My experience with Smart Communities Initiative and Greater Auburn-Gresham Corporation

Jeremy Burgess
Published: January 25, 2012

I am Jeremy Burgess, a gamer and explorer when it comes to new things. I am an easy and fun person to get along with. Everyday I get up early, and get ready for a new day of school with victorious grin on my face. I like to go places and meet new people, and share stories and ideas. I hope to develop relationships with whoever I’m talking to. When I first meet someone I always try to make a good impression. I am open to many things people have to offer me such as activities, talking, and sharing with others. I am a junior at Perspectives Calumet School of Technology.

I was picked for this program because I wanted to pursue a personal goal before I leave high school. That goal is experience how life would be, if I were working at a real business. I was assigned a mentor who works at the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC). GADC is a non-for-profit business that helps residents of the Auburn Gresham Community with many services, such as small home repairs for seniors, Litter Free Zone that helps clean up the community and Smart Communities Initiative. This initiaitve helps spreads the word about the getting rid of the technology digital divide. My mentor was Norma Sanders. Norma is a very nice woman with high standards and expectations of me to do my best in everything I do. Norma is the Smart Communities program manager.

What I learned was how the Smart Communities program operates, what type of activities they do, and about how to work with a team. The activities they do help the community intellectually and technologically. The Smart Communities program is working to increase digital usage, by all people living in the area. They help those who want to know more about technology and need Internet access at home.

I started my mentorship at November 16, 2011. One real project I worked on with the Smart Communities team was the Efforts to Outcome (ETO) system. ETO is a database for tracking metrics on residents who participated in Smart Communities classes, and other activities. I found out this is very important to the Smart Communities because they have to measure how successful the program has been to the community.

What I wanted out of my mentorship was a good experience and that’s what I’ve gotten throughout my time with GADC. I learned a lot in my experience at GADC. I got to the point in certain situations where another co-worker would ask for assistance and I could help them. My experience there was an opportunity to learn about strong work relationships and collaboration. My experience at GADC has put me in a position where I feel like I can work in a business. GADC has helped me to understand the work place setting. I understand now that I can rely on my co-workers, they can rely on me, and it is a real team effort.

Keywords: Chicago, gadc, Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation, Smart Communities