Raising a family in a beautiful small town

I grew up in a beautiful small town in western New York, and my wife and I wanted to raise our family in that type of setting. She is from here, so we moved to Golden in 2013 to be close to her parents and the mountains.

I love the outdoors. On good days, I bike to work on a route that takes me off road on North Table Mountain, and on most Sundays, I try to get out and explore a new trail.

My wife Dee and I are both lawyers and we met when we were both living in D.C. after completing law school. We got married in 2008, and we have a 2-year-old son and an 8-month-old daughter.

RENEW

I am a partner with RENEW, which is an impact investment firm that facilitates private investments in business in East Africa. Our main office is in Ethiopia, but my office is in downtown Golden next to Foothills Art Center.

I work with entrepreneurs in Africa to help them secure capital to grow their companies and provide jobs to people in the poorest communities as a path out of poverty.

The firm does a lot to support promising companies with training and management consulting. We believe that by investing capital and resources in great companies, we are enabling Ethiopians to strengthen their own economy and increase jobs and wages. We think this is a more effective way to alleviate poverty than through donations and charity.

Feleg Tsegaye

Last year, I connected with Feleg Tsegaye, an entrepreneur who was born in Littleton and grew up there, so we had that local connection.

Feleg is the founder of Deliver Addis, which is Ethiopia’s first online restaurant delivery service in the capital city, Addis Ababa. His company is creating jobs for Ethiopian drivers and increasing sales for restaurants.

I introduced Feleg’s plan for Deliver Addis expansion to the Impact Angel Network, which is one of the largest U.S.-based investor networks for Africa, and secured interest from the angels to invest in it.

Making profit and changing the world

Impact investors use their investment dollars not only to make profit, but also to create positive change in the world.

I believe Golden has one of the country’s fastest growing and vibrant communities of impact investors in the U.S. — people really care about the types of companies they buy from and invest in.

I’d love to see people exploring more ways that they can have part of their investment portfolio doing good here in Golden, or creating jobs, taking care of the environment and providing opportunities for men and women in Africa.

If you have suggestions for My Name Is..., contact Christy Steadman at csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com.