Jordan Howard

SHFT Founder, SHFT

Jordan Howard is a social good strategist. With a decade of experience bridging gaps between youth, nonprofits and corporations, Jordan has pushed brands to think differently around engaging the next generation. Using innovative ways to educate, engage and activate the next generation by developing initiatives and advising strategies. With a focus on program development and marketing & storytelling, the intersections of her work are in environmental sustainability, education, health and wellness and politics.

Jordan is one of the youngest global sustainability leaders. As a product of a green school in Los Angeles, Jordan began her journey through environmental education where she learned about systems thinking, social justice and holistic healthy communities. From there she engaged with education programs from the U.S. Green Building Council, sat on advisory boards for the Alliance for Climate Education, The Children’s Nature Institute and The Climate Reality Project. She created a youth-led plastic pollution education program, Rise Above Plastics which changed the narrative for solution driven education for many chapters within The Surfrider Foundation. This education program led to citywide policy throughout Los Angeles. Rise Above Plastics trained high school students to give presentations in high schools which then grew across Los Angeles and then to international summits with Algalita Marine Research Foundation and 5 Gyres. Since the program was developed, it has reached 4,000 youth under 18 across 9 different countries and 5 continents. The countries include: India, The Bahamas, Kenya, Turkey, Nairobi, Hungary, Italy, Bangalore, and Chile.

As a member of Dell’s Youth Innovation Advisory Board, Jordan co-created Girls Track, a STEM focused entrepreneurship program for girls 12-17 years old. Girls Track is a skills based program designed to equip girls with finance, website design, ideation and creation and marketing skills to transform their ideas into action. Girls Track has been at Dell’s Women Entrepreneur Networking Summit in Berlin, Germany and Cape Town, South Africa.

She has served as an advisor designing relevant ways for organizations to authentically work with youth. From leading the creation of advisory boards and developing ways for local and federal governments to engage millennials in their cities through Casey Family Programs and Cities United.

Jordan frequently keynotes conferences, speaks at schools, sits on panels and leads workshops across the globe. She has spoken at TEDx events, Consumer Electronics Show, SXSWeco, SXSWedu, Sustainable Brands, Environmental Grantmakers Association, Young South East Asian Leadership Summit, International Society for Technology in Education and many more. She has presented alongside nonprofits leaders, corporate leaders and opened for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Over the last decade she has presented to over 20,000 people across the globe. Ebony Magazine named her Ebony’s Power 100, as one of the most influential African Americans.

From working with U.S. State Department, Intel, Warner Bros., Hulu, Global Citizen, Creative Artists Agency, and Casey Family Programs, her work to bridge the gaps that prevent brand engagement based on authenticity and culture has only just begun.