Introducing 2011 ProInspire Fellow: Camiel Irving
Name: Camiel Irving
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Organization: Chavez Public Charter Schools
Previous Employer: 3M
What inspired you to make the switch into the nonprofit sector?
At the beginning of my career, I chose the medical device industry because I would be selling products that improved the lives of my clients’ patients. While we did have amazing products that contributed to great outcomes for patients, I quickly discovered that I wasn’t accountable for doing what was best for patients. I was accountable for selling my products, and in my opinion, my product wasn’t always the best choice. Realizing that I am more personally motivated by positive impact than financial gain, I decided to seek opportunities where I was accountable to a mission or value. In short, understanding my motivations inspired my switch to the nonprofit sector.
What is your current position, and a typical day like?
We are at the beginning of student recruiting season, so lately I’ve been spending my days preparing for our recruiting events. I am most creative in the morning, so I typically start my day by working on print collateral or writing content for the website. In the late morning, I make any necessary phone calls to community partners, vendors, or feeder schools. If I don’t bring my lunch, I walk over to Barracks Row (8th Street SE) and treat myself to lunch at a local restaurant. Frequenting specific local businesses and speaking to owners and managers is one way I’m building relationships and community partnerships for Chavez Schools. After lunch I usually give myself an hour to prepare for afternoon meetings. This usually includes building a case for ROI, because in true marketing fashion, many of my meetings involve me asking for money to fund the next “big idea!” At the end of the day I travel to another campus to track down a colleague for a verbal follow-up on an email—educators are ALWAYS busy.
What is your professional background and areas of expertise?
I began my career as a Sales Professional in the Medical Device Industry. Through professional sales I developed a strong skill set in building relationships and identifying the potential hard and soft value in a strategic partnership. I am also comfortable with translating data into stories and using them to sell my ideas both internally and externally.
What are you involved in outside of work?
I am a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority—an international public service organization for college-educated women. I have recently gotten involved with DC-YEP: Young Education Professionals. True to its name, this organization primarily functions to connect earlier career professionals working in all functions of the education sector, from policy to administration, to teaching.
If your friends and enemies had to describe you in three words, what would they be?
Charismatic: Even my enemies would have to admit that I could probably sell milk to a cow.
Artsy: While I am a poet, they would likely be referring to my sense of style and hair choices.
Self-Righteous: I prefer “mission-driven,” but now that I can channel my passion into my work, I spend less time on my social media soapboxes.
What book are you reading right now or what is your favorite book?
My current read is a book on consumer behavior called Unthinking by marketing guru Harry Beckwith. Unthinking examines the factors that influence our purchases. Specifically, he zeroes in on influencers involving our childhoods, ethnicity, and values as Americans. What I am taking from the book so far is that we are influenced by two sets of values: our actual values and the ones we think we should have.
Where else have you lived?
Baltimore, Maryland: Baltimore is my hometown; I lived in Raven’s country until I was 18.
Haifa, Israel: I lived in an Israeli youth village for a summer during an advocacy leadership program in high school.
New Orleans, Louisiana: I spent 4 years in NOLA as a college student at Xavier University of Louisiana.
Seal Beach, California: As an intern for 3M, I lived in the OC. Yes, I went to the beach almost everyday!
Kansas City, Missouri: 3M moved me to Kansas City after undergrad, and I traveled all of Kansas and Missouri for three years.
Washington, DC: Here. Now.