Nonprofit Executive Director Pillar Award
Jay Jordan
president and CEO
Online Computer Library Center Inc.
(614) 764-6368 | www.oclc.org
As president and CEO of Online Computer Library Center Inc. (OCLC) — a worldwide library cooperative — Jay Jordan frequently quotes the African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
To further OCLC’s “public purpose,” which is to establish, maintain and operate a computerized library network and promote the use of libraries around the globe, Jordan has focused on developing partnerships that combine the best practices of businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Since 1998, he’s overseen more than a dozen acquisitions and established more than 300 corporate partnerships to help OCLC increase the availability of library resources and reduce the rate-of-rise of library per-unit cost for libraries and their patrons. As a result, the organization has grown its OCLC WorldCat database to more than 270 million records, which it has since made available on the Internet to people everywhere around the world.
In addition to external growth, Jordan is committed to growing OCLC’s internal culture and the organization’s role in the Columbus region. From creating OCLC Center for Leadership Development to advocating workplace programs such as the OCLC Diversity Fellowship program to establishing the President’s Inclusion Council, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, and Employee Resources Groups to create an actively inclusive work environment, Jordan has actively worked to make OCLC a best place to work.
Through these efforts, Jordan has helped grow OCLC’s impact within the Columbus community and within the library field.
