Working toward acceptance, personally and professionally, has been a theme of Susan Hansen’s life. She has been an adviser for the past 25 years, after earlier spending 26 years as an elementary and high school teacher. Wanting to learn about money as she approached retirement, Hansen undertook a self-study program that led to her becoming a certified financial planner, a chartered life underwriter and an accredited estate planner, and eventually starting her own firm, which has a focus on socially responsible investing. Wanting to help the underserved and those of modest means, her first clients were teachers. She also began helping members of the LGBTQ community, who often felt unwelcome at advisory firms.
As she started learning about those clients’ wants and needs, she became involved in a local group called SAGE Upstate, an organization located near her Syracuse, New York-area home that promotes the well-being of older gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. LGBTQ individuals now constitute almost half of her client base. When she was a teacher, Hansen felt her sexual orientation was “something you didn’t share” with colleagues. While the climate is changing, the need for education remains. “Being more accepting and seeing the value of every individual is so much better than looking down on someone who is different,” she said.
— Evan Cooper