Des Moines University President and CEO Angela Walker Franklin has appointed Joseph Jones as her chief of staff, according to an announcement provided to the Business Record. Jones brings his experience in government relations, public policy and the nonprofit sector to the role, the announcement said. Jones’ most recent role was as executive director of the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement at Drake University. Other previous roles include serving as senior vice president of government relations and public policy for the Greater Des Moines Partnership, legislative assistant to retired Sen. Tom Harkin, director of government affairs for the Iowa Finance Authority, and as a staffer for Gov. Tom Vilsack and Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson. He also served as a political director for the 2008 Barack Obama campaign in Iowa and for the Iowa Democratic Party. He has served on the Windsor Heights City Council since 2017. Jones is chair of the board of trustees of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, vice chair of the board of the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation and an active volunteer in the community. He has been named a Forty Under 40 honoree by the Business Record, voted the most influential honoree of the 2009 class and recognized as the Forty Under 40 Alumnus of the Year in 2022.