Jordan Thibodeau understands – more than most – how the love and support of a Catholic school community can have a lasting impact on a child’s life. Jordan’s mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when he was a toddler and she fought the disease for 14 years before passing away when Jordan was a freshman in high school. Due to her illness and her struggles raising Jordan as a single parent, they did not have many resources. However, it was important to Jordan’s mom that he attend Catholic school. Through the generosity of fellow parishioners at St. Justin Parish, Jordan was awarded a scholarship to attend St. Justin School.
“My grades weren’t good,” said Jordan. But the community didn’t want him to be sent to a public school where “he wouldn’t have the stability of the Catholic school system, the rigor, the moral teachings and a community that cares for him.” When he was in junior high, his mom went bankrupt. He recalls a day when Kathy Almazol, principal of St. Justin School at the time, and some of the moms in the community came to their house. They presented Jordan’s mom with a check. “They had basically figured out how much she owed in debt and they paid all that off plus they gave her a lot more money that she could use to be stable,” said Jordan. “I didn’t really understand it at the time, but that moment really seared into my mind that the Catholic school community would just rally around her.”
After his mom’s death he attended public school, and his former principal Kathy Almazol drove him on his first day. “I told [her] – I don’t believe in God anymore. I don’t know why you’re doing this for me. And she said, ‘We made a promise to your mother that we would take care of you…We know that you went through a horrible situation and we’re always going to be here for you.’”
Through the challenges of multiple public high schools, his grandmother’s death, temporary homelessness, working full time while attending De Anza College, and finding scholarships to attend Santa Clara University, one thing he could always count on was the support from the Catholic community that had helped raise him. Eventually he landed a job at Google where he worked for 10 years and founded the Silicon Valley Investors Club. He recently joined Slack’s Mergers and Acquisitions team as a People Manger.
“During all this time in my mind I’m thinking – I have to be sure I give something back.”
Jordan knew he wanted to set up a Donor Advised Fund to facilitate his philanthropy because of its ease-of-use. “I wanted a super simple vehicle where I can just put money in, hopefully beat inflation, but I can easily have checkbook power. I didn’t want to have any administrative burden.” He chose the Foundation instead of a commercial charitable fund because of our personalized customer service and the Catholic values embedded in the organization.
Jordan’s Impact
Jordan is drawn to helping kids in Catholic grade schools who are struggling because he feels that helping at this stage of life can have long-term impact, like it did in his life. The Catholic network he built at St. Justin School helped him through some of the toughest challenges of his life, and he wants other kids to have access to that same Catholic support system. “Seeing as there aren’t as many people giving in this area, that’s where I felt that my small pocketbook could make a larger difference.”
To learn more about the Foundation’s Donor Advised Funds, visit catholiccf.org/donor-advised-funds