Candidate for
Board Member; Sonoma County Junior College District - Sebastopol Area

"As your next Junior College Board Trustee, I will be the community's voice on environmental issues and will help working families get better access to the top-notch education they deserve," says Jordan.

The Junior College Board is not new to Jordan. As the Student Trustee in 2008-2009, Jordan proposed a plan involving reduced school fees, equal representation on the Board and financial oversight. Jordan was the voice of more than 36,000 students in the Junior College District.

"I know first-hand what it takes to make real change for the better for the students of our Junior College. I will do the same as the West County's representative, making sure the voices of West County are heard loud and clear," says Jordan.

When Jordan graduated from the Junior College in 2009 with highest honors, he was valedictorian and selected to give the commencement speech. Jordan then transferred to University of California, Berkeley, where he received a bachelor's degree in Political Science with a minor in Global Poverty in 2012.

Jordan is a huge supporter of Sonoma County education and specifically the West County because it has been his family's home for six generations. Jordan was raised in Sebastopol, attending Park Side Elementary, Pine Crest Elementary, Brook Haven Middle School and Analy High School. His family farmed plums, peaches and berries on their land across from Ragle Ranch Park for almost a century. He is a proud Latino + his mother was born in Puerto Rico while his grandfather was stationed there in the Army, which is where he met Jordan's grandmother, a local resident. Half his family is of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent. One thing he regrets is not learning Spanish, because as in many mixed households, his grandfather forbade speaking Spanish at home. If elected, Jordan will be the only Latino on the Junior College Board (and just the second in its history).

Jordan is the founder and executive director of Children's Humanitarian International (CHI), a nonprofit grassroots organization advocating for sustainable education and providing health care, school supplies and educational opportunities for children in developing countries. In addition, CHI has begun the development of an after-school program in Sonoma County that will focus on hands-on learning, community projects and sustainable-living education to inspire and inform young people on local and international issues.

Jordan has also received numerous leadership-based scholarships from both Santa Rosa Junior College and UC Berkeley, including the Cal Alumni Leadership Award and the Blum Center for Developing Economies Fellowship for his work in the developing world.

"As a young leader and an advocate for students, faculty and staff, I will put my experience and passion to work for our entire community," says Jordan. "We are all in this together; let's get out there and together make the changes that will make Santa Rosa Junior College better than ever."