Peter Kelly

Lined with diverse storefronts and colorful, cultural murals, the Lake Street Corridor in Minneapolis is vibrant and home to many immigrant-owned businesses. Among these business owners are Khadija Ali and Priya Morioka, the founders of Global Language Connections. Their Lake Street business aims to a solve a pressing challenge for other organizations: language barriers. Global Language Connections is a full-service language services company providing over 100 languages for interpretation, tra

Since the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands have fled the East African country of Somalia in search of peace due to the civil war. Today, Minneapolis is not only home to the largest population of Somalis in the U.S., it is also home to many refugees from other neighboring East African countries as well. As individuals immigrate to the U.S., it’s important that they have access to the necessary tools to live successful lives. And it is especially critical that refugees who have endured war, fam

On one of the wettest days in more than five years in Chicago, as rain poured in sheets from the sky and flooded the streets below, Raphael Mathis pushed his shopping cart through the mostly empty parking lots at Lake Shore Drive and Lawrence in hopes of finding a customer to offer his services. “I can’t wash a car in the rain, but at least I’m trying to do something,” Mathis said.

When Rob Conboy set off for Germany in 2016, he was in search of technologies that would lower the cost of doing energy-efficient construction projects in the United States. What he found was a product that existed in Europe for decades but hadn’t yet taken off in the states: foam glass gravel. Foam glass gravel looks like a piece of charcoal and has the texture of a sponge; think of it as a combination between lava rocks and pumice. It is lightweight and made from recycled glass powder. Foam g

Each night across Chicago, in dark rooms dimly lit by overhead lights and buzzing with laid-back energy, lines are being crossed, traditional values are heaved out the window and sexual innuendos run rampant. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your local comedy scene.

Leaders from the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry, along with investors, philanthropic supporters, government agencies, and other partners recently came together in the spirit of collaboration for the CDFI Small Business Recovery Fund Summit in Atlanta, GA. The conference – co-hosted by The Generation Foundation, Calvert Impact Capital, and Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) – provided an opportunity for CDFI stakeholders to analyze recovery funds that were establ

Navigating digital landscapes can be challenging for those living with a disability. Websites, software, and mobile applications aren’t always designed with the needs of these individuals in mind. Securing meaningful employment can also be a challenge in the disability community. That is why Lynn Wehrman set out to launch Digital Accessibility by WeCo. – a mission-based business that simultaneously addresses both of these problems. At WeCo, employees with disabilities are not only welcomed – i

For Dr. Kendyl Tarver, the academic path was a winding road with twists and turns that revealed her life’s true calling. Though it wasn’t the original plan, she and her husband are now kickstarting the educational journey for young children as the owners of Kreative Learning Academy. When Tarver entered college, she set out to become a physician. But the course load turned out to be more than she imagined, so she pivoted and shifted her focus to becoming an educator. With a new vision, Tarver

The journey toward 26.2 miles isn’t easy. It requires dedication, persistence and perseverance. Each Mercy Home Hero has their own reason for taking it on. For Emily Vaupel, it isn’t just her passion for running – it’s the mission of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls – a mission she understands quite well.

Growing up, Deandre and his father didn’t have the greatest relationship. Deandre wanted to share life’s special moments with his father, but conversations always led back to his schoolwork. For Deandre, finding academic success was never easy. “I used to fail every class, except gym,” he said.

UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma recently sparked an interesting debate when he suggested that rims be lowered by seven inches in women’s basketball. Auriemma has both critics and supporters on this issue. DePaul head coach Doug Bruno said that not only is he in favor of this idea, he tried to pitch it to Auriemma years ago. “When I was suggesting it, he would argue with me ‘nah, nah, nah.’ I never realized that my discussions with him were actually swaying him,” said Bruno.

Without live sports during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Last Dance was a lifeline for spectators across the globe. While millions were gearing up for the final two episodes of the 10-part docuseries about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty of the 90’s, ESPN Senior Manager of Social Media Amanda Anderson was hard at work behind the scenes. Like the majority of viewers, Anderson can only dream of reaching the athletic pinnacle that Jordan and the Bulls did. But that hasn’t stopped her from finding her own piece of sports glory. Her championship moments take place on marathon race day.

Building relationships hasn’t always been easy for De’Mere. Before he came to Mercy Home, he usually kept his head down and had a hard time looking people in the eye. As he got older, he realized how much he wanted a relationship with his father. But for that to happen, he first needed to learn how to open up to others.

It was a hot day at the ballpark on August 2 when BUILD celebrated its 40th edition of the Peace League Softball All-Star Game. The tradition lived on at Little Cubs Field in Humboldt Park this year and served as the culmination of BUILD’s summer long softball league, known as the Donna Dudley Peace Project. The Peace Project provides an opportunity for at-risk youth to use sports as a way to socialize, avoid negative influences and build self-esteem throughout the summer.

At some point in our lives, most of us will have to deal with a traumatic event. Trauma can be difficult for anyone to process, but it can be especially difficult for children. Unfortunately, being exposed to trauma is a way of life for many kids, and takes place in many forms: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence or gun violence. These experiences shape the way a child interacts with the world, and if left untreated, can lead to serious problems now, and in the future.

As Memorial Day weekend kicked off, BUILD was out in the Austin community working to reduce the violence. On Friday May 24, BUILD, along with other organizations, held a community pop-up event at Friendship Baptist Church as part of the mayor’s “Our City, Our Safety” initiative. “The spirit and enthusiasm you all are exhibiting here at this event is infectious,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who made an appearance at the event.

Wild. The seventh inning of Wednesday’s decisive game five between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers was the definition of wild. It was the perfect storm of pressure, energy, controversy, tragedy and heroism—all amounting to a moment in baseball history that will never be forgotten.

This was it. This was exactly it. The feeling of sick to your stomach, is this really happening again, and why us had showed its ugly face once more. A picture-perfect first half set hopes sky high at U.S Bank Stadium. Just don’t make big mistakes in the second half, and this should be ours. Then, the pressure crept in. There was no way this game would ever be won without any pressure; situations that would necessitate big throws and big stops. And when the pressure came, things began to unravel, as they unfortunately seem to do time and again.

Many athletes have a mindset that playing through injuries makes you tougher. Brett Favre, for example, was placed on a pedestal for his record of consecutive games started in a sport known for gruesome injuries. But concussions are a different story. Even Favre sat out the last game of his battle-tested career with a concussion. He is one of the countless athletes whose career and life have been altered by brain trauma.

An army of zombies may be amassing in your neighborhood, sinking their vicious teeth into your property value and gnawing away at your home equity. These are not the zombies you see on AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, these are real life, legitimately threatening and terrifying zombies. These are the dreaded zombie foreclosures.