Jordan Farber '96

“It’s hard to believe it’s been over 20 years since graduating from SJR,” says Jordan Farber ’96. “It seems like just yesterday that Colin Kiddell was doing his ‘shirt-blazer trick’ at one of our Lower School assemblies.”

(Focus, Year in Review 2017-2018)
Jordan, who graduated from SJR in 1996 as a Lifer, completed his undergraduate studies in Economics as well as his MBA at the University of Manitoba and is now Vice President of Lexington Real Estate, Palliser Furniture’s real estate company. Prior to joining Lexington, Jordan spent over a decade in a variety of senior roles with Qualico, one of Canada’s largest real estate developers. He is also a founding member of Future Leaders of Manitoba, an organization which recognizes Manitoba’s brightest young talent. “When I finished my MBA, my first role with Qualico was assisting on the job site. I remember a number of former classmates thinking I was crazy for even considering working on a job site after graduate school, but I told them I wanted to learn the real estate business and what better way to do it than getting my hands dirty? Sometimes you need to take a step back in order to move forward.” For Jordan, skills he learned at SJR – from John Robinson’s debating
class to the mathematics program – are still hugely important today in his professional role.

Inspired by his family to value the importance of work ethic, education and philanthropy, Jordan has also consistently demonstrated a commitment to helping
those less fortunate, volunteering and supporting organizations such as Aboriginal Youth Opportunities, Winnipeg Harvest, Callie’s Backpacks for Winnipeg’s Homeless, United Way, Siloam Mission and a number of Winnipeg’s inner city schools. “Throughout my career, I have tried to focus on three things: work hard, be patient, and give back,” Jordan explains. “It was either in a Grade 11 or Grade 12 World Issues class, led by Allan Levine, that I really started to realize just how fortunate I was to attend SJR. Most kids are not given that opportunity and this in turn has motivated
me to help those less fortunate and hopefully assist in providing them with opportunities they might not have otherwise. […] While giving back to the community
may not sound like it would have had an impact on my career development, it has probably had the biggest impact on my personal development which, in turn, has helped my career.”

Jordan has some words of wisdom to offer to SJR students ahead of the next step in their path: “A lot of people mistakenly assume that once their formal education has been completed, their learning is also done,” he says. “This couldn’t be further from the truth. Having had the opportunity to meet and work with a number of successful leaders over the years, one of the recurring traits that I have noticed is that they all
have an incredible thirst for knowledge. My advice would be to keep developing your skills, continue asking questions and never stop learning.”
Back
St. John’s-Ravenscourt School was founded in 1820 principally to serve the children of the Selkirk settlers. By 1834 there were forty students, evenly split between boys and girls. SJR has inevitably grown and changed over the years since, though its success throughout has been unimpeachable. We have graduated 18 Rhodes scholars, for example, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted patronage and established a scholarship in her name in 1981. Today the programs are as strong as our reputation. A strong academic program is paired with an equally strong attention to the values of stewardship, ethical leadership, and excellence in all areas of academic, social and athletic life.