Jordan Cooley

JORDAN COOLEY (she/her) is a Houstonian living and working in Austin, TX. Currently, she work works as policy analyst for Senator Nathan Johnson. Her passion is understanding the issues Texans face — from securing work opportunities to juvenile justice reform to obscene toll costs — to shape good sense policy recommendations. It’s at the intersection of data and real stories where she starts crafting and collaboratively building policy solutions that serve the community, hopefully bringing both growth and resiliency to those who need it most.

In the past, she has worked as a barista, server, and bartender at places like Kalimotxo and Better Half Bar. She has also volunteered as a teaching artist for Austin Bat Cave and was the president of the non-profit Mic Check Poetry. In 2021, she was a policy analyst for Representative James White on juvenile justice reform and an economic development research intern for EY’s Economic Development Advisory Services team. Before joining Senator Johnson’s team full-time, Jordan:

• Shaped research processes as the research manager and consulted with cities, states, and provinces on their economic and destination development for Resonance Consultancy;

• Created regional economic development strategies as an Associate Consultant on EY’s Economic Development Advisory Services (EDAS) team;

• Conducted research on crypto and blockchain implementations within cities at CRADL, a research and design lab funded by the World Economic Forum and

• Graduated from The University of Texas’ Masters of Public Affairs program.

Resume | CV

My values:

I think understanding someone’s values and why they do what they do is just as important as what they have done. I am proud to be a first-gen college student from a suburb of Houston with two degrees; a daughter of an artist who was a teen mother and a cop who is no longer a cop; and the oldest sister of four, two of which are my half siblings and incredibly dear to me.

Passionate: Some people call me intense. I prefer the term passionate. Emotion is often related to weakness because it’s seen as unstable and unreliable, and it is. But it’s also what can connect people to the larger picture and to each other; it allows for others to see themselves in the work; it’s what drives me to make an impact where I can.

Curious: My curiosity stems from two places: my own desire to be known and the fact that the more I learn, the more I learn I know little about anything. Rather than be intimidated by this fact, I’m driven to into my work with an open mind and questions at the ready.

Molly Ivins: Ivins had the ability to embrace Texas and its politics for the absurdity that it is, while also calling it out on its bullshit. Her writing, wit, and integrity captured the nuance of what it means to be a Texan. People trusted her for it. Myself being born and raised in Texas, with two degrees from two of the most Texas schools, I identify a lot with Ivins’ work. I, too, grapple with the hypocrisy of this state and my love for it.

Human-centered: In Ethics within Engineering, Robison states, “The professional ought to know better” when writing about the moral responsibility of unintended harm from design and invention, that the “failure to live up to their professional responsibility by being incompetent is a moral wrong whether they intended to cause harm or not.” When I learned that one of the most significant indicators of a child being involved with the criminal justice system is their zip code, it wasn’t difficult to connect that to the design of their cities. Not when highways were constructed to segregate. Not when polluting-facilities were located in communities of color. Not when schools are largely funded by property taxes. I know that when I craft policy recommendations, communities will be directly impacted by the programs and policies put into place. It’s my responsibility to learn how people have been harmed, either intentionally or not, and work not to perpetuate those systems.