About Rodney Jordan

With a focus on Ward 7, Rodney Jordan has had his feet on the streets and in City Hall to ensure equity and opportunity for all residents.

Selected Achievement Awards

  • Certificate of Recognition Berkley Historical Society (2024)
  • Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award (2020) — Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE)
  • Inaugural recipient of the Mary Peake Excellence in Education Equity Award from the Virginia Department of Education (2020).  
  • Inaugural Education Advocate of the Year (2015) – Virginia School Boards Association
  • Inside Business Power List 2011 – 2022
  • National Council of Negro Women (Norfolk) Bethune-Height Award (2017)
  • N.I.C.E Chess Game Changer
  • Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Lambda Chapter Humanitarian of the Year (2017)
  • State of Louisiana Commending Resolution 2017
  • Reclaiming the Legacy Award (2015)
  • Resilient City Builder – City of Norfolk, VA
  • ET3 TEC Champion Award – Education Technology Think Tank & Congressional Black Caucus Education Trust (2003)
  • Influencers and Innovators of the Internet and Technology Award — Marketing and Opportunities in Black Entertainment organization (MOBE)
  • African American Heroes, Virginian-Pilot (1999)
  • Hampton Roads Happenings, Entrepreneur of the Year, 2000

Public Service

  • Chair, Vice Chair, Board Member – City of Norfolk Public Schools
  • Commissioner – Commonwealth of Virginia Commission on African American History Education
  • President – Virginia School Boards Association (2019 – 2020), Tidewater Regional Chair, Tidewater Regional Vice Chair – Virginia School Boards Association
  • Virginia Educational Technology Workgroup – Virginia School Boards Association Representative
  • Co-Chair, Task Force of Students & Schools in Challenging Environments – Virginia School Boards Association
  • Founding Advisor, Urban Boards Alliance – Consortium of State School Board Associations (COSSBA)
  • Committee Member — National School Boards Association (NSBA) Dismantling Institutional Racism in Education (DIRE)
  • Executive Committee Member – Council of Great City Schools; Achievement Gaps and Professional Development Task Force; Black and Latino Young Men and Boys Task Force
  • Youth Council Chair, Executive Committee Member — Hampton Roads Workforce Development Board 
  • Vice Chair, Board Member — Board of Commissioners of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority
  • Norfolk Fair & Impartial Policing Workgroup

Entrepreneur

  • Co-Founder, New Perspectives Technologies
  • Co-Founder, MELANET Information and Communications Network
  • Founding Member, AfricaTown Neighborhood Equity and Trust Corporation
  • Founder, Capital Commitment Hampton Roads
  • Chief Community Engagement Officer, McKinley Megginson 
  • Director of Community Impact, One Economy Corporation
  •   Consultant, U.S. Office of Minority Health, Healthy People website
  •   Consultant, Federal Management and Emergency Association Emergency Preparedness Information Project

Community Innovation

  • Godfather of Norfolk’s Neighbors Building Neighborhoods
  • Get CLEVER Virtual Village – Online book reading during the COVID Pandemic
  • Park Place 100 – Take Your Child to School on the First Day
  • Community TechFest – Park Place, Campostella, Broad Creek, Norfolk State University
  • Park Place Computer Lab; Park Place Library / Neighborhood Center Wireless Network
  • TechFest with a Youth Explosion
  • Scholar, Arts, and Youth Festival on 35th Street (SAYFEST)
  • Broad Creek Wireless Network
  • Digital Connectors – Norfolk State, YMCA, Broad Creek
  • Telecommunications Training School – Capital Commitment Hampton Roads
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March – From Attucks to King
  • Technology Director – Virginia Parent Information & Resource Center (VPIRC)
  • Co-Creator – Hampton Roads Community Learning Centers Network (HRCLCN)
  • 35th Street Better Block
  • Neighborhood Equity & Trust Corporation ™ — A Design Book for Creating Street Equity
  • Community Adoption Design Guide for Digital Inclusion Strategists
  • Park Place and other Neighborhoods’ collaboration with Hampton University School of Architecture
  • Walk for Education & TechFest with National Society of Black Engineers
  • Convener – Right to Read Documentary viewing at Norfolk State University
  • Norfolk United Facing Race

Community Service

  • Silver Life Member – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee
  • President, Park Place Civic League
  • Vice President, Park Place Civic League
  • Parliamentarian, Park Place Civic League
  • Chair, Park Place Civic League Youth Committee
  • Chair – Park Place Civic League Zoning & Improvements Committee
  • Member, Park Place Academy
  • Acting President, Vice President, Secretary, 35th Street Merchants Association
  • Founding Member & Secretary, Park Place Business Association
  • Co-Creator, Greater Park Place Visioning & Engagement Process (VEP) 
  • Co-Creator, Founding Board Member, Healthy Neighborhood Enterprises, Inc.
  • Charter Member – YMCA on Granby
  • Convener, Norfolk Digital Inclusion Advisory Board
  • Board of Directors, Norfolk State University Research and Innovation Foundation; Chair, Norfolk State University Science and Technology Academicians on the Road to Success (STARS-Plus) Advisory Board
  • Vice Chair, Hampton Roads Ventures – a community development investment firm
  • Member Board of Directors Comprehensive Health Investment Project (CHIP) of Virginia
  • Member board of Directors Urban League of Hampton Roads
  • Advisory Board Member for the 4th Court Service Unit’s Restorative Justice Program
  • Charter Member, Youth Chair, Vice Chair Economic Justice, Director — The Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men
  • Board of Directors of Norfolk Sister City Association
  • Member, Second Chance Act Tidewater Re-entry Council
  • Director / Secretary – Tidewater Children’s Foundation
  • Board Member, Norfolk Sister City Association
  • Founding Member, St. Paul’s Community, Business, & Faith Coalition
  • Founding Member, St. Paul’s Development Corporation, Inc.
  • Founding Member, Proudly Diverse Caucus
  • Founding Member, Norfolk GAINS (Growing and Investing in Norfolk Schools)
  • Founding Member, Forward Norfolk
  • Member, Norfolk Public Schools Community Schools Advisory Board
  • Member, Norfolk Public Schools Guiding Coalition
  • PTA Member – Multiple Schools
  • Board of Directors – CHiP of Virginia
  • Board of Directors – CHiP of Norfolk