When President John A. Fry envisioned Drexel University’s future as the most civically engaged university in America, Edward Julian Jordan III, a senior majoring in entrepreneurship and innovation at Drexel’s very own Close School, enlivened this aspiration when he chose to run for New Jersey’s 6th District in the State Assembly, with Rutgers professor Danie Moss-Velasco as his running mate. Jordan and Moss-Velasco, both New Jersey natives, run their campaign on the platforms that their constituents are most concerned with, namely taxes and education.
With Jordan’s concentration in Social Entrepreneurship, and Moss-Velasco’s position as a law professor at Rutgers University-Camden, their partnership illustrates the issues the approach that has become part of his philosophy.
“I think there’s a lot of overlap between startup culture and the private sector that can be brought over to the public sector,” Jordan told The Triangle when asked about what he can bring to the table as he runs for the lower house in the state’s legislature.
A product of public schools, Jordan had grown up in Voorhees, New Jersey, and was compelled by the disparity he observed between the town he lived in and the very fortunate upbringing he had, and the experiences of some family members he had living in West Philadelphia. The sheer disparity in regards to career opportunities and the quality of education, Jordan recounts, was a key factor in explaining his motivations. Like many other students exhibiting exceptional ambition at Drexel, Jordan belongs to more clubs and student organizations than can be counted, including the Real Estate Program and many others.