Champaign Center Partnership is a local business association, 501 C6 member based organization with a 140 small business in downtown, Midtown and Campus town districts. It’s mission is to foster a vibrant, inviting and active Champaign core community. We support local business by providing marketing, promotion and education. We also organize events like the Parade of Lights in downtown Champaign. Campus town has 13 Thursdays, where patrons can take advantage of great food deals and receive parking vouchers. In August, for downtown Champaign, we are organizing the Wine Walk during the popular Friday Night Live music.
“My full name is Genevieve Lauren Kirk. I am the director of the Champaign Center Partnership. Born in Dekalb, Il and lived in that part of the state for most of my childhood. I went to University of Chicago and my career has been in non profit management. Here I am working for Champaign Center Partnership, a local non profit business association working with small business in Champaign’s center districts.”
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What inspired you to your current profession? | As an undergrad, I studied visual arts and in my second year, I found an opportunity to intern with Kids in danger, a 501 C3 non for profit. It is very mission driven organization. Kids in Danger was founded by two UIC professors that lost their 18 month old child in a portable crib accident at the child care facility. This organization focuses on recalled products education. They used their academic background, the advocate for changes in safety legislation, both state wide and nation wide. Seeing how their story could be used to enact changes, I wanted to have a career in a mission driven organization like Kids in Danger. |
| How long have you lived or worked in Champaign-Urbana? | I moved here with my family in 2014. I have been in this position for 2 years. |
| What is your favorite restaurant in Champaign-Urbana? | That’s a hard one. I recently visited Naya at 202 E Green Street in campus town. I was intrigued by their menu. It’s Italian food, feels very cosmopolitan with huge windows and some inventive dishes coming out of that kitchen. |
| Who is the most interesting person you have met in Champaign-Urbana? | That is not easy to answer. But one champion of local business is Rob Tobias. He is the sales manager for the Central Illinois Bake House. But I often see him at the farmers market selling goods from the Central Illinois Bake House. He used to work as the outreach coordinator for the Champaign Center Partnership a few years ago. As I got started in this position, he was incredibly helpful in offering suggestions and connections. He is just a smiling friendly guy that really loves this community. |
| If you could travel anywhere in the world at this moment, where would it be and why? | I would go back to a place where I lived for two years volunteering for Peace Corp. Mauritania, West Africa. It is such a fascinating country, being an Islamic republic, I taught English in a secondary school when I was 24. It made a real impression on me. We made connections with a host family. We lived in a very remote and harsh setting, the family took us under their wing and were so good to us. We kept in touch through Facebook. I would love to be able to bring children with us to see parts of the world that most do not get a change to see. |
| What is on your bucket list? | I have always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon! When we lived in Southern New Mexico, there are a lot of hot air balloon festivals. |
| If you were speaking to a group of young people, what would you share with them? | If I was speaking to a group of high school students, I would encourage them to give some real thought to seeking out opportunities for job modeling. This is important, because, at 16 you really do not know what’s out there. People who are in a profession, where they find joy and satisfaction are generally well adjusted service minded people. By instilling those values in the youth and young adults, the world just might be a better place. |
| What current or former business makes you nostalgic for Champaign-Urbana? | The Cookie Jar comes to mind. However, the new target on 6th and Green will be occupying what was once the Cookie Jar. Cute little business, very personable and who does not like a home baked cookie? |
| If you could travel anywhere in the world at this moment, where would it be and why? | I would go back to a place where I lived for two years volunteering for Peace Corp. Mauritania, West Africa. It is such a fascinating country, being an Islamic republic, I taught English in a secondary school when I was 24. It made a real impression on me. We made connections with a host family. We lived in a very remote and harsh setting, the family took us under their wing and were so good to us. We kept in touch through Facebook. I would love to be able to bring children with us to see parts of the world that most do not get a change to see. |
| Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years? | Hard to know geographically, this is the longest time that I have lived in any one area. My husband and I moved around being able to see a number of places. 5-10 years, we will likely be here in Champaign-Urbana because of the kids. We have found that this is a great place to raise a family. Excellent cost of living and proximity to three major metro areas. |
| What is something interesting that most people do not know about me? | I am a minimalist. With moving around a lot and living in developing areas of the world. We don’t know have a McMansion or a lot of stuff. I like purging. |
| What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of home? | Family. Food. Belonging. |
| If you had a full time staff member, who would you choose? Chef, house keeper, driver, coach, physical fitness trainer or a nanny? | Easy… A house keeper. We lived in Rwanda for 18 months where my second was born. There it is common to have a house staff, someone being a gate keeper, keeping security and someone helping with straightening up the house. |
