Working at a farm-to-table organic pizza restaurant in Vermont introduced Alyssa Stankiewicz to sustainability, an issue she is now illuminating for investors as an ESG manager and research analyst with Morningstar Inc.

Stankiewicz learned about locally sourced agricultural products while managing American Flatbread in the state’s Mad River Valley and toiling in its onsite garden. That experience inspired her to earn an MBA with a focus on the topic from the University of Vermont.

After joining Morningstar in 2019, she took charge of the firm’s newly created Sustainability Squad. She researches sustainability best practices and works to improve the transparency of sustainable funds. The group she leads is expanding Morningstar’s qualitative environmental, social and governance coverage of U.S. asset managers.

It’s a role that has put Stankiewicz in the middle of an investing area seeing soaring investor demand, increasing regulatory scrutiny and constant innovation.

“I haven’t been bored in more than 2½ years,” she said

Funds and pizza aren’t so different, when customers want to know how they are made. “Our emphasis is transparency for investors,” Stankiewicz said. — Mark Schoeff Jr.