My Rotary classification is Foundation - Fundraising.

I am Jerry Kennell and my classification is Foundation - Fundraising. President Jan, members of the club and, especially, Jean Griswold, who extended the invitation, thank you for this opportunity to be part of the Rotary Club of Fort Collins. There are many paths to service. Let me tell you a little about mine.

I was raised on a farm in Illinois. Starting when I was six, in the quiet space of August between cultivation and harvest, we would pack up the tent, put six of us in the car and trek a thousand miles over the plains to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park. I never, ever, wanted to go back. It took me forty more years, but in 1998 we finally moved west to Fort Collins.

I am married, since 1972, to Leonor Constantin. The child of immigrants from Puerto Rico and Cuba, she grew up in the South Bronx – not, in case you did not notice, a farm in Illinois. We are passionate about cross-cultural connection! Leonor is a bilingual special educator at Irish Elementary. We have an adoptive family of five and three grandchildren. Judge Sullivan, our last child was one of your last – adoptions, that is. I want you to know that we still suffer from the menu choices you offered our youngest daughter. I have spent the last 33 years working for nonprofit organizations, as executive director, development officer, and Vice President for Advancement. For the past nine years I led a consulting firm that supported the fund development efforts of nonprofits throughout the United States and in Canada. I have served on many boards, including chairing the founding board of Ten Thousand Villages Fort Collins and current service as board chair of Village Earth.

It has been an interesting and exhilarating path. I have escorted Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through the library at New York University, written speeches for university presidents and major market TV anchors, had tea with John Cardinal O’Connor in his personal residence in Manhattan, met heads of state, watched Andy Rooney get sloshed at a dinner party and worked closely with Phyllis Diller to create a benefit show. Far more important than these adventures has been the learning about nonprofit organizations. It is true that nonprofits are service organizations made up, generally, of board, staff, clients and program. But the real truth and beauty of nonprofit organizations is that they are first and last the collective expression of the heart and will of the good communities that formed and support them. By this standard, Fort Collins is a very good community.

I now have the privilege of supporting these organizations and their donors from another angle. In January, I opened the Western Regional Office for MMA, a two billion dollar financial services organization, affiliated with the Mennonite Church. We help people – anyone – connect their faith and values with their financial decisions. We do this by offering a broad range of investments that, in addition to the usual fare, includes opportunities to participate in socially screened investments. Our clients have the satisfaction of knowing that, in addition to delivering sound investment services, we maintain an active role in the practices of the firms we invest in, working with management on things like fair trade, living wages and care of the environment. Our services include a foundation that manages 400 million in charitable assets for individual donors and nonprofit organizations across the country.

The connecting thread of my career has been a passion to build and improve organizations dedicated to service. Needless to say, I am pleased to sit at table with hundreds of people who demonstrate that same passion by their participation in the Rotary Club of Fort Collins. Thank you for the privilege of your company.