Jordan Francisco (second from right) with fellow members of the Greenest Region Corps. This photo was taken during the “Illinois National Service Opening Day 2018” hosted by Serve Illinois in Springfield
Editor’s Note: The Happy Beginnings series features recent College of Arts & Sciences graduates who are getting started in careers, graduate school and service.
Ohio University alumnus Jordan Francisco ’18 is working on recycling and composting projects and as he volunteers in the Greenest Region Corps, a program jointly funded and run by the Chicago region Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and AmeriCorps.
Francisco earned a B.S. in Environmental & Plant Biology from the College of Arts & Sciences at OHIO.
“The objective of the Greenest Region Corps members is to assist communities in the Chicagoland area with their sustainability planning. Corps members in this particular program utilize the Greenest Region Compact, which is a collection of sustainability plans that address many categories in sustainability, such as economic development or land use. The Greenest Region Compact has been agreed upon by 107 communities and counting, making this the largest regional collaboration of municipalities working towards sustainability in the U.S.,” Francisco says.
Jordan Francisco proudly wears his Americorps shirt.
He is assigned to two municipalities in the north of Chicago—the villages of Libertyville and Grayslake.
“I will serve my first half of service in the village of Libertyville, where I am assisting in the village’s efforts to increase commercial businesses’ participation in recycling. In early to mid-2019, I will switch over to the village of Grayslake, where I’ll assist in their composting program,” Francisco says.
“I’m overall excited and feel blessed to have stumbled upon this opportunity. It is an amazing feeling to be able to use what I learned at OHIO and apply it to the real world where I’m making an impact in my community.
“I am proud to be an alumnus of Ohio University and would say that my education prepared me for this job position, both academically and socially. I’ve taken the lessons I’ve learned from the classroom, the communication skills, and what it means to be a part of a community at OU and apply it every day at my job.”
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