Jordan Guildford is a small-town Nova Scotian girl who moved to Calgary in 2014.
It was getting close to the Christmas holiday – and she had a desire to help make survivors of domestic abuse feel seen. There were many steps that led her to this moment, but on this day she decided to jump in to do something about it.
She initiated a jewellery drive – ultimately resulting in hundreds of pieces of jewellery given to over 400 women that Christmas!Through the experience she made a critical observation which would change everything for her.
The public did want to mobilize for survivors. But the recession devastating the city. Even though Funds were low, Calgarians were ready to use skills, time, and energy to make a change.
This led to Jordan create a national charity called Gems for Gems to not only gift women with jewellery on Christmas morning, but to collaborate with the public to help end the cycle of domestic abuse.
Gems for Gems has gifted over 18,000 gifts on Christmas mornings across the country, assisted thousands of survivors with essential skills like financial literacy, preventative self defence, resilience and psychological coping skills , built a scholarship program for survivors and, launched an ambassador program comprised of men and women all unified under the same mission.
The Gems for Gems Ambassador Program spans across Canada and the U.S. as well as having three celebrity ambassadors within the team.
In addition to her community leadership, she launched Jordan Guildford Consulting to give organizations, and start-ups, the ‘leg up’ and creative injection needed to mobilize the community around them.
In my conversation with Jordan she talked about how important it is to evaluate our connections, lean into what lights us up, and what it’s like to stand alone when crafting progressive solutions to tenacious problems.
All good reminders – no matter the connections we are working to create!
You can find Jordan and continue the conversation on LinkedIn or explore how you can help Gems for Gems at www.GemsForGems.com
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