran articles announcing the size and influence of AEN to the LGBT and Atlanta business communities.

We mourn the loss of this Atlanta icon and LGBTQ+ leader, and send our condolences to the family and friends of Allen Jones. Jones’s family is planning a memorial service and details will be shared over the coming days on H M Patterson & Son Spring Hill Chapel site at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/atlanta-ga/hm-patterson-son-spring-hill-chapel/4944.

About MAAP:

Founded in May 1992 by 15 people, MAAP’s mission is individual and professional development through networking, relationship-building and education for Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ professionals and our allies. MAAP currently has a connection network of more than 2,000 professionals.

The MAAP logo can be downloaded at: https://maapatl.org/logo.

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