Cat Bigney

Mike Banker

survival camping trips
First Year at BOSS: 2009
Current Position: Board Member
Currently Resides In: Boulder, CO

I came to BOSS because:

Various life events had brought me to a crossroads where I was looking for something to shake up my world in a unique and interesting way. I stumbled upon BOSS and was intrigued by the raw and intense experience it promised. I have always been passionate about the natural world, and BOSS’s ethos of simple living and doing more with less aligned with my own values. I took a 7-day field course that far exceeded my expectations. I came back nine years later to do a 14-day field course that similarly far exceeded expectations. There simply is nothing else like BOSS.

I am on the BOSS board because:

My BOSS experiences fundamentally changed me as a person. I suppose you could call them personal awakenings. There’s likely not a day that goes by where my BOSS experiences are not in some way still echoing and affecting my approach to life. I learned about pushing beyond preconceived boundaries and limitations (which more often that not, it turns out, are mostly just mental illusions). I learned new facets of joy and appreciation. I learned how to meet challenges in new ways. I grew my confidence in myself. I experienced community on a new level. I gained a little more wisdom. I grew more humble. I learned much about gratitude. And so much more (e.g.,making fire, processing an animal, navigating wilderness).

Gratitude is a fundamental component of the BOSS experience. So, I am on the BOSS board because it’s a damn cool, one-of-a-kind community that I want to help perpetuate and thrive, and because of my gratitude and desire to give back to BOSS some of what it has given to me.

About Mike Banker:

Michael is the Chief Growth Officer at Fisher Creative, a media production company driving positive change through powerful storytelling. His background spans communications and marketing, grants administration, and environmental policy. Previous roles include Strategic Communciations Manager for Rocky Mountain Institute’s Urban Transformation program; Communications Director for the Gulf Research Program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and Assistant Director of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, where he facilitated financial support for a broad spectrum of environmental, energy, and natural resources initiatives.

Michael has degrees in environmental rhetoric, philosophy, and communication arts. His “happy place” in the world is southern Utah. He’s always up for a hike. He loves a good deliberation on topics of import to him. And he lives with his amazing wife in Boulder, CO.

BOSS
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