Peter Ireland, Associate Director of Social Enterprise, Inspiration Corporation
There is an adrenaline rush when developing new projects (like this blog). At least for me. The flurry of excitement has come with lessons learned. As one example, I've learned time management is key. Setting the time aside to do something makes it real and putting the time on my schedule makes me accountable to do it. Managing my time also allows me the needed structure to remember my mission.
Peter Ireland is also developing a new project. As Associate Director of Social Enterprise at Inspiration Corporation 
Mr. Ireland is in the midst of fulfilling Inspiration Corporation's mission by opening their second social enterprise, a restaurant in East Garfield Park, which will be akin to Cafe Too in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago.
“We’re starting a new project in East Garfield Park that will be a replication of [the Cafe Too] model with some differences. To capitalize on some of the lessons we’ve learned we’ve done research into other programs that have done job training for the population we’re working with- people who are under-employed, unemployed, struggling with effects of homelessness or joblessness. This program [at Cafe Too] is a job training program in food service as will be the program in East Garfield Park. There’ll be some other differences in how we approach revenue streams, but aside from that there are some minor changes that we’re going to try because we see there are benefits to changing pieces. However, we’ve done research across the country one of the things we see is that we’re doing a pretty good job, an excellent job really, of working with people and helping people gain self sufficiency.”
Some background on Inspiration Corporation. Here's Mr. Ireland on Inspiration Corporation and why they've done so well helping people gain self sufficiency:
“[At Inspiration Corporation] there’s a reasonable premise as to how each person is dealt with and how each transaction is approached and that’s just honesty, dignity and respect. Treat people with dignity and respect and it’s not a tag line it’s actually how people interact and that’s the reason for the success. There are all sorts of other things [as to why we've done well], there are smart people in the organization, there are intelligent plans moving forward... and in terms of securing diverse revenue from government, from private sources, earned revenue and all those sorts of things, very important, but at root it’s that people are feeling that they’re recognized, their ideas are understood and if not perceived then taken into account.”
And how do those values perform in action? Mr. Ireland:
A conversation. A reciprocal interaction between two people. For Mr. Ireland those values stem from growing up in Vermont. I asked Mr. Ireland if there were any lessons growing up in Vermont that he couldn't have learned growing up anywhere else.
While we were on the topic of values I asked Mr. Ireland why his values were important enough for him to take on his role at Inspiration Corporation. This is what he had to say:
For Mr. Ireland, success “is when you [as a manager] are inessential. If you've set up efficient systems and you've trained people to do what needs to be done then you have succeeded. What is important is to facilitate success for your staff for your students, for your clients and allow them the agency to succeed.” When discussing values what came up again and again was importance of making sure others have the opportunity and resources to succeed. It is both opportunity and resources the new East Garfield Park restaurant seeks to bring to the community.
When success is less viewed in the conext of community and in the context of taking care of more than just yourself we see projects like Cafe Too flourish. The reciprocity created and acknowledged reminds me that developing new projects are just as much about me as they are about the person I'm meeting or working with. The give and take, the back and forth, the talking and listening between two people create a dynamic relationship where people can grow and communites are strengthened. When has that dynamic been present on your journey and what fruit did it bear?
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