Interview with Toni Irving of Get In Chicago

Tomorrow, we are excited to host Toni Irving for a roundtable discussion at our office from 11:30 AM – 1 PM. Irving is the Executive Director of the newly formed Get In Chicago, an innovative public/private partnership that seeks to strengthen communities hardest hit by poverty and violence. Get In Chicago focuses on identifying and helping at-risk youth in the Chicago area.

Given Get In Chicago’s community-building principles, it is apparent that their work plays into Niagara’s mission of promoting social cohesion and fostering peaceful and inclusive communities. But how else does Irving’s work interact with Niagara’s core objectives?

Irving answered this question, stating, “As part of our mission, Get In Chicago regularly convenes on topics important to improving service delivery and better informing funding decisions. Today, for instance, we convened donors and researchers to discuss organizational capacity building in service delivering non profits and what it means to incorporate it as part of a continuous improvement plan. Previous topics have covered best practices in mentoring and data warehousing. We believe that promoting dialogue is at the core of systems change.”

In other words, Get In Chicago works diligently to improve the efficacy, organization and, ultimately, impact of organizations. Strengthening the work of Chicago organizations improves the scope and breadth of influence these entities make. Furthermore, Irving noted the importance of dialogue, echoing Niagara’s belief in the power of civic conversation.

To learn more about Irving’s work with Get In Chicago, join us tomorrow at 205 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 4240. For further event details and registration, visit our event posting.

The views and opinions expressed on The Falls are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Niagara Foundation, its staff, other authors, members, partners, or sponsors.