Jordan Moon, First Vice-President
Jordan Moon is the 1st Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind of Arizona, the NFB of Arizona State convention chair and the President of the Phoenix chapter. Jordan was born on July 5, 1988 in San Bernardino California to Theresa and Nathaniel Moon. Jordan was born with a condition called Peters anomaly, or clouded corneas. This also brought a side of glaucoma with it. It was apparent immediately when he was born that Jordan’s eyes were not working correctly and his parents wanted to act swiftly to enhance his vision. Jordan had his first cornea transplant at 6 weeks old and has had over 15 total. Jordan has two younger brothers, Joshua and Jacob, both of whom are not blind and have no eye issues whatsoever. In fact, as far as he knows no family member, either on his dad’s or mom’s side has or has ever had Peters anomaly.
Growing up, Jordan went to public schools. Throughout schooling, Jordan rarely used his cane, but did use braille for his schoolwork. He had enough vision to play sports with his neighborhood friends, but also was able to relate to his friends he would hang out with during Saturdays at the Braille Institute in Anaheim California. This left Jordan straddling the line of confusion. Although he was proud of the extremely wise decision that his parents made when he was five to have him learn braille, while attending Valley Dale Elementary in Azusa California, and taught himself JAWS when he was 11, he did not view himself as a blind person growing up. when he was a teenager, There were multiple times when darkness would fall upon the day and instead of admitting he couldn’t see, he would sometimes avoid hanging out with friends because he did not want to be seen as “special.” Jordan did not let his hesitancy stop him from seceding in school however. In High School, at Chino hills High school, Jordan was devastated when he was told by his eye doctor that he couldn’t play football so he decided to write about it instead. Jordan wrote for his high school newspaper’s sports section, and started being recognized for his great coverage of Chino Hills High Husky teams. During his senior year, he was named writer of the year. He also was in the drumline, and competed with his band mates in competitions all over southern California and in 2006 competed in the national Drumline competition in Dayton Ohio. Jordan did have the fortune to make close friends during his time in school-some of whom he is still close with today.
After high school, Jordan decided to take a leap of faith and leave home and travel 350 miles east to Arizona to attend Arizona State university. Jordan graduated from ASU in 2012 with dual degrees in journalism and political science. For the first few years, Jordan did not use a cane on campus, and was holding on to his high school ways. It was not until 2010, when Jordan’s retina partially detached and he was forced to embrace his non-visual skills. This may have been the best thing that has happened to him. Jordan returned to ASU after taking a semester off with a new energy. He embraced his new life as a blind person and was proud that he no longer had to decided between two worlds. AT ASU, Jordan co-founded Ability Counts Tempe, a student disability awareness organization. It was at this time, during the early stages of the club, that he met his wife Ashleigh. Ashleigh, who is also blind, attended the club’s meetings and Jordan was amazed by her beauty and brains. Seeing the way Ashleigh, who graduated from ASU with a BS and MS in Microbiology, caried herself as a blind person, also let Jordan know that embracing himself as a blind person meant freedom and did not mean the end of the world, embarrassment or inferiority.
After ASU, Jordan struggled to find fulltime work. He had paid internships with local nonprofits in Phoenix, but employment was not sticking. In 2014, To earn money, he worked a summer job at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland where he would teach cane travel to summer camp students. During the training for this job, it was here where he met his first blind cane travel instructor. Jordan’s mind was blown. He was always told that blindness was dangerous and that blind people had to be cautious. This was a game changer for Jordan as he could envision himself now working in the field of blindness as he witness the powerful example of a positive blind role model. Several years later, In 2021, Jordan was able to achieve his goal of teaching cane travel when he earned his NOMC and a graduate certificate from Louisiana Tech University.
Jordan now works as the Director of Saavi Services for the Blind’s Phoenix center, where he hopes to inspire blind students to believe in their capabilities as a blind person.
Some of Jordan’s proudest moments as being a NFB member is when he helped get the right to Parent as a blind parent legislation passed in Arizona, and the love he experiences when he is leading the organizational efforts of the state conventions. As the president of the Phoenix chapter, Jordan strives everyday to grow the federation by leading the chapter in community efforts, coalition building and new member engagement. Jordan regularly attends the Washington seminar, national conventions and has attended a leadership seminar in Baltimore at the National Center.
Jordan lives with his wife and his daughter Liberty (who is also blind) in Phoenix. Jordan believes that yes society places limits on blind people, but there are no more greater limits than the ones that blind people place on themselves. Blindness is a annoyance that can be overcome by persistent dedication to your belief in yourself and confidence to project that in your everyday walk. It is us often times that create the hurdles and we have to find a way to keep jumping over them. Blindness for Jordan means freedom and it is his hope that every blind person can be liberated from their internal struggle by taking on the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind.