Updated: September 30, 2024 / 2024 Outstanding Women in Business
Kathleen Jordan, president & CEO at Seven Hills Foundation and Affiliates

By Laura Finaldi

Kathleen Jordan joined the Seven Hills Foundation more than two decades ago, when she was hired to manage the nonprofit’s acquisition of a pediatric skilled nursing facility in Groton. She’d heard of Seven Hills; she had lived in Worcester and was vaguely aware of what the Worcester-based nonprofit did. But as she got into her job and saw the organization intimately with her own eyes, she knew it was special.
“I just found myself drawn even more deeply to working with individuals who are invisible or who, frankly, the public would like to see remain invisible,” Jordan said. “The way Seven Hills approached it from a position of strength and celebration hooked me. That was 21 years ago, and I said, ‘I’m not leaving.’”

Last summer, Jordan took the reins as president and CEO of the organization she fell in love with in 2003, succeeding her husband, the nonprofit’s long-time leader David Jordan. Its primary mission is to provide services for the developmentally disabled.

Jordan is now the leader of the largest human services nonprofit in Central Massachusetts, with more than $400 million in annual revenue and 4,700 employees. She had been well on her way to leading the organization, after she became executive vice president and CEO in 2019, where she was tasked with overseeing day-to-day operations at Seven Hills’ 15 affiliates.

“I’ve always been somebody who trusts their gut, and being able to be surrounded by folks whose guts I also trust makes the day to day much easier,” she said. “Our work is very complicated, and we’re a huge organization. Not a day goes where we don't have a problem, or something sticky. Having a team I value being able to talk openly and have dialogue, and have that level of trust, makes it easy to navigate sticky situations.”

Ken Bates, president and CEO of Open Sky Community Services, first met Jordan about 15 years ago. They serve together on the boards of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers and the Association for Behavioral Healthcare. Open Sky and Seven Hills are working together on a Human Services Career Support Program in an effort to boost the Central Massachusetts behavioral health workforce, specifically providing an employment pathway for refugees, immigrants, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

It’s not typical for two organizations to work together in that way, Bates said, but he and Jordan felt the most important thing is being a resource for the community, he said. As CEOs of human services nonprofits, Bates said he and Jordan often discuss the shared opportunities and challenges they face.

“She’s friendly. She’s approachable. She’s really strategically a leader in the field,” Bates said. “She shares very freely any strategic ideas and thoughts she may have with me, which is helpful.

“She’s funny and has a great sense of humor. She’s supportive, and we’re supportive of each other. We’ll get together quite regularly for breakfast and share ideas,” he said.

When it comes to her leadership philosophy, Jordan said she’s a practitioner of servant-style leadership. She said her job exists to remove barriers for Seven Hills’ 4,700 employees. Most days, she’s listening to employees, figuring out how she can make their jobs easier, and bringing that information to the leadership team.

“Our work is difficult. It’s challenging. It’s exhausting. It’s seven days a week. No matter where I am in the world, I'm working,” Jordan said. “Making sure that we treat one another even during trying times with respect and kindness is incredibly important to me.”

Jordan has a wealth of knowledge in her field and has been a champion for people who need behavioral health services across the commonwealth, Bates said.

“She’s someone with tremendous experience. She’s been a real leader for us in our industry, not just in Worcester County, but really statewide,” he said.

See all the 2024 Outstanding Women in Business award winners.