ESC woman hasn’t let blindness hold her back

  • Published
  • By Kevin Gilmartin
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  An Electronic Systems Center woman who has been totally blind since birth has won the Air Force Materiel Command-level Outstanding Department of Defense Employee with a Disability Award for 2007.

Joanne Jordan, lead information manager for the 950th Electronic Systems Group, has not allowed her visual impairment to get in the way of her professional or personal life. Her hard work and perseverance both at work and in the local community made her worthy of this DoD-wide honor, according to her supervisors.

Among Ms. Jordan's many duties is serving as a key member of the 950th's Contract Closeout Team. In that role, she personally contacted more than 20 administrative contracting officers across the United States to resolve contractor delivery and invoice issues.

"Joanne copied and faxed over 20 delinquent invoices to assist in the closeout of more than 40 contracts totaling$100 million," said Joe Zimmerman, director of Contracts for the 950th ELSG. "Her efforts led the contract closeout team to close more than 55 contracts in just one year, making them the number one team in the 350th Electronic Systems Wing."

She also quickly processed a critical $1.2 million invoice that led to the delivery and acceptance of the security application for the national priority Distributed Common Ground System program.

Ms. Jordan, who serves as Mr. Zimmerman's secretary, organizes various meetings for the 33-person staff using Microsoft Outlook, and is timekeeper and union steward for the unit.

"We have an aggressive and demanding travel schedule, and Joanne is responsible for processing all our travel orders, and flight, hotel and rental car reservations, using the Defense Travel System," Mr. Zimmerman said. "And when we lost our timekeeper, Joanne stepped up to the challenge of solely overseeing that as well."

Faced with antiquated software not accessible to those with her disability, Ms. Jordan spearheaded an initiative to reengineer the Defense Civilian Pay System software to make it accessible to the blind. Working with the software engineer from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, they opened the door for other government employees with similar disabilities to handle this critical task."

As a result, she now prepares time cards for 21 government civilians every two weeks.

Ms. Jordan was hand-picked by the 66th Air Base Wing Commander to be an Alternate Resolution certified facilitator. After successfully completing the prescribed training, she was selected to be the division's National Association of Government Employees union steward, serving as mediator during labor disputes and working to facilitate amicable solutions.

She is also very active in promoting government employment for disabled citizens, working with the president of NAGE Local R1-08 on an aggressive recruitment campaign.

"Ms. Jordan has demonstrated time and time again that she has the initiative and drive to overcome her disability and meet any challenge. She truly is an outstanding individual" said Col. David DeNofrio, commander of the 950th ELSG.

Ms. Jordan, a resident of Arlington, Mass., is also very active in the local community. She was elected secretary of the Cambridge chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, and attended that organization's state convention. An active member of the Pleasant Street Congregational Church in Arlington, she volunteered her time as a member of the congregation procurement committee, applying her contracting knowledge to help negotiate a church steeple cell tower that not only enhanced cell phone reception for her community, but raised significant funds for her church.

Ms. Jordan also sings in the church choir, plays piano at special services, is an active member of the church council and volunteers her time to the church's mission and growth team.

"Joanne's best attribute is her enthusiasm and positive attitude," said Mr. Zimmerman. "Her cheerful disposition is contagious, and she is always ready to take on any challenge."

Ms. Jordan will now compete for the Air Force-level of this DoD award.