by Maggie Hohle – www.maggietext.com

Just in time for the further greening of Petaluma: An accomplished investment advisor who decided that if he was going to stay in the brokerage business he would leave a positive mark, for his kids and grandkids one day, and right now, for his clients.

For a time, coWORKer Dale Wannen was at UBS, then with Sustainable Responsible Investment (SRI) pioneer John Harrington. Then he got an MBA at the Presidio Graduate School and started his business, Sustainvest Asset Management. This was three months ago, about the same time he started coming to WORK.

The basic idea of SRI is to exclude the bad and include the good: companies that are attempting to do the right thing for the planet and its inhabitants. Interestingly, parts of this equation run in the family. Wannen’s twin sister also uses her time on this earth to attempt to make change; she’s in social work, helping runaway kids. Their dad was an organized, hardworking number cruncher, a pit boss in the casinos in Margate*, in South Jersey.

Aggravated by “the cufflink-wearing” type of investment banker, who “doesn’t perform any better than the shared workspace advisor,” Wannen thrives on the energy of WORK. “It’s priceless to sit down at these coffee socials with ten other like-minded people.” Wannen also runs Green Drinks Petaluma, a monthly networking event (at Taps) for those involved in sustainability, personally or professionally. “Nothing better than having a beer with people who are trying to change the world,” as he puts it.

*A city with a population of 6,300 made famous with the song “I Like Jersey Best”, by John Pizarelli