Jeremy Park, CityCurrent
On Episode 23 of Just Bluffin’, we talked with Jeremy Park, CEO of cityCURRENT, an organization whose goal is to serve as a catalyst for positive change in the Mid-South, Middle Tennessee, and beyond. cityCURRENT makes an impact through financial contributions to nonprofits as well as volunteer opportunities that engage companies and individuals to give back.
We chatted with Jeremy about volunteerism, his time in Los Angeles, and how playing tennis led him to where he is now.
The day after Jeremy Park graduated from college, he climbed into a U-Haul and drove from Texas to California, where he would spend eight years working in television. “I cut my teeth in LA learning from the best in the business,” Jeremy said.
When Jeremy and his wife wanted to settle down and raise a family, they decided to move to Memphis. “My wife grew up in Corinth, Mississippi, so Memphis was the nearest big city for her and her family,” Jeremy said. “We moved here 17 years ago, and I started getting involved with nonprofits developing business and marketing plans just as a way to meet people.”
Eventually, Jeremy met Johnny Pitts and crafted a vision for what would become cityCURRENT.
“I was getting involved and putting myself out there, volunteering and meeting amazing people in the city,” Jeremy said. “So that’s how it started.”
Making genuine connections with people requires moving beyond a transactional way of thinking and asking different kinds of questions: “If you show up and you care and you genuinely want to connect with somebody, you’ll ask, ‘What do you stand for? What are you fighting for?’” Jeremy said. “That's a very different conversation that leads to very different outcomes for what you could ultimately do together.”
This way of thinking shapes Jeremy’s perspective on community engagement: “People can get wrapped up in titles, and what other people can do for them. But all of that really comes secondary to trust. The real question is, do you trust me? Do you trust that I’m going to treat you with respect?”
With volunteering and community engagement, Jeremy feels people have a meaningful chance to build trust with others in a way that's respectful, with integrity and empathy, and leads to a much deeper connection.
At cityCURRENT, the phrase “power the good” is more than a mission statement, Jeremy said. “It’s actually everything. It’s the throughline for every single thing we do and every single interaction. When we’re dealing with a difficult situation, we look for the best outcome for all of us. If we see ourselves as community champions who are powering the good, that is going to dictate every decision we make.”
Jeremy told us that while volunteerism is on the decline across America and here in Memphis, volunteering is an engaging activity that brings us together and crosses all socioeconomic levels, faiths, and other divides. “We need people to be physically involved, not only to heal our city, but also to get us going in the right direction. And cityCURRENT is the electric current powering good in our city.”
We asked Jeremy how he developed this passion for community engagement, and he told us it all started with his parents: “Growing up in Texas, my parents had an open door policy. So no matter what, if you were going through any sort of difficulty, you could come over to my parents’ house. My brother and I saw at a very early age the power of helping people”
One specific example Jeremy mentioned was his tennis coach: “He would coach me and my brother and then my parents would let him use our racket stringer. Then he would have dinner with us. He'd be sitting there watching TV. He'd fall asleep on our couch sometimes. We just grew up with him as part of the family. What we didn't realize is that he was going through a divorce, and my parents noticed that he needed a positive outlet. And so he became family. Those kinds of amazing relationships that you form by just caring for someone have opened up so many wonderful opportunities for me, personally, professionally, and spiritually, and it's paved the way for everything I've done in my career.”
To listen to our full conversation with Jeremy Park, click here. And don’t miss any of our conversations with Memphis leaders! Subscribe to Just Bluffin’ wherever you get your podcasts, and learn more about the team behind the mic at buildacampfire.com.
