Community Leader of the Year: Sharon Sobol Jordan

Sharon Sobol Jordan is no stranger to leadership roles. She has served as president and a board member of Unify Labs, founder and CEO of OpenSpace Solutions, interim CEO of DigitalC, chief of staff for Cuyahoga County, president and CEO of The Centers for Families and Children, and director of law and special counsel to Mayor Michael R. White for the city of Cleveland. 

Jordan began her career as a partner at Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell law firm. She has served in her current position as president and CEO of United Way of Greater Cleveland for four years. She is the first woman to assume this role in the 122-year history of the organization.

United Way aims to support those in need of financial assistance and security. 

“Upward mobility has always been a driver,” says Jordan. “Where you’re born and the circumstances under which you are born should not dictate where you go in life. But they do.”

Jordan has always had a strong sense of justice and injustice, sparked heavily by her interest in law and her mother’s civil rights activism. 

“I was raised hearing that if you do hard work you can make your own path, but that’s not true for all people,” she says. “People are up against systems, not people. I realized early that I am part of the system, so I felt responsible.”

Jordan considers herself an “intrapreneur,” aiming to change those systems from the inside out. 

“I am a system actor, but I am on the ground working with families,” she says. “When I was looking for a job, I saw United Way as a significant platform for change.”

Last year, she was recognized with a Pillar Award for Community Service Nonprofit Executive Director of the Year. 

Jordan made strides in expanding the United Way’s use of data in its work driving economic opportunity. She points out that the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) report shows an important statistic that gets overlooked. It’s common to hear about the 84,000 households in Cuyahoga County living below the poverty line; what people don’t usually notice are the 144,000 households living above the poverty line but still lacking the financial stability to afford basic household necessities.

“The way we talk about poverty and crisis, we miss all of that,” Jordan says.

Shedding a light on this issue is what Jordan says she is proudest of during her time at United Way. She is able to work closely with employers to help them increase retention and loyalty within their own teams.

“We at United Way can explain to employers that people working for them are up against odds they don’t understand,” says Jordan. “I’m proud that I am defining the problem and bringing voice to it.” 

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