Dr Jordan Marijana Alexander is a human systems strategist, writer and executive coach whose work explores how identity, culture, relationships and inherited ways of relating shape leadership, behaviour, organisations and modern life.
Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across government, infrastructure, transport, justice, housing, health, organisational strategy and cultural transformation, her work integrates systems thinking, leadership, relational intelligence, ontology and cultural analysis to help leaders and organisations navigate complexity more consciously and sustainably.
Her work is grounded in a central inquiry: what allows human beings to remain connected to themselves while participating meaningfully within the systems, relationships and institutions shaping modern life?
Jordan Marijana Alexander
Human Systems Strategist, Writer & Executive Coach
Aotearoa, New Zealand
17 followers
Understanding the invisible human infrastructure shaping how we live, lead and relate
Culture is not surface behaviour, it is lived human experience
Jordan's work explores the often invisible dynamics shaping organisational culture, leadership, communication, trust, participation and human behaviour.
Rather than treating workplace challenges as isolated performance or communication problems, her work examines the deeper relational and cultural patterns influencing how people participate within systems through: identity, legitimacy, adaptation, authority, emotional responsibility, belonging and inherited ways of relating.
Drawing on systems thinking, organisational practice, leadership strategy, geography, ontology and cross-cultural research, she helps leaders and organisations better understand the hidden human infrastructure shaping culture beneath the surface of behaviour.
Some companies Jordan has worked with
Leadership, relationships & human systems
Jordan works with leaders, executives, founders and organisations navigating complexity, transformation, relational challenges and cultural change within modern institutional environments. Her work integrates leadership strategy, relational intelligence, organisational culture, systems thinking and deeper identity-level inquiry to support transformation that extends beyond surface-level behaviour change.
Areas of focus include: leadership and organisational culture; relational dynamics and communication; trust, collaboration and participation; relational systems transformation; identity, belonging and participation; sustainable leadership; human infrastructure; and navigating complexity across people, systems and place.
Exploring the invisible architectures of culture, identity & place
Marijana's doctoral research explored how culture, identity, cosmology and belonging become embedded within landscapes, institutions, relationships and collective life.
Her PhD research in Sitka, Alaska examined how Indigenous Tlingit, Russian Orthodox and American settler worldviews intersected within a shared landscape to shape identity, legitimacy, memory, preservation, participation and authority across generations.
This work continues to influence her broader exploration of how human beings inherit ways of seeing, relating, adapting and participating within the systems around them.
Identity, relationships & the human experience of modern life
Much of Jordan’s current work explores the pressures shaping how people experience leadership, identity, visibility, responsibility, success, relationships and participation within modern life.
Her writing and relational frameworks examine the hidden adaptations many high-functioning individuals develop in response to institutional systems, achievement cultures, emotional responsibility, relational expectations and social conditioning.
Rather than approaching these patterns as personal weakness or individual failure, her work reframes them as intelligent adaptations formed within broader cultural, relational and systemic environments.
Human beings do not exist outside the systems they participate within
Jordan’s work explores how culture, leadership, identity, relationships and institutional systems shape human behaviour, participation, relationships and lived experience. Drawing on systems thinking, ontology, organisational strategy, relational intelligence and cultural inquiry, she works with leaders, teams and organisations seeking deeper forms of coherence, trust, sustainability and human effectiveness. Her work also draws on ontological coaching methodologies, including the Being Profile®, Sustainability Profile® and Thrive coaching frameworks, to support deeper awareness of the relational and behavioural patterns shaping leadership and participation within organisational and relational life.
Her work bridges the personal and systemic, exploring how inherited patterns, environments, institutions, relationships and cultural expectations shape both individual lives and collective outcomes. Rather than separating wellbeing, leadership, culture and performance, her work examines how these dimensions become interconnected expressions of the broader human systems people participate within every day.
Qualifications
- PhD – Geography School of Environment, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Master of Arts - Urban & Transport Planning University of Windsor, Canada
- Bachelor of Arts - Geography & Planning Queen’s University, Canada
- Melbourne Business School, Mt Eliza Executive Leadership Program (Residential)
- Internationally Certified Results Coach, ACSTH Coaching Certification, Australia
- Accredited Being Profile Practitioner (Engenesis)
- Qualified Thrive Coach in Ontological Coaching (Engenesis)
- International Coaching Federation, Member, ACC
- Relationship Master Coach & Founder, Love Assist Associates
- Authentic Education PhD, The Path for Heart-Centred Difference-Makers®
Published Books
- Perfectly Imperfect: Poems About Being Human, ISBN 978-1-9911977-0-2 (2026)
- Real Me Better We: A Guide to Finding Authentic Love Online, ISBN 978-0-473-58051-3 (2021)
- Elevate Your Wellbeing, ISBN 978-1-925-47134-2 (2018)
- I Love You, Send Money, ISBN 978-0-473-36479-3 (2016)
- Turbulence: An Extreme Love Story, ISBN 978-0-473-50288-1 (2019)
Public Conversations
The Authentic Living & Loving Channel features stories about individuals that are living to the beat
of their own drum, doing things a bit out of the ordinary, living authentically and inspiring others to
do the same. Hosted by Dr Jordan Alexander, the Channel encourages viewers to join the UBU
rEvolution so we can all live a life, we don’t need a vacation from.
Midlife Worthy & Wild is an unapologetic podcast hosted by Jeanette Mundy and Jordan Marijana Alexander (DrJMA). The show is tailored for women over 40 navigating reinvention and radical self-work. It blends humour and honest conversation to help listeners embrace their next chapter.
Research, Ideas & Speaking
- Speaker, Crime Stoppers & Transparency International, Cyber Scam Awareness for Seniors
- Speaker, Women Supporting Women, In Her Words, Online Summit
- Speaker, Understanding Aotearoa, Experiences & Explanations, University of Arizona
- Speaker, Her Story, Women's Global Empowerment Conference
- Geomentality: exploring spiritual and spatial attitudes in Sitka Alaska, author and presenter, Sharing Cultures International Conference on Intangible Heritage, Portugal
- Exploring accountability and governance issues in Government funding, co-author/presenter Effective Strategies for Allocating Managing & Monitoring Government Funding NZ
- The Safety Culture: Fine Tuning Public Consultation with Cultural Considerations, co-author/ presenter, International Road Federation Conference, Toronto
As featured in
Based in Aotearoa New Zealand, working across human systems globally
The daughter of Croatian and Ukrainian immigrants, Jordan’s life and work have long been shaped by questions of culture, identity, place, belonging, migration and human participation within systems and societies.
Having lived and worked across multiple countries and sectors, she developed an early awareness of how geography, culture, history and inherited worldviews quietly shape the way people relate, lead, participate and make meaning in the world around them.
Now based in Aotearoa New Zealand, Marijana feels deeply connected to the relational and cultural dimensions of place, and the ways landscapes, communities, histories and institutions influence both individual identity and collective life.
