We’re on a mission to make a difference

With more than two decades in the Atlanta wealth management business, Gary has devoted his career to building exceptional client experiences. He held nearly every role from financial advisor to operations to head of advisory services and corporate leadership for a local firm that grew to $1.4 billion in assets under management during his tenure. He’s also seen firsthand how society and client demand for sustainability, transparency & ­shareholder action has disrupted the status quo for the better.

Chartered SRI Counselor

Clients deserve more choice and transparency when they invest for the future. One major problem: advisers often use a standard process with clients to ensure consistency, but often at the cost of personalization, especially when recommending investments. “Here’s your portfolio!” they may say after doing a simple risk tolerance questionnaire and cash flow projection.

At Brighter, we believe that’s an overly simplified, incomplete approach. Yes, clients want their investments to generate financial return. They often ALSO want their investments to reflect their values about the environment, human rights, corporate governance, gender diversity and more.

Unfortunately, too many financial advisors hold outdated perceptions about sustainable investing, so they brush it off as a fad or cite inaccurate data about lower returns. That’s a lose-lose response for clients, advisors, and society.

The data is clear: This isn’t an either/or conversation. It’s not a fad, and it’s doesn’t mean you have to invest in “green” companies and sacrifice returns. It’s an AND. You can generate competitive returns AND invest for sustainability and impact. When people realize they can have both, they often feel a strong, even urgent desire to get started quickly. It just makes sense for us as individuals and a society.

That’s why we had to launch a firm like Brighter.

A seasoned social entrepreneur and growth-stage executive, Nancy Sagar has won national and international recognition for her work on behalf of for-profit social ventures, nonprofits, government agencies and charitable causes. Since 2013, she and Gary have worked together in the wealth management industry and launched Brighter as a Public Benefit LLC to offer sustainable investing combined with financial literacy and cause education to help clients become better investors & advocates for the issues that matter today and decades away.

MBA Oath > Responsible Value Creation
Career pledge outlining inductees’ commitment to practicing business with the highest ethical standards, protecting human rights and dignity, opposing discrimination and exploitation, and protecting the right of future generations to advance their standard of living and enjoy a healthy planet.

I truly believe every American family, business and organization needs to embrace sustainable investing now. Not next year or next month, but TODAY.

I personally don’t want my investments supporting companies that create, contribute to or flat-out ignore the world’s problems. I want to invest in solutions that will propel our local and global societies forward, that truly improve lives (including financially)!

I’m thrilled that so many Americans feel the same way AND that sustainable investing is no longer a strategy only the wealthy can utilize. Each of us can make a difference with our investments, and I literally can’t wait to quantify & qualify the difference we make in the work we do with our clients and communities.

Kelsey is a strategist, operator, and systems thinker with a passion for aligning capital with community. After 13 years in corporate leadership at The Coca-Cola Company, she made a purposeful pivot into the impact space and brought her operational expertise to the Atlanta nonprofit Remerge before joining Brighter’s mission. She leads operations, supports the development of private investment strategies, and is spearheading a new Social Justice Strategy to expand access and reimagine who investing is for.

“You leave things better than how you found them.” That was the mantra in our house growing up. My mom said it every time my siblings and I left toys scattered across the room. At the time, it felt like a rule about messes. But then it became something deeper—a quiet philosophy I’ve carried with me ever since.

My dad added a different kind of wisdom: “You could start a nonprofit. But if you want to drive real change, you need capital.”

Those two ideas—care and capital—have shaped how I see the world.

I spent most of my career sharpening my skills in operations: seeing the big picture, threading connections, building systems that work. Now as a COO at Brighter, I’m not just building strategy. I’m creating access where it didn’t exist, designing tools that let people with wealth (and those just building it) channel their capital into something that reflects who they are and what they care about.

When people feel ownership over their financial future, it becomes more than just about finance. It’s about legacy. It’s about leaving things better than we found them. And I see it time and time again: it just clicks.

At Brighter, we’re not here to replicate traditional finance. We’re here to reshape it. This isn’t just wealth management. It’s movement building. That’s why our company (and our new Social Justice Strategy) exists.