I.O. Jones grew up in rural New Hampshire, an almost exclusively white area with fiercely loyal people and strong community, but lackluster schools and limited opportunity.  She was an avid reader and loved cheerleading and school but it wasn't until she was accepted to Phillips Exeter Academy that she met people from different racial, political, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds.  In every sense of the word, her education started at Exeter.
   
It was also there that she fell in love with literature; that love inspired her to continue her education at the University of Miami and at Barnard College, where she earned her degree in English Literature in 2009.
   
I.O. Jones discovered Teach for America her senior year of college and joined right after graduation. She began her career at a high school in Hell's Kitchen, New York, teaching 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English and coaching the cheerleading squad. It was there she learned about the myriad obstacles that loomed in her students' path to a diploma. In the midst of the academic shortcomings and violence, the depression and anger and hopelessness, she was amazed by her kids' resilience and grit and love, by their refusal to sink to the expectations that the world seemed to have for them. She thought she knew what emotional toughness was until she met her students.
  
She continued her teaching career at a charter high school where she has worked to improve her craft: teaching an AP class, attending professional development classes at Bard College and through CollegeBoard, writing curriculum for 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English classes. She also mentors college students, helping them with the transition from high school expectations, and leads a group of teachers improving writing across the high school curriculum.
  
She lives in New York city with her husband.