Mission Accepted

Jordan Drexel is pursuing his master of business administration degree at Lebanon Valley College to improve his professional career opportunities and provide for his family. He also feels a strong desire to serve others.

Drexel, who has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, recently completed a mission trip to Zambia, Africa, to assist in the planning of a new site for the Terra Nova Children’s Home. The home provides a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment for orphaned children. He, along with the Engineering Ministries International team, created a master site plan and recommendations for the electrical design of the building. 

“Architects and engineers provide their professional services, similar to Doctors Without Borders,” he said. “The locations traveled to, by missionaries volunteering with this organization, are unable to afford in-country engineering/architectural design support. While working to complete the designs for the ministry, we collaborated to ensure the project remained within the scope set forth by the ministry.”

Drexel has traveled for missions in other countries, too. He studied as an exchange student in Germany, helped with a youth camp in Barbados, served in the interior of Guyana, and worked with local churches in Bulgaria. He said each of these mission experiences contributed to his leadership and personal growth.

Eight months after returning from Zambia, Drexel moved to a project manager position at Armstrong World Industries, Inc., based at the corporate campus in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There, he is responsible for coordinating, aggregating, and analyzing project portfolios in conjunction with the Information Technology (IT) Governance process, creating standards for project management execution, and providing overall project management for IT projects. 

In his new role, Drexel applies lessons from his favorite Management for Information Systems class. 

“This class provided great insight into how to manage technical systems from a high level,” he said. “Skills and takeaways, for my career, have come with each class. My coworkers notice a difference and the classwork has helped my understanding of business.” 

The insight into cost centers from his Accounting for Management class is helping him to better understand those he deals with at work. As an engineering undergraduate, this is the first time Drexel has taken an accounting and finance-related course.

Prior to his current role, Drexel worked as an electrical engineer in Armstrong’s manufacturing facilities in Macon, Ga., and then in Marietta, Pa., where he was based prior to his new position. The company’s tuition reimbursement benefit along with career advancement opportunities and encouragement from his manager, gave Drexel the final nudge to begin his MBA.

“If it wasn’t for my faith, my family, and my beautiful wife, I would not be in the program today,” he said. “Encouragement led to inspiration!”

“The program, while difficult, provides growth in business and life. I have found it to aid with time management and prioritization,” he added.

Drexel anticipates graduating with his MBA in 2021. As he currently envisions his future, he would like to assist businesses with merging their information and operational technology at a director or chief information officer level.