About Jordan Reeves
Jordan Reeves, 19, is a BFA Acting student at the Purchase College Conservatory of Theatre Arts. She spent a good portion of her childhood on a mission to raise awareness and drive action in support of young people with physical disabilities worldwide.
Jordan was born with a left arm that stopped growing just before the elbow. She is not alone. A little more than 2,000 children are born yearly in the U.S. with a limb difference.
While still in elementary school, Jordan’s experiences turned into the perfect storm when she was invited to build something fun to add to her arm at a workshop for kids with limb differences. Jordan decided she wanted to be “Glitter Girl” and came up with a glitter-shooting prosthetic. As she worked with a design partner to create new and better iterations on the idea she named “Project Unicorn,” Jordan’s work caught the attention of many news outlets, including Fast Company and Popular Science. Jordan had opportunities to present her invention to Maker Faire events, schools, scout meetings, and even received a Disney Parks Dream Big Princess Innovation Award. The interest in her Project Unicorn work grew significantly after she showcased her design to Shark Tank investors during an episode of The Rachael Ray Show.
Around the same time, Jordan noticed that American Girl had been creating dolls with wheelchairs and crutches, dolls without hair, and insulin kits to support kids with disabilities. It confirmed what Jordan already knew: that kids want to see themselves in their toys. She thought if they can provide those types of accessories, why shouldn’t they offer dolls with limb differences too?
Jordan started a change.org petition with the help of her mom to encourage the inclusion of limb difference options with American Girl dolls. The petition received more than 25,000 signatures!
With greater awareness of her work, Jordan spoke at two different TEDx events and many other appearances across the country. During her speaking engagements, she focuses on two major conversations: Kids should have a chance to see more physical disabilities represented in the mainstream world and designers should include disabled people from the beginning of a concept for a new product. Given her own personal experience, Jordan believes it is important to give kids with disabilities more access to the power of design and STEAM skills earlier in their lives.
As Jordan’s voice grew as a disability advocate and changemaker, she launched a nonprofit with her mom. Design With Us is an extension of what was once a blog and an online community. The organization focuses on creating learning opportunities so other kids with disabilities can learn about design and design thinking with the hope that those design and STEAM skills will lead to new job paths as they grow older. Since starting the nonprofit, Design with Us created design skill opportunities that bring together designers and engineers through a program called BOOST workshops. These design workshops have been held in San Francisco and Cambridge, MA, with kids of different ages.
Given her design insight, Jordan consulted with major brands, speaking at SXSW, the National AIGA Design Conference, and the Strategic Design Conference at Parsons School of Design. She also consulted with Mattel on creating its first doll with a limb difference. Mattel honored her with a one-of-a-kind doll that looked just like Jordan!
In the Summer of 2019, Jordan and her mom released their first book, Born Just Right, for teens through Simon and Schuster’s Aladdin and Jeter Publishing imprints. The book is a memoir about Jordan’s early life, experiences, and lessons learned from growing up with a disability. She wanted to write a book to encourage more open discussions about disability. The book is now used as part of curriculum in classrooms across the country.
In 2020, Jordan had opportunities to speak publicly about the importance of inclusion during in-person and virtual events. She collaborated with brands, including Keds and LEGO, and with volunteers at Microsoft. Jordan was a top 5 finalist for Time Magazine and Nickelodeon’s 2020 Kid of the Year and was listed as PEOPLE Magazine’s “Teens Changing the World” and Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 in 2021. She was also honored as a 2021 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes grant winner. In 2023, she spoke on a panel at the Clinton Global Institute University, moderated by Dr. Chelsea Clinton.
Jordan’s journey has just begun. She wants to use her life experiences to enhance an acting career. She knows her work can help further a new conversation about people with disabilities and show others that differences are an essential part of life. She’s thrilled to be a member of Purchase College Conservatory of Theatre Arts’ Company 52 and looks forward to earning a BFA in acting by 2028.