Jona Hall | Washington, Illinois

Jona Hall scales obstacles and then builds ladders to help others do the same. She was born and raised in central Illinois and is a Limestone graduate who went on to secure degrees at Illinois Central College, Penn State, and a certification from Harvard, all as an online student and mother of one. In 2020, she founded Zeta Mu Phi to assist online students with finding support and scholarships to complete their degree program.

“Working, going to college for three degrees, and raising an autistic child as a single mother was absolutely the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do,” writes Hall. “In the thick of the trifecta, I would work one or two jobs for 40+ hours per week and then go to McDonalds with my baby to use their WiFi and study at night. I knew that I would need a degree to provide a life for us.”

The vision for Hall’s nonprofit started in 2020 while making candles in her kitchen to sell and raise money for Thorn, a national anti-trafficking and abuse organization. “In 2023, a friend and I were brainstorming and realized we could make a bigger impact by incorporating our donors into the process of giving back. Thus, Illuminate: Lighting the Way Against Trafficking & Abuse was born. With Illuminate, survivors can nominate the shelter that helped them and we make sure they’re included in the entire process for that project.”

Britney Sale notes the far-reaching impact of Hall’s work. “Jona has been working to make not only the community, but the world a better place. Her service is truly unmatched to anybody I know, especially at her age, and she works exceptionally hard to balance everything in her life; and she's been doing it for years.”

Hall still sells homemade candles every November, making 367 last year, and the nonprofit “has grown exponentially beyond my wildest imagination.” Illuminate has now donated over $40,000 to various trafficking and abuse shelter survivors. Most recently, her Project 2024 initiative surpassed its goal, raising 4,013 for Working Against Violence, Inc. in Rapid City, South Dakota. “I had my son at age 21 and soon split due to domestic violence,” writes Hall. “I created the organizations and programs that a younger me would have needed.”