TRAINING FOR CANDIDATES
LaDawn "LBJ" Blackett Jones
LaDawn “LBJ” Blackett Jones is a dedicated wife, mother of two, author, attorney, television personality, entrepreneur, and community advocate. LBJ has operated The LBJ Group, LLC, Atlanta’s only “holistic law firm” handling criminal, family law, and business law since 2010. She is also co-owner of PolitaCoach, LLC, a political consulting firm that helps get quality candidates in office. Raised in metro Atlanta, LaDawn is a proud graduate of Tennessee State University and Tulane Law School. LaDawn strongly believes, “If not me then who? If not now then when?”
When she is not in a courtroom, LaDawn is a regular legal and political commentator on 11Alive, TvOne, MSNBC, Fox News, 1380 WAOK, CBS, Dr. Drew, iHeart Radio and several other television and radio stations throughout the country. She has weekly appearances on One America News Network, RT America, and LawNewz.com giving thoughtful commentary on current events and cases. Whether she is in a courtroom, in political caucus meetings, writing, training or speaking, LaDawn always provokes her audience to consider the other side of any debate. LBJ has also been featured in Rolling Out, Black Enterprise, and other online and printed articles for both her work and home life.
While serving as the Georgia State Representative between 2012 and 2016 for Atlanta, College Park, East Point, and Douglas County, LBJ passed meaningful legislation and obtained a reputation for being outspoken and direct. While in office her goal was to raise the bar for what her community expected from a state leader by increasing visibility, communication, accessibility and transparency. LBJ proudly left office to spend more time serving in her role as, “Mommy.” She now spends time writing and speaking about the importance of balance while helping other servant-leader moms obtain the balance needed to hold public office while parenting.
LBJ has always been a writer with over seven completed works from her family history to work manuals. She self published her first commercial writing in 2012 “Manipulation” a legal fiction novel. Later she co-authored “Cheating But Not Cheated: A Memoir of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal” which gives another narrative of the world’s largest education scandal. LBJ also contributes as a writer for GeorgaPol.com, her local community newspaper South Fulton Neighbor, and her own personal blog.
In 2016, Bernie Sanders hired LBJ as the Georgia State director for his presidential campaign. After the Georgia primary was complete, LBJ traveled the Country speaking as a surrogate for Sanders and organizing African American outreach events to help introduce Bernie to minority communities.
In 2017, LBJ opened PolitaCoach, LLC a political consulting firm with her former campaign manager who assisted her in her own election to the Georgia General Assembly. The consulting group was a natural progression as LBJ spent years hosting campaign trainings to inspire and prepare people to participate in public office.
At her core, LaDawn is an organizer, trainer, and vocal community advocate. She obtained her passion for serving the community while in high school. LBJ is most proud of her community work with her afterschool program Women of Westlake which she hosted from 2005 until 2014 at her High School Alma Mater. Through Women of Westlake she mentored over 250 high school and middle school girls and maintains a strong relationship with her mentees as they mature into community servants in their own right. Together, LBJ and her students worked thousands of community service hours with the goal of improving themselves, their community, and the world at large.
Prior to opening the LBJ Group, LaDawn worked as Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney for Georgia’s largest prosecution office. She was quickly promoted to the first Director of the Community Prosecution program where she expanded the unique division throughout the County, helped start and operate the first Multi-Jurisdictional Burglary Taskforce in the County, expanded the CourtWatch program aimed at reducing recidivism, and piloted Project Turn Around – a twelve month alternative program for low level offenders. Now as a defense attorney LBJ has a successful litigation record defending clients accused of State and Federal criminal charges.
LaDawn is a member of the Georgia Bar, the Atlanta Bar Association, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, LEAD Atlanta, Leadership Georgia and has participated in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Bootcamp, Front Line Leaders Academy, Young Elected Officials network and many more. She has proudly served on the boards of numerous civic and non-profit organizations.
LBJ believes “there is no time like the present.” She is unapologetically ambitious and hopes to be an example to women that you can have it all – even if not all at the same time. Always pushing her forward is the entrepreneurial spirit of her father Wayne Blackett, the impenetrable spirit of fearlessness of her mother Bonnie Blackett, and her devotion to God from her grandmother Bernice Blackett. Her husband Nathaniel A. Jones Jr., an IT entrepreneur is her number one supporter.