Get clear, get organized, and get moving.
Daniel Irving · Rochester, New York · 30 years building programs, teams and systems.
Daniel Irving · Rochester, New York · 30 years building programs, teams and systems.
You have an idea, or a business that has outgrown the way you run it. I build the systems that make it run smoothly: how the work flows, who does what, and what gets tracked. I've done it for my own work for 30 years, and now I do it for other people. I work on the problem you bring, with the people and tools you already have.
Before: early childhood, after-school care and two summer camps ran as separate programs, and families felt it.
After: a plan to run them as one path for a child, from preschool to teen leadership, with shared values and clear steps to rebuild families' trust. Delivered December 2025.
The way your operation runs, designed so it flows: programs, staffing, schedules and what gets tracked. Built on 30 years designing youth, camp and engagement programs, now for any business.
Two meetings. I learn how your business works, then tell you where you stand and what to do over the next 90 days, starting this week. Most clients start here.
One problem that keeps costing you time. In two sessions we fix it with whatever tools fit, AI included, and you get a one-page guide to keep it working.
A one-page website with your photos and your words, at your own web address.
Larger projects (launch and operations setup, a new venture, an operation that has outgrown itself) are scoped and quoted after a short call.
The JCC ran its children's programs (early childhood, after-school care, Camp Sisol and Camp Seneca Lake) as separate programs, and families felt it. I studied them through staff and leadership interviews, parent surveys and a century of the camps' own history. I delivered a plan to run them as one path for a child, from preschool to teen leadership, with shared values and clear steps to rebuild families' trust. Delivered December 2025.
Katie Beyer was launching a craft-beer education business in Rochester. I researched the market and the competition, then rebuilt her plan around how the business could run: ticketed events for 10 to 20 people at partner venues, private parties and corporate settings. Her Beer 101 events are running.
“Dan helped me turn LiBREWry from an idea into a plan I could run. He researched my market, rebuilt the business around events, and gave me a roadmap I still use.”Katie Beyer, LiBREWry
Justin Gurnsey's band had hours of concert footage and no time to sort it. I cut an hour of gimbal footage into whole songs, kept the stage banter between them, and filed everything by show and set so Justin could hand it straight to his editor. Next: the band's website.
“Dan helped me get Big Logic organized at a point when the band was changing and I had more ideas than time. He listened to everything I wanted, from booking and rehearsals to promo video, and turned it into a clear plan. He checked what tools already existed before building anything, then took hours of our concert footage and cut it into song-by-song clips, filed with the charts, so we could actually use it. He’s a straight shooter who cares about getting it right.”Justin Gurnsey, Big Logic & The Truth Serum
Ben Mayer-Fried brings clay workshops to you. He didn't want a plan; he wanted something to hand people. I made flyers for seven kinds of places that book workshops, and wrote his first emails to them.
A 27-slide listening talk on a prolific songwriter who plays each style like a role: one song in depth, four records as four roles, how he works, and how critics heard him. It shows the research that goes into every talk.
Cover photo: Say_No_To_Turtles, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Talks drawn from my own work: running programs, using AI, and my family's history. In person around Rochester, or on Zoom anywhere. Talks from $150; workshops from $300.
This year I built my own AI system to keep track of mail, money and every project I have going. Some of it works every day; some of it didn't, and that taught me as much. A practical talk on what AI does well for a small business or nonprofit, what it gets wrong, and where to start. For small-business groups, chambers, libraries and nonprofit networks.
You leave with: where AI could save you time this month, and what to keep it away from.
What one Jewish family's story shows about identity as people move and assimilate, and how families and communities stay connected across migrations. Told through the family's paper trail: who left, who stayed, what they carried, and what the records got wrong. I trained in anthropology and did field research in Cuba; this talk applies that method to my own family. For genealogy societies, congregations, libraries and senior communities.
You leave with: a new way to see your own family's moves, and what holds a community together.
30 years in youth leadership, education and nonprofits, including Camp Sisol at the JCC: up to 300 campers a session, 80 staff, and ACA accreditation. How a program or a business keeps its values as it grows: in hiring, in training, with the people you serve and in the budget. I learned it running camps; it applies to any organization. For businesses, nonprofits, congregations, schools and camps.
You leave with: the decisions that keep a program true to its values as it grows.
Hands-on: the AI talk, done with your own work. Bring one problem from your own work and leave with it set up.
A beginner's workshop using free sources: FamilySearch, JewishGen, census and immigration records, and what your library already gives you. Bring one name and leave with what the records say and a plan for the next search. For libraries, congregations and senior communities.
One family line researched and turned into a short illustrated story, delivered in three weeks.
A guided family-history project that ends with a few slides the student presents.
To empower changemakers with the strategy and organizational tools they need to create lasting impact, grounded in empathy, authenticity, and clarity.Mission, Irving Insights
I've spent 30 years in youth leadership, education and nonprofits, building programs, teams and systems.
I spent 23 years at the Louis S. Wolk JCC of Greater Rochester, from 1996 to 2019 and full time from 2001, more than 20 of them leading Camp Sisol and the Gesher after-school program: up to 300 campers a session and more than 80 staff, hired and trained every year, which meant hundreds of interviews. I led the camp through ACA accreditation, raised about $1.2 million over those years, including the capital campaign for the Wolk Dining Hall, and in 2008 started a program for campers with special needs that still runs today. At Hillel Community Day School I taught K-8 and led the International Baccalaureate candidacy.
“Daniel is a compassionate, visionary professional whose combination of strategic thinking, operational execution, and deep community values make him an extraordinary asset.”Leslie Berkowitz, former Executive Director, Louis S. Wolk JCC of Greater Rochester
Since 2024 I've run Irving Insights, helping businesses, artists and organizations get clear and get moving. I hold a BA in anthropology from SUNY Geneseo, with original field research in Cuba, and a certificate in nonprofit management from St. John Fisher University.
I also teach, write songs, research family history and build my own tools with AI. I live in Rochester, New York.
Tell me what you're building and where it's stuck. I reply within two business days.
Or email daniel@irvinginsights.com
