Jehan Gordon Biography

Jehan Gordon is the Democratic candidate for State Representative in the 92nd District.

Born and raised in Peoria County, Gordon graduated from Limestone High School in Bartonville and attended Parkland Community College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in Speech Communications. After college, Gordon worked at the Small Business Development Center at Bradley University, where she assisted local entrepreneurs in starting businesses and developing plans to grow into strong, healthy companies.

After working to foster economic growth in Peoria, Gordon entered public service by becoming an AmeriCorp VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) worker at Illinois Central College (ICC). During her tenure, she worked with a variety of faith-based and community-based organizations where she developed relationships and identified funding opportunities for programs benefiting local residents. Some of these projects included assisting in the development of a career-based curriculum for School District 150, creating a Success Luncheon Program to provide at-risk students the opportunity to come to ICC to better prepare them for college, and creating Destination Technology, which increases technology exposure to enhance learning one week each year at ICC.

After her service with the AmeriCorps VISTA program, Gordon was hired by Illinois Central College to coordinate retention programs to ensure that students are successful in school. She also served as the Chairperson of Peoria’s Promise, which is an initiative spearheaded by Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis to help qualifying students from Peoria apply for college scholarships covering full tuition and books at ICC.

Gordon also developed and directs the Emerging Leaders program that inspires college students to pursue their goals by connecting them with mentors in various professional fields. She currently serves on the Pleasant Hill School District #69 Board to help strengthen local education and improve the futures of generations of children. She serves on the board of Friends of People with AIDS and volunteers for Junior Achievement. Gordon is a graduate of U.S. Senator Barack Obama’s Campaign and Leadership Training program and the Peoria Chamber of Commerce’s Political Leadership School.

Gordon attends New Morning Start Missionary Baptist Church in Peoria. She is the youngest of eight children of Cleveland and Annie Gordon, a devoted community leader and an activist with the Tri-County Urban League for 43 years.