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about us

Financial Expertise With Heart

Experienced financial professionals with a passion for people, planet & profit.

When investment is done with a social heart, there is almost nothing it cannot take care of, whether people or the planet. That’s why I founded Newground – to bring integrity to the relationship between money and a client’s values or mission in the world.

– Bruce Herbert, AIF


Our Story

A pioneer in responsible investment, Newground is poised for its second quarter century of dynamic service to clients and the common good.



Long before trillions of dollars were invested in ESG* strategies, Newground was an industry leader in its exclusive focus on environmental and social impact investing. 

We were an early proponent of financial advisors serving as legal, fee-only investment fiduciaries rather than as commission-driven brokers. Newground was also among the first investment advisors to practice active shareholder engagement, and we continue to be leaders in this important arena – seeking to transform corporate behavior for the benefit of people, planet, and the common good. 

In 2012 Newground became the first Social Purpose Corporation (SPC), changing its corporate charter to codify commitments to environmental sustainability, workers, the community, and society at large. As the first SPC, Newground has helped demonstrate that social and environmental responsibility are not only compatible with a business’ financial success, they necessarily lead to more resilient, accountable, and profitable companies overall. 

In 2019 Newground celebrated its first quarter-century, and is now the oldest independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) to have had an exclusive focus on responsible investing since inception. 

But in many ways our story is just beginning...

Now, with the scale and the experience to exercise even more influence, we look forward to the path ahead and to serving you, our clients, as we reach toward your most important financial goals while reflecting your values and sense of purpose in the world.

* ESG = Environmental, Social & Governance

25 Years of Newground

Reflections from Newground’s 25th anniversary celebration.

 25th Anniversary Celebration

Our Values

We connect your wealth with your values to generate beneficial social, financial, and environmental outcomes.

Newground's mission is to harness the power of business for good – in service to our clients’ long-term financial needs as well as to the human yearning for strong and resilient communities, a healthy environment, and a robust, sustainable, and locally-determined economy.


The spirit of the following Robert Kennedy quote epitomizes our approach to business, investing, and the world of money:

"The gross national product includes air pollution, advertising for cigarettes, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts locks for our doors, and jails for the people who break them.

"The gross national product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles with nuclear warheads...

"And if the gross national product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials...

"The gross national product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile; and it can tell us everything about America – except whether we are proud to be Americans."

   – Robert F. Kennedy (1968)






Our Community

Newground is deeply connected to our community and committed to a world that works for all.


While we invest money for a range of endowments and foundations, our community involvement takes many other forms – from donations and volunteering, to having offered our meeting space countless times over the years for use by nonprofit groups for major donor thank-yous, board or trustee meetings, and other events that help propel an institution's mission. 

One example of our service to the common good is Newground's efforts to support and serve thought-leaders, writers & speakers, those who lead organizations, and change-makers at the forefront of progress. Our sense is, if through financial planning and sound investment we can reduce their stress and worry about their own financial futures, then more of their brainpower is available for the transformative work that benefits us all. 

See below for a sampling of entities & organizations Newground has supported through the years.

[Logos of six organizations]

Organizations Newground has supported in recent years with financial, in-kind, event space, or volunteer services:

  1. 21 Acres
  2. Alliance to Defend the Alien Tort Claims Act | ATCA
  3. Allied Arts Foundation
  4. Americans for a Fair Estate Tax
  5. Amnesty International
  6. As You Sow Foundation | AYS
  7. Backbone Campaign | sHellNO! project
  8. Bainbridge Graduate Institute | BGI
  9. BALLE | Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
  10. BEST | Businesses Ending Slavery & Trafficking
  11. Bioneers Conference
  12. CAIR Project
  13. Cascadia Climate Collaborative
  14. Cascadia Quest
  15. Cascadia Resilience Center
  16. Cascadia Revolving Fund
  17. Catholic Community Services of King County
  18. Center for Political Accountability | CPA
  19. Church Council Conference
  20. Civil Air Patrol
  21. Collaborative on Health and the Environment
  22. Community Alliance for Global Justice | CAGJ
  23. Conversation Cafés
  24. Corporate Accountability International
  25. Earth Economics
  26. Earth Ministry
  27. EarthCorps
  28. Edward E. Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center | UWa
  29. Emmanuel Episcopal Church
  30. Environment2004
  31. Environmental Research Foundation
  32. EOI | Economic Opportunity Institute
  33. Episcopal High School | EHS
  34. Faith Action Network | FAN
  35. Food Lifeline
  36. Free Burma Rangers
  37. Freedom From Fear Campaign
  38. Fremont Arts Council
  39. Fuse Washington
  40. Gates Divest fundraiser
  41. GeoDome Project, The
  42. Grameen Foundation
  43. Green Festival
  44. GreenDrinks Seattle
  45. GreenFestival
  46. GreenMoney Journal
  47. Groundwire
  48. HUB Seattle
  49. ICCR | Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
  50. Institute for Children’s Environmental Health | ICEH
  51. Ingraham High School
  52. Innovest
  53. Institute for Children’s Environmental Health | ICEH
  54. Investor Environmental Health Network | IEHN
  55. IPJC | Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center
  56. Irish Parades Emergency Committee
  57. Jane Goodall Institute, The
  58. KEXP 90.3 FM
  59. KNKX 88.9 FM | formerly KPLU 
  60. KUOW 94.9 FM
  61. Lake Union Civic Orchestra | LUCO
  62. Lumana
  63. Midway film | Albatross and ocean plastic pollution
  64. Migration & Refugee Services | ESL program
  65. MoveOn.org
  66. Museum of Flight
  67. NARAL Pro-Choice WA
  68. NBIS | Network for Business Innovation & Sustainability
  69. New Beginnings Shelter
  70. New Roadmap Foundation | Your Money or Your Life
  71. Northwest AIDS Foundation
  72. Northwest Harvest
  73. NOVA H.S. Social Justice Guatemala Travel Program
  74. NW Center for Responsible Investment | NWCRI
  75. One By One | Fistula Eradication Campaign
  76. One Northwest
  77. One World Futbol
  78. Oxfam America
  79. Partners in Health
  80. People for Puget Sound
  81. Peter Goldmark | Lands Commissioner
  82. Piedmont Environmental Council | PEC
  83. Pike Place Market Historical Commission
  84. Powers of Leadership program | POL, Whidbey Institute
  85. Progress Alliance
  86. Progressive Majority
  87. Puget Sound Community Card
  88. PYE Global
  89. Rain Forest Action Network
  90. Real Change
  91. Reclaim the Media
  92. Rehabilitation Research Institute
  93. Resource Generation
  94. Responsible Wealth | RW
  95. SANCA | School of Acrobatic & New Circus Arts
  96. Seattle Education Access | SEA
  97. Seattle Good Business Network | SGBN
  98. Seattle Mennonite Church
  99. Seattle Public Theater
  100. Seattle University
  101. Seattle Thunder
  102. SHARE Wheel
  103. Shoreline Solar Project
  104. Sierra Club | Corporate Accountability Committee
  105. Social Justice Fund NW | formerly A Territory Resource
  106. Social Venture Network | SVN
  107. South Carolina Conservation League | SCCCL
  108. SRI Scholarship
  109. St. Joseph’s Church
  110. Starlight at Pacific Crest
  111. Stop Exploitation Now!
  112. Sustainable Path Foundation | SPF
  113. Sustainable Seattle
  114. Take Back Your Time
  115. Threshold Foundation
  116. Town Hall Seattle
  117. Toxic Free Future | formerly WA Toxics Coalition
  118. Trinity United Methodist Church
  119. Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment | TriCRI
  120. United for a Fair Economy | UFE
  121. US | SIF The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment
  122. UW Business Roundtable
  123. WA Initiative 940 | police accountability
  124. Washington Bus, The
  125. Washington CASH
  126. Washington Conservation Voters
  127. Washington Council on International Trade
  128. Washington Environmental Council | WEC
  129. Washington Fair Trade Coalition
  130. Washington Lawyers for Sustainability
  131. Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility | WA PSA
  132. Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network, The
  133. Washington United for Marriage | Initiative 74
  134. Whidbey Institute
  135. Woodland Park Zoo
  136. Working Washington
  137. World Affairs Council | WAC, MEPI program
  138. World Aid
  139. Worldchanging.com
  140. YES on 1098
  141. YES! Magazine
  142. Young Women Empowered!

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