Bonny's Dream

When do you tell a fun, talented, passionate, loyal employee who happens to have a rare and scary heart condition to take a hike?  When she asks for it!

Our own Bonny MacInnis is leaving us to hike 500 miles along the Appalachian Trail, raising awareness and funds for  Left Ventricular Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy (LVNC).

I’ve gotten to know Bonnie at Walker where she works on the on-call team supporting our clients and leading our community service team.  She is a generous, kind soul who laughs easily and often.  She’s the kind of employee that makes being boss easy:  She is appreciative, reliable, team-spirited, and always looking for ways to contribute.

Bonny found out she had LVNC a few years ago and after having a pacemaker implanted she lived in fear -  until she decided not to.  She hatched the idea for her hike as a way to raise awareness and funds for LVNC and to not let a disease define her.  This was the beginning of hiking4hearts.org and Bonny’s dream.

She worked incredibly hard to get into shape for this hike, losing over 65 pounds and working out for a couple of hours before and after work.  On weekends she took practice hikes.  And planned her trip.  Now she’s ready to go.

We talk a lot about leadership at Walker, and at a recent gathering we agreed on several of the attributes of a true leader:

• Initiative

• Dedication

• Drive

• Vision

• Dependability

• Follow-through

• Courage

Bonnie has all of these.  

We wish her well!  

There’s an Irish blessing that comes to mind:

 

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind always be at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rains fall softly upon your fields…

 

And might we add:

 

May the critters you meet be friendly and small

May your blisters heal without pain

May black fly season be over by now

And may your tent not leak in the rain

 

May you inspire us to wonder

As you wander the wood

What dreams we might reach for

If only we could!

But we can’t 

Because

Well

Frankly

Someone has to work 

While you’re off

Wandering  the wilderness

But that’s ok

Really!

Still,

 

 

Go knowing we will miss you

And your warm, bright, kindly sass

And we’ll pray every day for our

Brave, Bonny Lass

Nancy P. Roberts Award

The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy presented the 2015 Nancy P. Roberts Award to THE WALKER GROUP. The award honors a grantmaking organization for demonstrated innovation in philanthropy.  This means a great deal to me as the founder and CEO.  We’re in the technology business so innovation is in our DNA and having started Walker almost 30 years ago I’ve seen my share of transformation:  Today we offer Internet Security Planning, Web and App design and other services that didn’t exist 30 years ago.  But the transformation that I’m by far and away the most proud of is our conversion to the social enterprise model.

I’m deeply grateful to the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy for the recognition that social enterprise is an innovation in philanthropy because it is every bit as much a new twist on philanthropy as it is a new twist on business - It’s a hybrid.  It’s an opportunity to harness the mission of philanthropy to the engine of commerce.   Mohamed Yunus, grandfather of microfinance once said “show me a problem and I’ll show you a business opportunity!”   

We are living in a world full of problems and opportunities and I’m thrilled that we’re waking up to the power we have as human beings to tap our creativity to help the world around us.  I’m thrilled that through Walker’s support of reSET we hare helping to launch the next generation of social entrepreneurs who will turn these problems into opportunities.  Supporting social enterprise is an investment in impact driven businesses who use profits as a means to greater good, because business is a very powerful force in our world today and it can be a force of great good!

https://www.ctphilanthropy.org/news/council-presents-award-walker-group

Come check out the new digs

1429 Park Street - with plenty of free parking!

reSET has a new home at 1429 Park Street in Hartford.  Our entrepreneurs wanted more space for co-working, private offices, a media lab, a cafe, more programming, more access to mentors, experts, and funding to help launch and scale their businesses.  It will all happen here and with free parking to boot.   We’re a hop away from the Parkville Fastrack stop, it’s bike friendly, and near some great eateries!  It’s the perfect place for entrepreneurs of every stripe to call home.

Come visit!  Become a member!  Get involved!

• If you’ve got an idea for a new business we want to hear from you!
• If you’ve got skills or services that an entrepreneur needs we want to hear from you!
• If you’ve got investment dollars, we want to hear from you!
• If you just like the idea of using business to solve community problems, we want to hear from you!

Come visit!  Become a member!  Get involved!

We’d like to give a special shoutout to the Walker Group our founding partner, Connecticut Innovations, DECD, all of our sponsors and to our newest partner  The MetroHartford Alliance for helping to make this possible.

Our grand opening will be on June 18 starting at 4:30 so mark your calendars, or join us at any Open House Orientation on the  third Wednesday of every month at 4pm.

Check it out!