Theme: Spirit of Community

Three speakers from the Barrington (IL) area share their passions in talks that will inspire and encourage attendees.

Barrington Area Library
505 N. Northwest Highway
Barrington, Illinois, 60010
United States

Doug McConnell

Speaker

Doug McConnell is an investment banker and open water, ultra-marathon distance swimmer. Doug and his team formed “A Long Swim” in 2011 to use open water swimming to raise funds and awareness for collaborative ALS research. Since then, the A Long Swim Team has swum across the English Channel, Tampa Bay, the Catalina Channel, and a loop around Manhattan Island. Doug became the 88th person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, and only the 15th person to complete all of the swims over the age of 50. Doug’s most recent swim was the near-completion of the 32-mile Ka’iwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu in Hawaii. A Long Swim also manages competitive swimming events for open water swimmers and triathletes, which is the fastest-growing endurance sport in the world. Between the marathon-distance swims that Doug has completed and the hosted swims, A Long Swim has raised more than $400,000 for collaborative ALS research that originates from Northwestern University.

Joy Wagner

Speaker

Joy Wagner, received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Iowa. She has practiced nursing and taught in the health field since 1982 changing her focus to Multiple Sclerosis, Auto-Immune and other Neuromuscular conditions after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001. Determined to regain her independence, Joy developed a rehabilitation protocol for herself. She named this program fitMS® in 2003 when she began teaching other MS patients at local fitness facilities. Joy received the National MS Society’s “Leader of Hope Award” in 2004 in recognition of fitMS and her dedication to helping MS patients improve their mobility. Joy has taught fitMS® and spoken at patient and healthcare provider education events across the country since 2003. Joy founded fitMS® NeuroBalance Center (NFP 501(c)3 Public Charity) in 2010 with the goal of providing more services to address the unmet needs of the MS population and all those with Neuromuscular conditions.

Renee Blue

Speaker

Renee Blue is co-founder, with Jennifer Kainz, of Mindful Waste, a Barrington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating food waste through education, prevention and recovery. A writer and educator by trade, Renee has long been a passionate volunteer encouraging sustainability in schools. It was only after spending time in her sons' elementary lunchroom, however, that she realized her true vocation: teaching children to value food and the resources required for its production. Since 2012, Renee and Jennifer have conducted countless school cafeteria waste audits, and facilitated the recovery of nearly 10,000 pounds of food from Barrington 220 schools in the 2016-2017 academic year. Renee is an active member of the District 220 Healthy and Environmentally Sustainable Schools (HESS) committee, is Vice President of Environmental Awareness for the Hough Street School PTO, and is a frequent speaker on the topic of food waste reduction in schools.