Jacqueline Cruzado and Alison O Jordan: Driving Social Change for Health Equity

Jacqueline Cruzado and Alison O Jordan are forces of nature. As the owners of ACOJA Consulting , they have spent decades improving correctional public health and forging community collaborations that save lives. Their partnership seemed destined, although they took very different paths to get there.    

Jacqueline Cruzado, known affectionately as Jackie, was born in New York City as the child of Puerto Rican parents. Her formative years were spent living a transnational experience immersed in both the vibrant, close-knit community in Puerto Rico as well as the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. From an early age, she gravitated toward helping roles, volunteering in her East NY Brooklyn community and organizing youth activities for the neighborhood block association. After high school graduation, she embarked on a career aimed at empowering people and fostering change. Jackie worked at the NYC Department of Health from the 1980s under a federal HIV prevention grant, educating people through street outreach and in NYC jails.   

Meanwhile, Alison O Jordan, also known as Ali, was born in Astoria, Queens, and later moved to suburban Long Island. Her parents made sure she understood her many privileges (educational opportunities, two loving parents, and intellectual gifts beyond her years). Her mother, a civil rights activist, made sure Ali knew that with her opportunities came a great responsibility to help others who had less. After college, Ali began working at a Senior Center, on the border of Queens and Brooklyn and then served as a caseworker while earning her Masters in Social Work at night.   

Through this groundwork, the partners independently witnessed firsthand the cycle that swept the city’s most defenseless into the justice system. Jackie covered areas like Manhattan’s Lower East Side, while Ali made visits to Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Red Hook. The 1980s cemented their joint calling to advocate for society’s voiceless, setting each woman on a path that would eventually intertwine.    

Their professional paths crossed on Rikers Island in the early 2000s. Jackie had risen through the ranks to direct correctional public health programs. Ali knew many of NYC’s grassroots community-based organizations from her administrative roles in NYC procurement.   

When they first met the people detained in NYC jails, including the notorious Rikers Island, Jackie and Ali realized they didn’t need to search far and wide for the disadvantaged―they were already filling the jail cells pending hearings for what many termed “quality of life crimes.” This revealed a sobering reality―many people are incarcerated simply for being poor―unhoused, and/or living with mental illness (including substance use disorders), in one of the world’s wealthiest cities.   

So, when the NYC Health Commissioner asked them to adapt the Public Health Model for Correctional Health, initiated in Hampton County, MA, together they were able to lay the blueprint for Tool + Tips for Providing Transitional Care Coordination: The Handbook.  Ali was impressed with Jackie’s knowledge of how Corrections operates; Jackie said the plan Ali presented was her dream come true. In Jackie’s words, “We met clients where they were. It was all about them and how we could help.” Sparks flew as the two innovators huddled to blueprint a structural intervention model for Transitional Care Coordination between jails and community healthcare. Their nascent partnership, supported by dozens of community collaborators, yielded quick successes that caught national attention.    

Over the next fifteen years, Jackie and Ali guided the implementation of Transitional Care Coordination in all twelve of New York City’s jails. Evaluation data showed striking improvements in health outcomes, reducing hunger and unstable housing, as well as demonstrating cost savings on a societal level from improving health outcomes and unnecessary hospital admissions. The NYC Transitional Care Coordination model approach garnered attention in peer-reviewed journals and national conferences.    

Thus, in 2015, Jackie and Ali were asked to work as consultants to adapt this model for other jail health systems, creating a national jail-to-community linkage to care model. Jackie and Ali recognized that pooling their complementary skill sets under one shingle would multiply their social impact. Subsequently, ACOJA Consulting was born, fusing their initials and the Spanish word for “welcome” or “embrace.” Like a warm hug, ACOJA Consulting advances health equity, spurs systems change, and nurtures grassroots solutions.    

When COVID-19 engulfed New York City’s jail complex in crisis, the pair leaped into action, leveraging their newly created women and minority-owned small business, ACOJA Consulting, by rallying their network for an urgent online community collaborative session. More than fifty partners conferred to identify the needs of people incarcerated and recently released from jail during the pandemic.     

This community-centered, collaborative spirit is the foundation for the ACOJA Consulting model that uplifts community voices and coordinates unlikely allies. The partners bring people to the table who hold different puzzle pieces, facilitating shared understanding so collaborative solutions emerge. ACOJA Consulting is an internationally recognized team skilled in improving health and human services, university research, and government programs through strategic planning, technical support, and guidance. As a Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE), ACOJA Consulting lives up to its name by embracing collaboration across systems and partners.    

Whether a fledgling startup or a large government agency, ACOJA Consulting lends its hard-won expertise to organizations seeking to expand their impact. From program evaluation to grant writing training, Jackie and Ali match services to meet each client’s needs.   

ACOJA Consulting has already sparked progress on pressing health issues in Puerto Rico and across the continental U.S. True to Jackie and Ali’s roots, the firm lends its expertise to guide both governmental initiatives and humble startups. Applying for a federal grant? ACOJA Consulting offers organizations customized workshops on securing public health funding. Seeking trauma-informed staff training? The partners can deliver that evidence-based curriculum.   

Four years in, ACOJA Consulting is changing systems across the U.S. by living its name. Jackie and Ali continue embracing innovation while welcoming partners unlike themselves. At a time of polarization, these bridge-builders forge understanding to foster change.

Both women light up when mentoring emerging leaders or nudging entrenched systems toward justice. Each visit to a collaborator renews their optimism. There is always more work to be done dismantling institutional racism and championing society’s most marginalized voices. Luckily, Jackie and Ali’s reservoirs of passion seem limitless.   

So, what sparked these two dynamos’ profound partnership? Ali reflects that Jackie’s talents arise from the “school of hard knocks,” while her own spring more from a fierce sense of doing what’s right. In tandem, though, the women unlock new possibilities. By linking arms across their differences, Jackie and Ali epitomize the power of diversity to drive progress.   

As ACOJA Consulting enters 2024, celebrating its 5 th anniversary, its owners stand poised to envision even greater social change. Given their track record over decades of service, one thing seems certain―wherever Jackie and Ali focus their formidable talents next, health equity will surely follow.   

Connect with Jacqueline Cruzado and Alison O Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acoja-consulting-llc/