Creating Something Meaningful With What You Have

I have always admired individuals and organizational leaders who can create something magical with whatever they’ve got.  I’ve seen this talent used to create delicious, memorable meals.  I’ve seen it applied to the creation of a breath-taking garden that reveals new dimensions throughout the seasons. And I’ve seen organizations that resist making excuses about what they don’t have, instead using the people and resources they do have to achieve good in the world.

Today, I am especially moved by the accomplishments of Brooke Curran, who in 2009 created a nonprofit, RunningBrooke, to raise money for the children of Alexandria by running marathons.  In brief, her goal for Phase One was to run the major marathons in the world along with one in every state and one on every continent.  She will achieve this goal this month, having raised an amazing amount of money to champion healthy kids to develop the skills and habits they need for success in school and life.

The celebration of her completion of Phase One will be at Brooke's house October 25, 7-9pm with food from around the world, wine, beer, music, and lots of fun!  For more information or to buy tickets online, visit www.runningbrooke.com.  Be prepared to be completely inspired and motivated to get more out of yourself when you witness how Brooke has pushed herself to accomplish this personal challenge in order to deliver on her goals.  And what happens after Phase One?  Visit her website to learn about what she plans to do in Phase Two!

Brooke epitomizes for me someone who takes what she’s got and applies it in the service of others.  I have never heard her complain.  She is always energetic and focused on the next marathon that will get her closer to her goals.  She has a strong board behind her that helps her make sure the funds she raises are given to worthy projects to advance RunningBrooke’s mission.  Keep on runnin’, Brooke.  You’re truly an inspiration!

A Local Resource for Small Businesses

This morning Sara and I attended a seminar on Developing Strategic Communications, hosted by the the Alexandria Small Business Development Center here in Old Town.  The informative and concise presentation by local communications firm Reingold underscored how small businesses can have a global reach with the right strategy and tools.  If you are local and would like more information about upcoming workshops sponsored by the ASBDC, check out: www.alexandriasbdc.org.    

The Alexandria Waterfront

For the last six months, I facilitated meetings of the City of Alexandria-appointed Waterfront Plan Work Group. Because there was so much controversy about a plan for the waterfront developed over the last few years by City staff with citizen input, the City appointed this seven member Work Group to identify areas of agreement and disagreement and offer recommendations they believed could strengthen the plan and unify the community.

This morning at a press conference at City Hall, the Work Group released its report, which can be found on the City of Alexandria's website (along with videos of all of our meetings) or at http://bit.ly/sxiqpt

In spite of very differing views among members of the group, the Work Group's report does highlight some important areas of agreement as well as offers the City Council some specific suggestions for focusing their deliberations when they meet next month to consider approval of the plan.

This certainly was an opportunity for me to witness connective change in my own backyard. Citizens appointed to the Work Group were all volunteers, and it was fascinating to see how they worked with one another as well as with City staff to produce a report that would be useful to Council. Sadly, I also had a front row seat to some of the most uncivil behavior I've seen anywhere in the world, leaving me wondering if this is a microcosm of what is going on in communities throughout our country and hoping it's not a foreshadowing of things to come.