Jones Earns Multiple Honors for Diversity, Addiction Counseling

Nonotuck Resource Associates, Inc. is proud to announce that Clinician Ronda Jones Tobey is the recipient of multiple honors connected to her work here at Nonotuck. Ronda was selected by The Association for Addiction Professionals as the Lora Roe Memorial National Addiction Counselor of the Year and will be recognized at an event in Washington, D.C., in October. As if that weren’t enough, Ronda was recently awarded the Association of Developmental Disability Providers’ (ADDP) annual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Award, which she will receive at a ceremony in September.

Ronda has worked in our Plymouth office since 2015. She was raised in the small town of Raeford, North Carolina, as a proud member of the Lumbee Tribe—one of the largest tribes in the United States and the 8th largest in the nation.

Growing up in a diverse community, Ronda was deeply connected to her heritage. Her mother ensured that she and her siblings regularly attended powwows across the country, participated in the North Carolina Native Youth Organization, and attended national tribal youth conferences. These experiences provided Ronda with a strong foundation and a deep sense of identity that has shaped who she is today.

Ronda’s journey took her from North Carolina to New York City, where she became a head dancer at the Bear Mountain Powwow. Ronda earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from Rutgers University. After the tragic events of 9/11 and the subsequent rise in racism in New York, she decided to return to her roots in North Carolina.

In Robeson County, where 50% of children in foster care were from her tribe, Ronda took action. She founded Red Path Child and Family Agency, the first Native American foster agency in North Carolina. Through this platform, she worked to change state laws, ensuring that all tribal members could be considered kin to any child in state custody, effectively removing barriers to becoming a foster parent. This critical work laid the groundwork for Ronda’s continued advocacy.

Ronda’s dedication to her people led her to Cape Cod, where the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe invited her to help establish their Health and Human Services Department as their ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) Director. In this role, she spearheaded changes in state regulations to ensure that Native American children were not placed in non-Native families. This legislation required authorities to ask about a child’s Native American ancestry during investigations, allowing tribes to be involved early in the process and preventing children from being disconnected from their cultural heritage.

Ronda’s commitment to her work and her tribe led to her meeting her current husband, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, which solidified her decision to stay in Cape Cod. Through her tireless efforts, Ronda has made a lasting impact on the lives of Native American children and their families, preserving their connections to their tribal culture and communities.

“These awards are a testament to Ronda’s unwavering dedication to her work and her community. At Nonotuck, we are incredibly proud of the profound impact she has made not only within our organization but also in the broader field of social work and advocacy,” says Nonotuck President/CEO George H. Fleischner. “Ronda’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and her tireless efforts to preserve and protect Native American heritage are truly inspiring. These honors recognize the extraordinary contributions she has made to improving the lives of countless individuals, and we are privileged to have her as part of the Nonotuck family.”