Giving Locally with Mike Bontrager and Stephanie Almanza
Father-daughter duo Mike Bontrager and Stephanie Almanza join Phil and Grace to share their approach to building both for-profit and nonprofit ventures in their local community that are rooted in trust, partnership, and shared goals. Mike offers insight into how he found success in the financial industry by putting trust ahead of profit and how that principle has informed his philanthropic and entrepreneurial ventures in his hometown of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The two also discuss how they chose to invest locally and the way they work in partnership with other community nonprofits, city government, and their neighbors to help build a thriving community.
Guest Info:
Mike Bontrager is president of Square Roots Collective and has spent his career starting and operating both for-profit and nonprofit organizations that are purpose-driven with multiple bottom lines. In 1991, he founded Chatham Financial and built it into the largest independent financial derivatives advisory services and technology firm. In 2019, he retired from Chatham and founded Square Roots Collective to launch ventures under one umbrella to cultivate a community where everyone can thrive and meet their potential.
Stephanie Almanza is a Managing Director at Square Roots Collective, responsible for budgeting and forecasting as well as overseeing the Real Estate Asset Management portfolio. Prior to joining Square Roots Collective to work alongside her father, she had over 10 years of commercial real estate experience at a prominent Mid-Atlantic real estate investment management firm where she oversaw a multi-family and mixed-use portfolio of 3,600 units.
Credits:
Podcast Production: Rococo Punch
Music: APM Music
Artwork: Jay Kustka
Resources:
Square Roots Collective
Voices Underground Project
Praxis Labs
The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul From the Revolution to the Civil War by Andrew Delbanco
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith