Coffee that Changes Lives and Revitalizes a Neighborhood with John Lee of New City Cafe
"Coffee is like life. There's a story from green bean to espresso shot and also a great story in all of us" says New City Cafe founder John Lee. "Like those beans, sometimes we need to go through a journey of incredible heat and pressure," but on the other side can be a beautiful (and delicious) result!
In early 2016, John began to dream of an avenue to continue teen engagement and further 441 Ministries’ teen program with formal job training. This dream began to manifest itself in the form of a specialty coffee shop, where at-risk neighborhood teens could not only obtain employment and work toward becoming certified baristas, but also gaining mentoring and life skills. New City Café became a reality on June 9, 2017. As a program of 441 Ministries Beechwood, New City Café furthers the overall ministry’s mission of bringing hope, healing, and holistic development to Beechwood. This is accomplished through providing jobs to young men and women in the community, training them holistically: mind, body, soul, and spirit, and through establishing a thriving café business that provides a great gathering space for the community. As the Executive Director of New City Café, John leads this ministry and continually pursues future opportunities for neighborhood-focused economic development and job creation in Beechwood.
[1:45] What led John to 441 Ministries and New City Cafe
[5:00] Why John sees coffee as a metaphor for life
[6:30] Raising the Beechwood neighborhood through entrepreneurship
[8:20] Beechwood "revitalized but not changed"
[10:10] Challenges with realizing the vision for New City
[13:00] Reaching out to neighborhood residents
[17:30] Balancing profitability and purpose as a social entrepreneur
[19:30] Push vs. Pull - Becoming a conscious leader
[22:30] Wisdom from Danny Meyer's book "Setting the Table"
[24:00] EVOLving as a leader with XLR8
[26:00] The growth of New City's student employees
[33:00] Defining success through holistic development
[36:45] Creating more New City micro-businesses
[39:45] Conscious Capitalism - An easy idea that's hard to do
[40:50] "What is the ROI for your life" as a Conscious Leader?
[42:30] Thinking outside the box for continuous improvement
[44:30] How to support New City Cafe
Visit New City at 441 Parsells Avenue in Rochester, or online at www.441ministries.org/new-city-cafe
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