Celebrating Women Philanthropy

Meet community education activist, author, mother of the greatest basketball player of all time, and philanthropist - Deloris Jordan

I founded the James R. Jordan Foundation to demonstrate to children that, with education, anything is possible.

Many celebrities have parents running their charitable foundations and doing what the celebrity dictates. The work the charity supports is usually designed to elevate the namesake as a caring person who is deeply involved in the community. Those Foundations start, do a few things, and then go defunct. In doing my daily focus on women philanthropists, I have seen more than a few foundations that no longer exist.

However, when a Foundation is established with an intention and goal to bring about change and recognizes that real change takes years with leadership committed to ensuring the funding and staffing are in place to do so and the celebrity feels no need to have their name be the focus of the work, then you have an organization that moves mountains. And the James R. Jordan Foundation is that organization.

Named after Michael Jordan's father, the James R. Jordan Foundation was created in 1993 by him and his mother Deloris after the death of his father. The Foundation has diverse funding for Mrs. Jordan, a multimillionaire from earnings as a bestselling author of children's books and other ventures, her son Michael and a host of other partners.

Mrs. Jordan made her first foray into strategic philanthropy when she created the James R. Jordan Foundation to address the academic needs of children in Chicago. She noted that the children attending the Foundation-sponsored after-school program at a local boys and girls club had difficulty reading and completing other coursework. They needed more help than an after-school program could offer. So, she went to the schools and worked with staff to create and fund in-school programs. The impact was immediate. Students' grades improved. Parents became more engaged.

Twenty years later the Foundation continues to fund these important programs. Some of the Foundation's significant accomplishments are as follows:

• Created educational partnerships with Victor Herbert Elementary, William H. Brown, Sherman School, and Gertrude Elementary School - the joint efforts focused on creating and funding the A-Team Scholars (students are awarded financially for getting A's and B's, the funds are placed in a fund to pay for college or vocational school upon graduation - $654,000 has been awarded since its inception) and Vision for Families/Parent Partnerships (a family program that promotes reading at home among parents and their children).
• Partnered with United Airlines to provide dream trips for graduating high achieving high school seniors and their families.
• Established the Kenya Women and Children’s Wellness Centre (KWCWC) to improve the quality of life of women and girls. Over the years, the partnership expanded in collaboration with several international partners to add a state-of-the-art Wellness Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. More than 38,000 women have been helped through this program.

Every goal Mrs. Jordan has for the Foundation is being met. The children are no longer just surviving. They are thriving. If this is of interest to you, read more about it and, if you feel so moved, support it.

Reference: James R. Jordan Foundation 2020 Annual Report, Married Celeb, National Women's History Museum