Plymouth's Lori Walker to lead innovative mentorship program with at-risk students

A one-of-a-kind mentoring program that pairs senior leaders from about two dozen companies will provide valuable business skills to seventh and eighth grade students at Risen Christ Catholic School (RCCS), a 350-student, K-8 grade school located in the Powderhorn Park area of Minneapolis .  The Imagine the Possibilities program is an ambitious effort to prepare vulnerable children for rewarding careers in the future. The program will involve senior business leaders from throughout the Minneapolis area.  Each will design a project related to their field to be presented over the course of the school year to their group of students.

“The approach is both innovative and creative.  Business executives engage with students on many levels, creating opportunities for developing new insights and gaining knowledge that can influence, inform and enlighten other students,” said Fran Rusciano Murnane, RCCS’s director of advancement and Imagine the Possibilities program manager.  “Broadening the educational experience of our students provides them with options that can lessen the limitations poverty imposes.”

One of the mentors in this year’s program is Lori Walker, the former senior vice president and chief financial officer of The Valspar Corporation, a $4 billion, publicly traded global manufacturer of paint and coatings.  During her career at Valspar, Walker led the Finance, IT and Communications teams of 650 global employees and a budget of $105 million.  She retired from Valspar in 2013.

Walker’s teaching schedule at RCCS will include classroom instruction and field trips.  “Having fundamental business skills and an understanding of how companies operate is an important life skill,” said Walker.  “I am very excited to be working with RCCS to inspire young people through a curriculum that shows them what it takes to grow a business as well as the power of setting goals for themselves.”  Walker also plans to bring the students into the Valspar lab for a unique hands-on learning experience.

Ninety-six percent of RCCS’s students come from families who are living either at or below the poverty line.  Many of these students will become first-generation grade school and high school graduates.  Because these students have limited contact with the world of business, the school believes they would benefit from personal interactions with business leaders.  Imagine the Possibilities allows experienced executives to contribute their knowledge and leadership to positively influence kids who might otherwise never reach their potential.

Student participation includes field trips that demonstrate the application of what is learned from each business executive, helping youth understand the importance of their education in preparation for future careers.  RCCS’s (www.risenchristschool.org) Imagine the Possibilities will result in a myriad of benefits to both students and their mentors.

In the initiative’s first year, Imagine the Possibilities received an award for Best Program of the Year from the Minnesota Independent School Forum (MISF) for its academic achievement.  To punctuate that success, more than 60 percent of the business executives who participated during the initiative’s first year and over 70 percent of those who participated in the third year are continuing, committing to recreate their programs and continue to mentor RCCS students.

“The success of the program has exceeded all expectations,” said Rusciano Murnane.  “But what’s as exciting is the commitment by these talented business leaders to return to mentor again, helping to shape the program to maximize the long-term benefits to the students.”

Walker has been a member of the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Board since 2011, serving on the Strategic Planning and Finance Committees, and participating in numerous metro homebuilding activities.  She was a two-time award winner of Minneapolis Business Journal’s Top 10 “Hardest Working CFO’s” in 2011 and 2012.  Walker received her bachelor’s degree in Finance from Arizona State University and attended the Executive Institute program and the Directors’ College at Stanford University.  Walker and her husband live in Plymouth.