So much in life is about showing up for what matters. For North Berkeley Wealth, that means being accountable to a broad community of clients, team members, neighbors, and organizations. Only by staying engaged and listening to others can we, as a firm, cultivate our vision of a community alive with connection and stewardship.
In 2025, we strived to be present in our community by fostering relationships, providing our expertise, using our creativity, enabling collaboration, and focusing on the quality of life of those around us. This report showcases some of the ways we showed up in 2025.
Firm Community Engagement
North Berkeley Wealth is committed to the relationships that shape our community. We recognize that our actions affect not just our team and clients, but also our neighbors, vendors, local nonprofits, and a myriad of other individuals and organizations. By showing up when needed, sharing expertise, providing financial support, or simply listening, we engage in the kind of community building that enriches all of our lives. Community engagement is a foundational element of our firm, one that continues to guide us and remind us of the power of relationships.
1% Giving Target
At North Berkeley Wealth, we set an annual giving target equal to 1% of our yearly revenue. By providing direct financial support through donations and sponsorships, we are linking our giving efforts to our business performance.
Sponsorships
North Berkeley sponsors events in our local communities. In 2025, we supported several organizations’ events, including the Berkeley High School Development Group, the Berkeley Athletic Fund, the Berkeley Public Library Foundation, and the Berkeley Public Schools Fund.
Community Involvement
Our advisory team provides expertise and counsel to our community partners and other organizations by serving on boards or committees and providing financial planning to individuals associated with those organizations. We also provide paid service days off for all team members to support groups meaningful to them.
Providing Content and Context
We regularly publish articles that explore financial topics, including the markets, investment management, and financial planning, that provide thoughtful comments and ideas. By sharing our thought processes, we hope to provide context and perspective on complex issues.
Team Community Engagement
Volunteering and event participation embodies the principles of showing up for our community. Our team members engage with a wide range of community organizations in a number of interesting ways.
Oakland School for the Arts
In May of 2025, OSA held a financial literacy event to help foster essential financial skills in their students. Several members of our team, including Daniel Smyth, Matthew Gatt, Maria Quintana-Pilling, Stephanie Nehmens, and Brian Kozel gave of their time and expertise to help raise awareness of key financial principles.
UCB Extension PFP Career Night
The Personal Financial Planning career night offers networking and career-planning opportunities. Lead Advisor, Ariana Alisjahbana, CFP®, participated on a panel discussing career paths and industry trends. Several of our advisors have gone through the extension program, including Partner, Brian Kozel, who sat on its advisory board in 2025.
Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League
Not only do we sponsor a team for ABGSL but, managing partner Brian Kozel coached the Daring Donuts, a younger division team of softball players in a recreational and competitive fastpitch league for girls and gender-expansive youth.
BAF Golf Tournament
Berkeley Athletic Fund supports athletic programs in local schools and each year they host a golf tournament to raise money to make sure all kids have the access and support they need. Our advisors, Kim Berger, Brian Kozel, Kate King, and Daniel Smyth played a round of golf in support of the cause.
YES Fund-Racer
YES Nature to Neighborhoods organized a fund racing event to raise money for its mission of bringing kids into nature and teaching them leadership skills. Team members Maureen Sullivan, Shabana Shah (half-marathon) and Matthew Gatt (10k) ran representing North Berkeley and its long-standing relationship with YES.
Community Partners
Through its programs in the Richmond community, YES increases access to nature and outdoor activities, reclaims a connection to the earth, and creates brave spaces that foster cross-cultural relationships. In 2025 we supported their mission through financial contributions and provided guidance on investment reserves and retirement plan investments.
Learn More
The YWCA Berkeley/Oakland’s mission is to eliminate racism, empower women, develop leaders, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. The YWCA is a global movement for women’s empowerment, leadership, and rights. In 2025 we supported their mission financially, and Advisors Jena Regan and Maria Quintana-Pilling worked with the YWCA on managing a portion of their investment reserves.
Learn More
The Berkeley Food Network envisions a Berkeley where no one goes hungry. They use an innovative, community-centered approach to food sourcing and distribution providing easy and convenient access to healthy, high-quality food for individuals and families in need. Our Founding Partner Kate King co-founded Berkeley Food Network in 2016, and has served as the Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee.
Learn MoreThe Community of Place
Our physical surroundings matter deeply to us. In 2025, after 20 years on Solano Avenue, we moved to a new office location on El Dorado Avenue. Our new space was thoughtfully designed to create a more welcoming space for both our clients and team, encouraging connection and collaboration. We are also grateful to be part of a vibrant North Berkeley neighborhood. Our neighbors have warmly welcomed us, and we strive to be a positive presence with open doors and curious minds. The building allows us to foster community by creating a calm space for our clients, a dynamic workspace for our team, and a welcoming venue for gatherings and events.
Team Giving Initiatives
Each year, North Berkeley Wealth sponsors two giving initiatives that provide team members with funds to direct to organizations of their choice. Since launching this program in 2020, we have supported over 100 organizations with donations totaling over $50,000. In 2025, these two initiatives raised over $11,000 for 22 nonprofits.
Spring Giving Initiative
For the 2025 Spring Giving Initiative, the theme was Back to Roots, exploring the foundations of our community. With growing uncertainty around government funding for nonprofits, we asked our team to focus their giving on an organization that is foundational to our community. The organizations funded included Berkeleyside, East Bay Community Law Center, LifeLong Medical Care, and Alameda County Community Food Bank.
Fall Giving Initiative
For the 2025 Fall Giving Initiative, our theme was Strengthening Communities Through Core Services. With continued uncertainty around government funding of food security programs, healthcare access, and reduced funding to many nonprofits, we focused on organizations that provide basic needs and key services to communities. The organizations included Meals on Wheels, Souper Sunday, San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, La Casa de las Madres, and West Oakland Punks with Lunch.
Giving Initiative Highlights
LifeLong Medical Care | 100 Black Men Bay Area | Food Source Foundation | SF-Marin Food Bank | Alameda County Community Food Bank | Olympia Youth Chorus | Scouting America | Jelly’s Place | Punks with Lunch West Oakland | 1951 Coffee Company | KEXP | Berkeleyside | Angel City Aerospace Foundation | East Bay Community Law Center | La Casa de las Madres | Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano | Berkeley Food Network | IIBA
Business as a Force for Good
Our business practices, from banking decisions to the vendors we use to our human resource policies take into account the impact we have on all stakeholders. We believe a business can grow and succeed while still maintaining the highest level of integrity in how we show up in our communities.
Certified B Corp
We are proud to have been a certified B Corp since 2013. In the early years of the B Corp movement very few financial institutions were certified. It has been encouraging to see the landscape for socially responsible firms growing and embracing the ideals of balancing profit with purpose.
Community Banking
We work with a well-established community bank for our firm’s banking needs because it channels loans to the neighborhoods where its depositors live and work, helping local businesses and communities thrive. As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) it is dedicated to creating equal opportunity for all community members.
Local Vendors
We prioritize partnering with local companies and small businesses for products and services. Working with local vendors deepens our connection to the people who work in our communities strengthening our local economy. In 2025 we were proud to work with Of All Places for many of our events, Jarvis Architects, and Holland and Harley Construction, both of whom helped us realize the vision for our new offices, and our local IT company that keeps everything running smoothly.
The Impact of Wealth Management
The investment management and financial planning services we provide directly impact the well-being of our clients. Our mission is to create a sense of calm, so that our clients can approach financial decisions with confidence. We often explore questions of social responsibility and how their assets align with their values. There are several ways we engage with questions of progressive ideals including impact investing, shareholder resolutions, and charitable giving. Each allow our clients a way to participate in choices that are more sustainable.
Impact Investing
We offer a variety of strategies that provide impact. A diversified investment approach that considers the social, environmental, and governance criteria along with financial returns assists our clients in aligning their capital with personal values. When appropriate, we also provide private investment options that directly promote environmental stewardship and renewable energy.
Shareholder Resolutions
Owning a publicly traded stock either individually or through a mutual fund means that our clients are partial owners of that company with a certain amount of influence to how it operates. Shareholder voting allows our clients to voice their opinions regarding corporate governance and holding it accountable for its business practices and specific commitments.
Charitable Giving
Many of our clients wish to direct assets to charitable giving in an effort to support causes important to them. We provide detailed planning scenarios creating avenues for giving now and after death. Through vehicles such as donor-advised funds and estate plans that include charitable giving to nonprofits, our clients directly participate in the financial well-being and future success of these organizations.
Investment Management for Nonprofits
We provide investment services to a select group of local organizations. We use our expertise to provide financial clarity and stability in managing capital reserves, providing brokerage services for stock donations, and counseling on growth strategies.
Art at North Berkeley
2025 marked a momentous year in art for North Berkeley, as we celebrated ten years of hosting art exhibits and transitioned to our new office. Our bright, expansive gallery space provides greater opportunity to promote the work of local artists furthering our goal of fostering dialogue, building community, and supporting creativity.
Our inaugural show was a 10-year retrospective titled Connection and Meaning featuring over sixty previously exhibited artists. The varied viewpoints and approaches to creating art highlighted how crucial art is for our communities. The diversity of art displayed in our gallery helps us see the world more fully and can often uncover connections and emotions that are difficult to articulate.
