Grounded Impact builds capacity for joyful changemaking -
through workshops, retreats & spiritual companionship for changemakers
and strategic advisory services for the organizations they lead
Origins: “You must bring love to work”
The seed for Grounded Impact was planted in 2010. That November, SJF Institute and Green for All announced the first Green Jobs Awards, recognizing ten entrepreneurial companies that were creating accessible, quality jobs while generating positive environmental benefits. The keynote speaker for the event was Trish Karter, the CEO of Dancing Deer Baking Company, which at the time was known for its employee-friendly workplace culture and support systems. Trish’s talk was “The Ten Things I Learned Growing Up in an Entrepreneurial Family” – quite apropos for the event’s locale near Wall Street in New York City. The first nine things were what one would expect, on business practices and hard realities. Then came the tenth: “You must bring love to work.”
The moment those words came out of her mouth, I had a shiver. “Love” is not a word uttered much in lower Manhattan workspaces, at least not the word that refers to what she was talking about – not romantic love, or “I love that!” love, but the fierce love that is deeply compassionate, cares for our fellow human beings even in the midst of our foibles and failures, and speaks truth to power. The room shimmered and my throat caught. My heart was touched deeply, and my head wondered what was going to happen next. Were the eye rolls beginning around me?
Our Team
Bonny Moellenbrock
Founder and Co-Creator
With over 25 years of leadership experience in impact investment, social entrepreneurship, and nonprofit management, Bonny understands both the outer demands of changemaking and the inner work it requires.
A proven executive and servant leader, Bonny served as Executive Director of Investors’ Circle, the largest and most active early-stage impact investing network in the world; Managing Director at SJF Ventures, a leading impact venture fund; and Executive Director of SJF Institute, a nonprofit that worked to connect, inspire, and accelerate impact entrepreneurs. Before joining SJF in 2000, she was COO and CFO of Preservation North Carolina, and served on the management team of an entrepreneurial commercial recycling company. Since 2018, she has provided strategic advisory services through Millbrook Impact.
Bonny holds an MBA, a Master of Regional Planning, and a BA in Environmental Policy, Phi Beta Kappa, from UNC-
Chapel Hill, and is a graduate of the Venture Capital Institute. She graduated from the Haden Institute’s Spiritual Direction program in 2025 and received SoulCollage® Facilitator certification in 2026 to increase her capacity to guide clients toward balance, integrity, and wholeness. Bonny is a student of the Work That Reconnects, and has completed the Capital Institute's Regenerative Economics course and the Francesco Collaborative's Living Futures Investing Workshop to better support the great turning toward a life-affirming, regenerative economy and society. She is the co-author of The Practice of Purpose: Exploring Elements of Life, Meaning and Impact, the guidebook to Jed Emerson’s The Purpose of Capital.
Bonny lives in Durham, NC where she enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, reading, concert-going, singing and making music with friends and family - her husband and 2 grown daughters.
Collaborators
Maria Kingery
Co-CreatorMaria has been leading retreats for impact-driven entrepreneurs for more than a decade. Through 360Impact, she helps changemakers build the resilience needed to create lasting impact in an uncertain world using her “Lead with Love” framework. In 2001, she co-founded one of the Southeast’s first clean energy companies, scaling it to a thriving B Corp before selling the company to seven long-time team members.
Maria enjoys adventurous cooking, outdoor activities (especially live music shows), and dreaming up new businesses to heal the world.
Gin McCabe
Co-CreatorGin graduated from the Haden Institute Spiritual Direction program in 2025. She is a retired RN, and is now winding down her second career in design and downsizing to turn her attention to a more intentional spiritual life. She enjoys leading labyrinth and grounded offerings (land art) workshops to inspire others to recognize the Divine within and all around.
She enjoys gardening, yoga, long walks, singing in the choir, and being in community with those striving for peace and compassion. She lives in Pinehurst, NC.