Meet Dana Koller | President of UN-17 and President of Kaktus Brewing Co.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dana Koller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
UN-17 was a full seven year process. There was excitement and many challenges along the way. I spent about one year designing, researching and organizing the concept of UN-17. It took about one year to get both our 501c3 and 501c7 designations from the IRS and roughly six months to create our partnership with the United Nations 17 goals of sustainable development. We had a major set back during COVID but we are now up and running and moving faster than we ever thought that we could.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been working for myself since my early 20’s. I am 39 years old now. Over the years there were times when I had 2-3 full time jobs at once in order for me to reach my financial goals and be able to continue investing in my self and my businesses. I am extremely proud of the businesses and community events that I have created over the years however, I am most proud and excited about UN-17. UN-17 is the non-profit organization that I have been working on for the past 7 years. The work I had done creating Kaktus Brewing Company with my business partner Mark Matheson there is what led to the inspiration of UN-17. We have been fortunate enough to run a company that has literally changed 100’s lives through the fun social environment of a micro brewery, and Pizzaria. This place became a staple for community outreach, support, socializing and education. We have had 7 relationships the lead to marriages start at Kaktus Brewing Co. We have helped staff remove themselves from poverty and homelessness and been huge supporters of the performing arts. I can continue to list all the fantastic things that Kaktus Brewery has accomplished but it would never have happened without first becoming an organization that knew all this was possible. As we onboarded staff and customers, we worked hard to lead by example and make sure no one person was every left behind. Seeing the incredible results of this inspired me to want to share it with other organizations and businesses. I Dana Koller, was fortunate enough to be able to coach new and existing business on how to generate such results and while seeing the success I realized that by moving the private sector in this direction we would not just improve the United States drastically but improve the world.

This is what inspired UN-17. As I was developing the concept of UN-17 which is an organization that is teaching Corporate Responsibility and encouraging Social Enterprise, I stumbled across the SDG’s (United Nations 17 Goals of Sustainable Development) and it basically mirrored what I felt operating a successful business looked like. A successful business is not just derived and defined by its profits but also its results and impact within its community. I am a firm believer that if our businesses moved in this direction more often, we would solve our most pressing social issues such as poverty, quality education for all, equal opportunity, sustainable communities and so much more.

UN-17 was my first fully self funded project. As I explained earlier it took a little over 2 years designing how we were going to be financially stable as a non-profit which is led by our “social club” and “speakeasy”, and what we were going to do to have the best impact in educating and coaching other organizations which will be led mainly by our podcast “Pangea Economics”.
Once I felt confident in my plan, I decided it was time to open up shop. I rented a building and took 6 months to build it out and get things rolling. As we started operating, we were showing signs of early success but then COVID took place and the building we rented fell into foreclosure and we were forced out of the lease. This put me in debt roughly $25,000 and behind schedule dramatically. Luckily I believed too much in the project and this mission statement to give up so I basically prayed and meditated daily on the ideal place that we would find that would get us back open. Because of the financial stress the first spot put me in I needed something that was really hard to find. I needed a run down house that could be fixed up and converted into a commercially zoned building and speakeasy. As fate would have it, after about 1 year I stumbled upon 419 Coal Ave SW in downtown Albuquerque. It was exactly what I needed. A place run down enough that I could afford it, a place zoned so that I can move in and work it until it was successful, and a place that could be commercialized in a business district.

It took me working 2 years running Kaktus Brewery full time and working on rebuilding our space day in and day out until I finally got it done. We relaunched with very limited hours and only work of mount in June of 2023 and I am extremely proud to say that we are making up for lost time growing three times faster than we anticipated.

*UN-17 is a non-profit organization that encourages the education of Corporate Responsibility and the creation of Social Enterprises. UN-17 looks to provide coaching and other educational resources to help new and existing organizations move in this direction and solve social issues organically.

*UN-17 has created its own financial stability by creating a members only social club and speakeasy were like minded individuals can come celebrate and share their passions with one another. Every beverage sold supports the mission of UN-17 in full.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
New Mexico is an amazing place with a lot to see and a ton of history. I think I would make Kaktus Brewery my first stop, not because I own it but because it is a great example of what New Mexico is all about when it comes to its divers community and eclectic design. Not to mention it is the best pizza and beer in town.

After a list of great breweries and restaurants we would head out to the wineries to be introduced to the oldest wine growing region in the United States.

To see the wonderful views of Albuquerque and the surrounding areas we would head to one of the largest mountain trams in the world and each at the fine dinning restaurant “ten3” at the top.

Then off to learn about all the amazing Native Indian history while visiting the unique Pueblos.

Finishing with museums and art galleries in Santa Fe New Mexico.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The list on thin one is LONG… Like most people I know, I have been fortunate to have a lot of support from both parents and step parents John Koller, Jane Garrett, Jim and Rosemary Owen. Without the trust and financial support of Genevieve and Paul Mitchell as well as Angelic and Paul Griego I would not have been able to complete this project. A wonderful book “Green Swans” and the work of John Elkington kept me going and assured me that I was not alone in the goals that I have which kept my energy high throughout all the challenges we faced. Finally my lovely girlfriend Cassandra Kent who inspired me daily to become the best person I could be.

Website: www.un-17.org

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danaismrz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=un-17