Jordan, Eleanor
(born: 1953)In 2001 Governor Paul Patton appointed Eleanor Jordan the Executive Director of the Office of the Ombudsman for the Cabinet for Families and Children. Prior to that, she had served three terms as a Kentucky Representative (Louisville): 2/1996 special election, 11/1996 election, and 11/1998 election.
In 2000 she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Kentucky's Third Congressional District; she was the first African American candidate for national office from Kentucky. In 2007, Jordan was appointed Executive Director of the Kentucky Commission on Women by newly elected Governor Steve Beshear. She has served the following organizational groups: the Breast Cancer Advisory Council, the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, the West Louisville Community Ministries, California Area Child Development, and the Kentucky Institute of Medicine Boards.
For more see Kentucky Women, by E. Potter; Y. Scruggs-Leftwich, "Significance of Black Women's Vote Ignored," in Women's ENews; D. M. Clayton, "African American women and their quest for Congress," Journal of Black Studies, Jan 2003, vol. 33, issue 3, pp. 354-388; Kentucky Governor Press Release, 1/2/2008, "Governor Beshear Appoints Executive Director of the Kentucky Commission on Women; "Eleanor Jordan" at the Our Campaigns website; and the Oral History Interview with Eleanor Jordan at the Kentucky Historical Society.