Sonia Jordan
40 Under 40 Class of 2021
Lawrence, Kansas
Director of Informatics
Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department
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The past year-and-a-half has been hard for many people in public health. But with the challenges, opportunities have presented themselves. Opportunities to build trust in public health, to create momentum in other areas of community health, and to become a trusted leader in the field of health…these are all opportunities that should be seized.
Three words to describe me:
positive, engaging, reflective
The best part of my job:
fast-paced, always new, community facing, opportunities to learn, progressive!
Something that would surprise others about me:
I'm an extrovert with anxiety, depression, and OCD. The extroverted nature can sometimes hide mental health struggles.
With over 10 years of experience in the field of public health, Sonia Jordan played many roles in public health projects in public health informatics, health equity, infectious disease, and public health preparedness. Sonia currently serves as the director of informatics, a new department for Lawrence-Douglas County. Sonia played a leading role in developing and disseminating a health equity report, and was an active partner in building a data-sharing collaborative that aimed to support behavioral health in the community through a lens of equity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she shifted gears to aid the response. Her department was responsible for all disease investigation, contact tracing, isolation/quarantine, and outbreak management and ultimately was responsible for coordinating the distribution of the vaccine in her community.
Sonia holds an MA in sociology from the University of Oklahoma and a BA in sociology from Kansas State University.
