Growing up in Virginia, Nathan Yates always had a vision for his future. From an early age, he became interested in finance, and as a teenager managed his own small portfolio of stocks. Diagnosed in 1989, he also lives with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Type 2. To date, Nathan’s diagnosis has never stopped him from holding onto his interests and working to achieve the goals he envisioned for his life.
After earning his Bachelor of Science in Economics & Finance, in addition to his Master of Science in Finance from Southern New Hampshire University, Nathan followed his passion and opened his own consulting business. Forward View Consulting was founded in 2014, and in 2016 won the “New Business of the Year” award from the Dickenson County Chamber of Commerce. Nathan is also an adjunct professor and faculty leader at Southern New Hampshire University.
With the success he’s had, Nathan still seeks more opportunities. Most recently, he became actively involved with a Twitter finance group, FinTwit, in which he won the “Good Guy of Finance” award. As part of receiving the award, Nathan was also asked to nominate a charity for others in the group to donate to. He chose Cure SMA.
“My first goal was to raise $500. They topped that mark in minutes,” Nathan said.
As of today, 20 people have donated $2,975 to Cure SMA in honor of Nathan.
Many of the gifts received came from first-time donors who many not have otherwise known about Cure SMA and our mission. Both Nathan and Cure SMA express our utmost appreciation to the members of FinTwit who donated to our cause. This incredible amount of support demonstrates the impact that Nathan has had on others.
“There’s no level of involvement that won’t make a difference,” Nathan said.
Looking forward, an area of advancement in research that Nathan is particularly excited about is the SMA drug pipeline. The updated pipeline includes 16 active programs, including one approved therapy, and 6 programs in clinical trials.
Without people like Nathan, people like you, this progress would not be possible. As a unified community, we can achieve anything if we have a vision and work together to change the future of all those impacted by SMA.