Donna E Clifford:  “Perspective,” from Progressive Asset Management
News & Views, Winter 2006 

When I joined the PAM Network in 1999, I found the place I was meant to be and the work I was meant to do.  I had spent 23 years managing an income tax practice and 5 years with a traditional brokerage firm.  My social and political activism and increasing awareness of socially responsible investing made the traditional firm a very poor fit.  Once I met Eric Packer, of the Wellesley office of PAM, it didn’t take me long to make the transition to PAM!

Eric encouraged me to take the Series 7 exam (I had only been working with mutual funds).  That was a major step, opening up a whole new chapter in my life.  Two years ago I sold my tax practice and I have never been happier.  Working with my clients on sustainable and responsible investments, allows an integration of many facets of my professional and personal life.  And I am very impressed with the leadership my colleagues in the PAM network have shown in their communities all across the country.  They are truly a committed and inspiring group!

I enjoy working with each client to design a portfolio of investments that fit their individual needs and values, a portfolio they feel comfortable investing in, with mutual funds and individual stocks that they are proud to own.  The environment, alternative energy, employment non-discrimination, and economic justice are key considerations for most of my clients.  With all the resources available through the PAM network, I can find investments appropriate for each person with whom I work.  It is also much more rewarding to have the time to get to know each person better, and to see them more than once a year, rather than seeing them only at income tax time, when things are always rushed and hectic.  I do continue to maintain my Enrolled Agent status, since my tax knowledge is invaluable in assisting people with retirement accounts, capital gains issues, and with handling section 1031 real estate exchanges.

In my life outside the office, I currently serve as Treasurer of “Promise The Children”, a non-profit group working on education and advocacy projects that support the healthy development and education of children.  I am on the Executive Committee of the Mystic Valley Area Branch NAACP, as the Political Concerns/Legal Redress Chair.  I serve on the board of the Medford Chapter of Zonta International, and I’m Secretary of the Massachusetts Society of Enrolled Agents.  By the time you read this, I will most likely also be chair of the Social Concerns Committee of the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church.  It all keeps me hopping, but I meet a lot of interesting people!