April Staff Spotlight
Q&A with Ryan Pederson - Sunshine Enterprises Managing Director of Operations
Ryan Pederson is the Managing Director of Operations at Sunshine Enterprises and has been with the team since 2013. While at Sunshine, Ryan has served in an administrative support role and as a CBA Instructor, Coach, Program Manager, Managing Director of Programs, and now Managing Director of Operations. Ryan earned a degree in Economics and International Studies at Northwestern University. At Northwestern, he participated in and led multiple community development practicums in Uganda. After college, he worked as an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group doing management consulting for Fortune 500 companies. Then directly before joining Sunshine Enterprises, he helped lead the Chicago Urban Program through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship - which hosted college students from around the Midwest and paired them with ministries on the West Side of Chicago for spring break projects and summer group internships. He facilitated trainings on the intersection of faith, ethnicity, and racial justice, and emphasized the importance of listening to and learning from long-term residents and practitioners on the West Side.
In his current role, Ryan’s top three responsibilities are organizational development, overseeing Sunshine’s Credit to Capital program and overseeing the organization’s Data and Program Evaluation work. His favorite part of his role at Sunshine is helping lead a team that comes alongside entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their own lives and the lives of their families, employees, and community. When asked about memorable moments or experiences that have had a significant impact on him, Ryan says “Coaching entrepreneurs and being trusted with holding space for their greatest dreams and very real fears that come with running a business. It’s an honor that I don’t take for granted. It’s amazing to now see some of those same entrepreneurs’ progress 5-8 years later. “
Ryan’s advice to rising entrepreneurs:
Take care of yourself because your business is only as strong as you are.
“Helping lead a team that has evolved and grown dramatically over the last decade has been one of the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding experiences at Sunshine. We’re always trying to put people (staff, entrepreneurs, etc.) first and model running a flourishing organization. We may not get it right all the time, but that has been a value that has helped inform our team and our service over the years.”