Sophia Gordon ’20 Makes an Impact at Leading Mental Health Nonprofit
Gordon, who studied psychology at Muhlenberg, is working with The Jed Foundation (JED) as it expands its programming in partnership with school districts nationwide.By: Meghan Kita Wednesday, August 16, 2023 11:12 AM
Sophia Gordon ’20At Muhlenberg, Sophia Gordon ’20, a psychology major, worked as a writing tutor and in the Office of Alumni Affairs. Through coaching from Career Center staff, she targeted the nonprofit sector in her job hunt. When she saw an open role at The Jed Foundation (JED), a leading nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults in the United States, she realized that it integrated her major and her work experiences in higher education.
“I was like, ‘Wow! All the things I'm interested in and passionate about are merged into one organization,’ one that also just so happened to have an open role that I was a fit for,” says Gordon, who was also a women’s & gender studies minor.
Her first role with JED was on the higher education team, which partners with colleges and universities (including Muhlenberg) across the country to equip their communities with evidence-based mental health resources and programming to promote student mental health and prevent suicide. After a bit more than a year, she moved into her current role as a senior associate with JED, supporting PreK-12 districts nationwide.
JED began partnering with higher education institutions in 2013 to create JED Campus, which provides training, research, guidance and tools for administrators, faculty and students to create healthy and connected school environments. Eight years later, this same framework was expanded upon to launch JED High School for high schools across the country.
In 2023, JED developed and deployed the District Comprehensive Approach (DCA), a partnership with AASA, the School Superintendents Association, to guide districts across the country in supporting the emotional well-being of PreK-12 students. Gordon is now focused on helping to implement this programming.
“District composition can look a million different ways — some districts have just one high school; others have 10 or more elementary schools,” says Gordon, who works remotely from Washington, D.C. “It’s about making sure the design supports the needs of every district and ultimately every student, equally.”
The pilot programming is starting this coming academic year, and district feedback will be used to shape future iterations of the programs as more districts come on board. Gordon is grateful to have a job that she’s passionate about at the nexus of so many interests she was able to pursue as a college student.
“Muhlenberg was a great place for me in that there are so many different opportunities to take advantage of. It was almost an academic playground,” says Gordon, who also worked as a tour guide, conducted research with multiple psychology professors (in addition to completing a psychology honors thesis) and served as philanthropy chair of her sorority. “There were so many different opportunities for me to see what I was really interested in or explore interests that, even if they wouldn’t turn into a career path, significantly informed my future.”
