Jordan Madden
For junior Jordan Madden, majoring in public policy was a no-brainer. As a former aide in the Georgia Legislature and now a co-director of the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, advocating for the voiceless is a priority. Below, he talks about his journey and how Georgia State University is preparing him for his future.
Interview by Jordan Ferguson
Why did you choose Georgia State?
I grew up here in Atlanta, and I’ve been here my whole life. This is really the environment that I know. After really reviewing all of my options, being home was very important to me. Not just because it is home, but also its proximity to the state Capitol, where I was an intern. The advocacy work that I do here on the ground in Georgia, it’s very important to me, and I knew there was so much work left to do. So, that was really a deciding factor in why I stayed here.
Let’s discuss your advocacy work. How has studying public policy helped your mission?
I got started at a young age, about 14 or 15, as a climate activist. I was working with an organization called the Sunrise Movement for a few years, doing a lot of the electoral work as well as base-building in Georgia. At the same time, I was also interning with a state representative in the Georgia State House of Representatives. It was really fun. It was an amazing experience to kind of start that journey.
Post-high school, I thought I was going to be an engineer, but I hated math, so that didn’t work in my favor. I really was curious and wanted to make sure that my community was taken care of. There were a lot of things that I did get as a kid, a lot of resources, a lot of time and talent from a lot of folks, that maybe wasn’t trickling down like it used to. There were things that I saw that other neighborhoods and other schools get. It really motivated me to want to advocate and speak out for those that I care about in my community.
When I got to college, I started to work under the Gold Dome with the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, and now I serve as their advocacy director on the statewide level. It’s been really cool. I get to impact policy at the state level and local levels in Georgia. Having real-life experience as well as being in the classroom is really important because I get to learn and gain skills in the classroom and then go into the advocacy space and actually use them and apply them. It’s been a really good, fundamental journey in my educational experience.
Tell me about the activities that you do on campus.
When I got started here, I joined the student government. I wanted to really advocate for students’ interest here at Georgia State, but also join a few various other clubs. I am a part of the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity. I was also a member of the Black Sophomore Society, a group dedicated to sophomores. I participated in various clubs with the Black Student Achievement office and did a lot of their activities. And I was a part of the Social Action Alliance program. I was a part of the first cohort of that. The Social Action Alliance is an academic program to train social advocates in various fields, not just public policy, political science or pre-law. We wanted to look out for folks who were doing things like social entrepreneurship. We also had social work and education majors because it was really important.
I also love to attend the games and be a part of student life. I think it’s really my greatest passion — just to be a student and be a part of that.
What do you think makes Georgia State different from other schools?
Georgia State is, I can argue, the best school in the country if not the world, because it prides itself on being so diverse. We have a very diverse student body, but we also have accessibility to every single industry that anyone can think of. It’s right there. We pride ourselves on being partners and having those real-life experiences versus telling folks to get the education experience and wait. I love the fact that we are a school situated in the city and that gives us a unique perspective, especially from an advocacy and policy standpoint. We can see the inequalities and we can go to the classroom to try to solve them. It’s a joy to say it’s one of those places you can’t recreate or duplicate. It’s been a privilege to call Georgia State home for some years.
Where do you see yourself going after graduation?
I am hoping to go to law school. Fingers crossed that I can get into GSU Law, but I am interested in doing the dual program here at Georgia State — getting a J.D. as well as a degree in public administration. It’s really an important thing to me to, you know, get a law degree but also focus on policy.
