Colorado Women’s Bar Foundation Honors Family Law Leader April D. Jones as 2026 'Courageous Leader of Today'

Founder and CEO of Jones Law Firm, PC Selected as a 2026 “Raising the Bar” Honoree by the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES, July 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- April D. Jones, Founder and CEO of Jones Law Firm, PC, has been named a 2026 “Raising the Bar” honoree by the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation (CWBAF), recognized under the Foundation’s “Courageous Leader of Today” pillar. The selection was announced at the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Convention on May 16, 2026, and will be formally presented at the 20th Annual Raising the Bar Celebration on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at the Denver Art Museum.

The CWBAF’s “Courageous Leader of Today” pillar honors a woman currently leading through social, political, economic, or institutional adversity with integrity and impact. Jones is one of four honorees selected this year, with each honoree representing one of the Foundation’s four pillars: The Institutional Builder, The Access-to-Justice Champion, The Profession Reformer, and The Courageous Leader of Today.

“The Board of Directors of the Foundation is thrilled to have the opportunity to honor April Jones at our 20th Annual Raising the Bar Celebration, which coincides with several other pivotal moments in April’s already impressive leadership journey. April Jones is our ‘Courageous Leader of Today,’ but it is obvious to all that she is also a courageous leader of yesterday and tomorrow.” — Wendy E. Weigler, 2026 RTB Chair

The recognition arrives during a year of consequential transitions in Jones’s career. In June 2026, she will become the first Black woman elected Vice President of the Colorado Bar Association in its 130-year history. In July 2027, she will become the first Black woman President of the approximately 30,000-member organization. In January 2026, Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez appointed her to the newly established Colorado Supreme Court Legal Technology Advisory Committee, where she is helping develop guidance on the responsible use of artificial intelligence and emerging technology across Colorado’s legal system. Earlier this year, Jones was featured in the 2026 Colorado edition of Super Lawyers magazine — recognition limited to the top 5% of attorneys in the state.

“This recognition is especially meaningful because it comes from the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation,” said Jones. “I have always admired women who are fierce, courageous, present, and willing to move things forward because somebody has to.

“That kind of leadership has shaped my career: telling hard truths with soft landings, building Jones Law Firm with discipline and purpose, challenging and expanding the legal profession, and encouraging other women to come with me, and then go farther than I have.

“We need to keep being bold, keep showing up, and keep moving the profession forward until our granddaughters have to study history to understand why such courage was ever required. Today is not that day, and this is why I am so grateful to be honored.”

About the Raising the Bar Recognition

The Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation has worked since 1988 to promote the advancement of women in the law and to harness the power of the legal profession to protect and promote the welfare of all women. The annual Raising the Bar Celebration, now in its 20th year, honors women lawyers who have made a difference in their communities and “raised the bar” for the profession.

This year’s theme — “Twenty Years of Raising the Bar: Women Who Built, Led, and Transformed Our Legal Community” — reflects two decades of recognition for women whose influence extends beyond individual achievement to systemic advancement. Past honorees have included leaders at the highest levels of government and the judiciary, founders of nonprofit and public-interest institutions, advocates for pro bono and access to justice, leaders in legal education and innovation, and lawyers who have led their organizations and the profession through periods of crisis and change.

The Foundation organizes its 2026 selection around four pillars representing the past, present, and future of the legal profession:

• The Institutional Builder. A woman who founded, transformed, or sustained an organization that materially advanced justice, equity, or professional excellence.
• The Access-to-Justice Champion. A lawyer whose sustained commitment to pro bono, public defense, legal services, or community advocacy measurably expanded access to justice.
• The Profession Reformer. A leader who advanced well-being, ethics, mentoring, diversity, legal education, or innovation in ways that strengthened the profession itself.
• The Courageous Leader of Today. A woman currently leading through social, political, economic, or institutional adversity with integrity and impact.

The 20th Annual Raising the Bar Celebration will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on September 16, 2026, at the Denver Art Museum, 100 W 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204.

April D. Jones: Leading at a Moment of Convergence

The selection of Jones as the 2026 Courageous Leader of Today reflects a career that has reached its most visible chapter during a period of significant change in the legal profession and in public life. Commitments to diversity, access, and inclusion are being questioned and scaled back at the national level. Jones is stepping into the most consequential leadership roles of her career during that climate, while continuing to lead a 44-person family law firm now in its 25th year.

She is simultaneously:

• Running Jones Law Firm, PC, one of Colorado’s largest family law practices, which has handled more than 4,000 family law matters since its founding in 2000
• Serving as incoming Vice President (2026) and incoming President (2027) of the Colorado Bar Association
• Serving as Treasurer of CBA-CLE, the educational arm of the Colorado Bar Association
• Co-chairing the U.S. District Court Vacancy Committee, appointed jointly by U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper
• Serving on the Colorado Supreme Court Legal Technology Advisory Committee
• Serving on the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on Rules of Professional Conduct
• Serving on the UCHealth Board of Directors and the Kent Denver School Board

About Jones Law Firm: 25 Years of Family Law Representation in Colorado

Jones Law Firm, PC is a Denver-based family law firm founded in 2000 by April D. Jones. The firm represents clients across Colorado in a comprehensive range of family law matters, including divorce, contested divorce, child custody and parenting time, child support, spousal maintenance and alimony, property division, protection orders and domestic violence cases, legal separation, mediation, prenuptial agreements, post-decree modifications, court order enforcement, contempt of court proceedings, relocation disputes, paternity, fathers’ rights, mothers’ rights, grandparents’ rights, and parental alienation cases.

The firm has handled more than 4,000 cases since its founding and serves clients throughout Denver County, Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Jefferson County, and surrounding Colorado communities. In 2025, Jones purchased and renovated a building for the firm’s expanded operations, marking 25 years of service to Colorado families.

Jones Law Firm uses a team-based representation model. Attorneys, paralegals, and support staff collaborate on each case so that clients receive coordinated strategy, consistent communication, and the benefit of collective experience across the firm’s practice areas.

April D. Jones: Career, Credentials, and Leadership in Colorado Law

April D. Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She is admitted to practice in both Colorado and California and has practiced family law for more than 30 years.

Her leadership roles in the legal profession include:
Incoming Vice President, Colorado Bar Association (2026); Incoming President (2027). In June 2026, Jones will become the first Black woman elected Vice President of the Colorado Bar Association in its 130-year history. In July 2027, she will become the first Black woman President of the state’s approximately 30,000-member professional organization.

Member, Colorado Supreme Court Legal Technology Advisory Committee. Appointed in January 2026 by Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez to a newly established 12-member committee charged with developing guidance on the use of artificial intelligence and emerging technology in Colorado’s legal system. The committee will submit its initial recommendations to the Chief Justice by October 1, 2026.

Member, Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on Rules of Professional Conduct. Jones serves on the committee responsible for examining and proposing changes to the ethics rules that govern the legal profession in Colorado, including how artificial intelligence and emerging technology affect attorneys’ ethical obligations.

Two-Term President, Sam Cary Bar Association. Jones has served two terms as president of Colorado’s preeminent professional organization for African American attorneys, first in 2005 and again in 2021. She received the organization’s King Tremble Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

Colorado Supreme Court Nomination Commissioner (2008–2013). Appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to a six-year term, Jones participated in the evaluation and nomination of justices to the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Co-Chair, U.S. District Court Vacancy Committee. Appointed by U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Jones co-chairs the committee that recommends candidates for the federal bench in Colorado.

Board Member, UCHealth. Jones currently serves on the UCHealth Board of Directors.

Board Member, Kent Denver School. Jones serves on the board of one of Colorado’s leading independent schools, with recent work on technology policy in education.

Jones has been recognized by the Denver Business Journal as one of Colorado’s Outstanding Women in Business and as a Fast 50 Finalist (2023, 2024). Her firm has been named a Law Firm 500 honoree for multiple consecutive years and was recognized as the 5th fastest-growing small company in Colorado by the Denver Business Journal. In 2022, she received the Center for Legal Inclusiveness Individual Inclusiveness@Work Award.

About Jones Law Firm, PC
Jones Law Firm, PC is a Colorado family law firm serving individuals and families throughout the Colorado Front Range. Founded by April D. Jones, Esq., the firm provides legal representation in divorce proceedings, child custody and parenting time disputes, spousal maintenance determinations, property and asset division, and post-decree modifications. With a team of 44 attorneys and legal professionals, Jones Law Firm, PC handles the full spectrum of family law matters — from uncontested divorces to complex, high-conflict litigation. April D. Jones, Esq. is a Colorado Super Lawyers honoree, the incoming Vice President of the Colorado Bar Association (2026), and the incoming President (2027). Under her leadership, Jones Law Firm, PC has grown into one of the Denver metro area’s established teams of divorce lawyers. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, visit www.DenverDivorceAttorneys.com or call (303) 799-8155.

About the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation
The Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation (CWBAF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has worked since 1988 to promote the advancement of women in the law and to harness the power of the legal profession to protect and promote the welfare of all women. The Foundation works in conjunction with the Colorado Women’s Bar Association (CWBA) to implement the CWBA’s charitable and educational work. Its annual Raising the Bar Celebration honors women lawyers who have made a difference in their communities and “raised the bar” for the profession. The 2026 celebration marks the program’s 20th anniversary.

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