Members who inspire. Vision for Success

• Author: Amanda Robert
• Pages: 60-62

ABA Insider edited by

LEE RAWLES

lee.rawles@americanbar.org

Members Who Inspire is an ABA Journal series prof‌iling exceptional ABA members. If you know members who do unique and important work,

you can nominate them for this series by emailing inspire@abajournal.com.

MEMBERS WHO INSPIRE

Vision for

Success

Noelle Alix’s Connecticut café

employs individuals

with disabilities

BY AMANDA ROBERT

Noelle Alix was working

with Nick Sinacori—an

employee who always has

a “perma-smile” on his

face—one day at BeanZ & Co. when he

said he couldn’t wait to go to bed.

When Alix asked him why, he

told her it was because then he could

wake up and come back to the café

the next day.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God,

if we all felt that way about our jobs,’ ”

she says, laughing.

Fortunately for Alix, she does feel

that way. In December 2018, the

Vinson & Elkins counsel teamed up

with longtime friend Kim Morrison to

open BeanZ & Co. and provide jobs

to individuals with intellectual and de-

velopmental disabilities (IDD) in Avon,

Connecticut.

Both Alix and Morrison have adult

daughters with Down syndrome and

have watched them

struggle to get job

interviews, let alone

offers. It’s a prob-

lem that Alix says

is common: Using

data from Special

Olympics and other

BeanZ & Co.

co-founders Kim

Morrison (left) and

Noelle Alix

Photo by Iris Photography

ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY-MARCH 2020

60