​MEET THE STAFF!

Pastor Hardie Blake
Pastor Hardie Blake works earnestly helping transform lives economically and spiritually as he empowers a paradigm shift to self-determination.  He has years of leadership experience as Pastor of Ardmore Church of Christ, President of Bethel Business Machines, Director of Men of Scars Outreach, Chairman of Board for Project Impact and former Commissioner for the South Bend Redevelopment Commission.  Pastor Blake is an elected Board member for the following organizations:  The Crossing Education Center, Project Future and Ivy Tech State College. 

Perl Blake
Perl Blake has training in Business Administration from Michiana College of Business and Indiana University-SB.  Perl has worked in business for over 20 years for IBM, Associates, Auto Owners and as Operations Manager for Bethel Business Machines, Inc.  In addition to working in the Business sector, Perl is the founder and of the highly acclaimed Daughters of Destiny, a program for young ladies, ages 9 through high school.  The program’s goal and mission is to empower young ladies, providing tools to develop good strong character which will assist in making better choices, thus increasing high school graduation levels.

Ray Turner 
Ray Turner has dedicated his life to promoting and building capable and responsible people.  Specifically, he has designed “Voyages”, an early intervention program for at risk African American males, grades 2 through 5.  This program promotes the value education towards success while buidlind social and living skill competence.  Mr. Turner has 30 plus years as a social worker as well as 17 years providing clinical services.  Mr. Turner has served on may community boards.  Further, he has earned a Bachelors Degree from the University of Notre Dame, a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University of South Bend, and a Masters Degree in Social Work from Western Michigan University.  Mr. Turner is also a licensed Clinical Social Worker in the states of Indiana and Michigan.

James Summers
James Summers designs business solutions that revitalize communities through entrepreneurship.  He has over 30 years of business leadership experience launching new and innovative products and services for fortune 500 companies and leading and directing profitable multi-million dollar business operations.  He is the former chairman for Michiana SCORE.  For Project Impact South Bend he serves as Executive Director.  For the Chicago Urban League he developed and led Diversity & Inclusion Programming.  For the consulting firm the Kaleidoscope Group, he directed marketing activities and served as President of their multicultural marketing subsidiary.  For the Whirlpool Corporation, James was director of Global E-Business and Co-Chair of the African American Network Community Committee. 

Nathan Shaw
Nathan Shaw is a Business Consultant who uses a customer focused approach to help
organizations of all sizes, boost productivity and grow revenue. With over 25 years of
experience working as a Consultant in the Healthcare Industry and as an Entrepreneur,
he has been successful in balancing product portfolios, resulting in millions of dollars in
revenue.  As a Hospital Representative, he was responsible for calling on department heads,
Medical Executive Committees and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committees to
maintain his company’s position on hospital formularies. Utilizing key opinion leaders,
he wrote Protocols for various hospitals resulting in millions of dollars in sales and
more importantly, saved the lives of countless numbers of patients.  As an Entrepreneur, he was the Co-Founder of The Ensemble Beverage Company,  located in Alabama. There, he was instrumental in securing contracts with SuperValu, Sodexho, and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), just to name a few.  For Project Impact, Nathan specializes in helping underserved communities become
economically self sustaining through entrepreneurship. He restores the infrastructure of
cities and towns of various sizes, utilizing up to date Business Models and the latest
technologies.