If the mood in the room at the Charles River Regional Chamber’s Annual Business Breakfast is an indicator, the local economy in the four CRRC communities — Needham, Newton, Watertown, and Wellesley – is full of connection, achievement, optimism, and promise. (See NewTV video.)
Four hundred representatives of CRRC member organizations – businesses and nonprofit organizations – gathered for breakfast at the Marriott Hotel on November 1 to:
- Celebrate the success and character of Darryl Settles — this year’s winner of the CRRC’s highest honor, the R. L. Tennant Award
- Learn about the work of the Samaritans in suicide prevention, stress management, and the power of human connection and caring
- Play a rapid-fire tournament of Rock/Paper/Scissors and learn its lessons for optimism and wellbeing
- Network and catch up with old and new connections
R. L. Tennant Award: Darryl Settles
CRRC president Greg Reibman introduced this year’s R. L. Tennant Award honoree, Newton resident Darryl Settles, with high praise: “a serial entrepreneur and transformational civic activist; …a strong and persistent advocate for sharing wealth with the BIPOC business community, …opening doors for women and people of color to build wealth; …a founding member of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts; …a thought-leader and doer in Boston and on Beacon Hill…and in our [CRRC] communities; …a chair of the Newton Economic Development Commission.” Reibman also quoted Steve Grossman saying, “Darryl has spent a lifetime turning moral leadership into positive action.”
Darryl Settles thanked Reibman and the CRRC and said, “Being a good neighbor is founded on a feeling of deep respect and responsibility for those around you.” He spoke of his efforts to “help erase the boundaries of our neighborhoods [and] help all of our neighborhoods to…