JACKSON - Cornelius Jones of Mendenhall will start work today as the new chief executive of a Delta nonprofit whose former CEO is charged with misappropriating money from the organization.
Jones, 56, replaces Ruby Buck as head of Greenville-based Mississippi Action for Community Education, which was created in 1967 to foster social and economic development in the economically depressed Delta.
Buck resigned last week after a federal grand jury indicted her on charges of misappropriating federal funds and spending welfare money to build a fence at her home in Greenville.
In light of the controversy surrounding the agency, Jones said his first task will be moving to Greenville and "getting a handle on the organization."
He has spent most of his career working with community-based organizations.
"What I have to do is familiarize myself with where MACE is," said Jones, who was named CEO after a meeting of the group's board of directors Friday.
"MACE has a long history and a strategic plan. I want it to continue to have the kind of success that it's known for."
For the past eight months, Jones has developed early childhood development programs for the Foundation for the Mid-South. Before that, he was the director of program and resource development at Voice of Calvary Ministries in Jackson.
Jones, a Pennsylvania native, has lived in Mississippi for 25 years and attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and Tougaloo College in Jackson. He is working on his master's degree from Antioch University in Ohio.
MACE has been the focus of a criminal investigation by the Corporation for National Service in Washington, which oversees the Americorps program.
The 16-count indictment accuses Buck of submitting false Americorps applications, time sheets and other forms indicating that 14 people were full-time volunteers with the MACE Anti-Hunger Partnership and Empowerment Program.
The indictment, which came from U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Mississippi, says the 14 people received money for living expenses they were not entitled to.
The alleged activity occurred between 1996 and 2000.
Buck has a non-published phone number and has been unavailable for comment.
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