Houston Arts Alliance Announces Diem Jones as Director of Grants

Diem Jones has been tapped for the position of Director of Grants at the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA). Jones comes to the HAA post after an 8-year stretch as deputy director at Arts Council Silicon Valley, where he supervised their Artsopolis program and managed the agency’s grants, arts education and marketing programs.

Jones’ extensive experience includes leadership roles as the administrative director of East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, executive director of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Saint Mary’s College, and national director of WritersCorps, a national literary program.

Prior thereto he served as grants administrator at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. While at the Commission, he managed one-third of the city’s grants programs, supporting a broad array of arts organizations and disciplines. He began his career in non-profit at a Pacifica Radio station as development director, in Washington DC, where he increased contributory revenues by more than 400 percent.

Jones’ first order of business will be overseeing HAA’s application process for General Operating Support and Arts Project grants, both of which feature deadlines in early March. With more than 20 years of experience in arts management and grants administration, He is also an accomplished songwriter, photographer, poet and musician. His work in the non-profit sector followed a prior career as an art director/photographer, teacher and music producer.

“Diem’s name rose to the top of a substantial pool of applicants,” said Jonathon Glus, CEO of Houston Arts Alliance. “He brings unmatched management and administrative skills to the table, coupled with a proven and long-standing commitment to the arts.”

Jones was impressed with the vibrancy of Houston’s arts and culture community, which is comprised of more than 500 arts organizations, many of which reflect the global diversity of the city. “I have watched the Houston Arts Alliance grow nearly since its inception five years ago,” Jones explained. “I was first introduced to the organization through the Artsopolis program, which serves as the platform for Artshound. The breadth and depth of the arts in Houston is virtually unmatched, and I look forward to helping both the city’s emerging and established arts organizations thrive with support from HAA.”