Tina Jones Named Outstanding Friend of MAFCS

Blaze’s Assistant Vice President of Financial Empowerment, Tina Jones, was recently named the 2024 Friend of Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Science (MAFCS).

Minnesota AAFCS awards an Outstanding Friend honoree each year to recognize an individual or organization who is not a member of MAFCS but who shows continued support to the profession. Tina was nominated for her work in the Family and Consumer Science classes at St. Paul Johnson High School.

“We are extremely proud of the work that Tina has done and continues to do for our community, and with our high school Blaze branches,” said Blaze Senior Vice President, Chief Project and Learning Officer and Chair of the Blaze Credit Union Foundation, Christine Cordell. “Her ‘can-do’ attitude is infectious, and she’s played a critical role in building our strong and positive relationship with the St. Paul schools, allowing us to provide better service to underserved communities.”

Blaze Credit Union operates four school branches in St. Paul high schools (Como Park, Harding, Highland Park, and Johnson). Tina oversees the hiring and training of the student tellers at these branches, in addition to working alongside them. In addition, she has served as a personal finance advocate conducting countless classroom presentations and interactive reality fairs throughout the schools, teaching and advising students on financial matters such as budgeting, savings, and investing. Tina also serves as the Vice Chair of the Blaze Credit Union Foundation which provides teaching grants for school projects and programs that fall outside of the normal budget as well student scholarships for post-secondary education.

In addition to her role with Blaze, Tina is involved in several other community initiatives and programs, including Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, National Youth Involvement Board, Sub-committee member for the City of Saint Paul’s CSA Accounts, Chair for the Saint Paul Schools on the CTE Academy of Finance, and Best Prep Ambassador for the Best Prep Volunteer Engagement Committee.

In her over 20 years of service in the credit union industry, Tina has earned several awards and honors for her extraordinary dedication and commitment to community involvement. In 2020, she was named Minnesota Credit Union Network Outstanding Credit Union Professional. She has earned a Service Award from the Minnesota Federal Executive Board for dedication serving federal employees, and was honored by Junior Achievement as the High School Volunteer of the Year, as well as by the Minnesota Association for Career and Technical Administrators as the Advisory Board Member of the Year.