This Independence Day, America turns 250 years old.
July 4th, 2026, will mark two and a half centuries of resilience, sacrifice, reinvention and hope. Two and a half centuries of people who believed that this country could be something worth fighting for, worth building and worth passing down.
At Dannah Investment Group, we've been reflecting on what this upcoming Fourth of July celebration really means to us. What keeps coming back isn't a political statement or a talking point. It's a deep gratitude for the freedoms we've inherited, and a conviction that those freedoms come with responsibility.
Freedom & the Responsibility It Carries
We feel that deeply at Dannah. Due to the opportunities this country has made possible for us, we believe we have a responsibility to show up for others in our communities, in our professions and in the lives of our clients.
That shows up in the work we do every day. We're not just building portfolios. We're working alongside people who have spent their lives building something, whether it’s a business, a career or a family's financial future, and who want to protect what they've worked for and pursue what's still ahead.
We do not take this role lightly. We believe that when people have a thoughtful financial strategy, they're better positioned to do more good in the world around them. That's not a small thing.
A Team Built on Service & Faith
I'm proud to work on a team where serving others, both inside and outside the office, is truly a way of life.
Our founder and my father, Richard Rodgers, built this company to help individuals and business owners turn their visions into reality. For him, the American story has always been about the person willing to bet on themselves—to take a risk, build something and create opportunity for the people around them. He brings that belief and his motto, “dream big,” into every client conversation.
Lisa Penberthy, our chief operations officer, came to this work through more than two decades of ministry and operations leadership in the church. She's an ordained minister who has served at both the local and denominational levels, including as a volunteer chaplain at Life Pacific University. Lisa also has a long history of serving on nonprofit and community boards. After spending many years serving on her boys' Little League board, she found it hard to step away and currently serves on her sons' high school baseball booster board. She also serves as treasurer of the board for Sonoma Collective, a church plant in Sonoma, California. Lisa brings a pastoral attentiveness to how Dannah operates and a deep, genuine care for the people we serve.
Our chief revenue officer, Joe Wainer, combines a strong foundation in theology and finance with a lifelong commitment to service. A graduate of The King's University and a top-of-class MBA graduate from George Fox University with a concentration in corporate finance, Joe has served as president of the Foursquare Foundation and as chair of multiple nonprofit boards. He’s widely respected for helping ministries develop faith-based retirement strategies, church endowment plans and sustainable investment policies. Beyond his work with clients, Joe teaches in The King’s University Oxford Summer Residency program, leads Bible studies and invests in the next generation through mentoring and discipleship. When he’s not serving others, Joe enjoys beekeeping, fly fishing, classic literature, time in the mountains and at the beach and making memories with his wife, Liz, and their two sons.
For Michele Kassa, our vice president of strategic operations, investing in her community means investing in people. Throughout her career, she’s led community outreach initiatives, mobilized thousands of volunteers and helped serve tens of thousands of individuals and families through large-scale programs and events. She continues that commitment today by being involved in her church and as a foster-adoptive mother. She believes that strong communities are built when people generously invest their time, talents and resources to create opportunities and hope for others.
Our special projects manager, Sarah Farver, believes that strong communities are built through relationships. Whether she’s supporting foster families, teaching Sunday school at her church or volunteering in her community, she’s committed to helping families and encouraging those around her.
As for me, I enjoy serving on the board of America's Christian Credit Union, a financial institution rooted in values-based stewardship. I also volunteer as a chaplain for my local police department and am actively involved with the Dallas chapter of Brotherhood for the Fallen, an organization dedicated to walking alongside the families of officers killed in the line of duty, both financially and emotionally.
As we mark this anniversary for the USA, we're grateful for the country that made this kind of work possible, for the clients who trust us to be part of their story and for a team that brings their faith, experience and values to this mission.
The American story isn't finished. There's still work to do, dreams worth pursuing and generations to come who will inherit what we build—or fail to build—right now.
We're excited to be part of that work.
Happy 250th birthday, America! To our clients, our community and our country—thank you.
If you'd like to learn more about how we work and what we stand for, I'd love to connect with you.