In her role as our Director of Investor Services, Rachel brings a radically joyful approach to finance and working with new and prospective investors at Adasina Social Capital. Combining an extensive knowledge of traditional financial markets with a commitment to social justice, Rachel specializes in helping new clients better understand our work and empowering them to take action by aligning their investments with their values.

With a lifelong love of music and a calling to help others, Rachel originally set out on a path early in her career to become a music educator. She earned two Bachelor’s degrees in Jazz Trumpet Studies and Music Education from California State University, Sacramento, but realized shortly after graduation a yearning to be a part of something bigger than individualized education could provide. Thus, prior to her career in finance, Rachel spent the first six years out of college doing what her friends and family call “character building,” as she learned first-hand how the world, the economy, and our social structures actually work. She explored work in multiple industries ranging from managing a fair-trade import warehouse to running a kids’ outdoor education camp in the hills of the East Bay to providing tech support as a specialist at Apple, Inc.

In 2016, Rachel discovered that she could combine her savvy for technology, her natural ability for connecting with people, and her affinity for economics as a Financial Advisor and became a licensed Investment Advisor Representative for a registered investment advisory firm. It was here that she cut her teeth as a 401(k) participant educator and eventually grew into a financial planner, who all provided advice and education in stocks, bonds, asset allocation, and everything in between.

Over the years, Rachel became aware of a growing disconnect between her personal progressive values and the work she did every day with her clients. While she enjoyed helping individuals build their own wealth through planning, she knew that the investments she was recommending were only perpetuating the problem – simultaneously contributing to systems of inequality while widening the expansive racial and gender wealth-gaps. In 2019, she faced a rude awakening about traditional finance and began the search to find an organization who was challenging that status quo. She soon “found her people” here and has since become an integral part of the Adasina team.

These days, Rachel spends her time meeting with new and prospective investors from all over the world who are interested in learning more about the positive, transformative social justice work of Adasina. Rachel enjoys geeking out on Adasina investments, sharing impact stories and anecdotes, and deep-diving into how and why Adasina created a new kind of investing based on the needs of those most impacted by our existing inequitable systems.

Rachel calls Sacramento home, where she resides with her beautiful wife and their energetic Vizsla pup, Harriet. Since going vegan over a decade ago, she has become a dedicated animal rights and food justice activist. When she’s not working, you can find Rachel writing and playing music, tinkering on her old farmhouse, or in the garden “watering” (eating all the tomatoes and persimmons).