Jesse Alexander

President
DHRpro

Jesse Alexander serves as President of DHRpro, directing the strategy and tactical execution of the company to realize the transformational dream of DRHpro.  He brings 30 years of global technology and healthcare experience, including strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, sales, service, and development to deliver profitable growth for his companies and stakeholders.  Jesse builds healthy performing companies, with a mantra of “Mission First, People Always.”

With several successful exits behind him, he has accelerated the trajectory of his previous companies through organic growth as well as mergers, acquisitions, and integrations.  Jesse has served in various senior executive roles at companies such as Allscripts Healthcare, LexisNexis, Innovative Technology Solutions, WhiteHatAI, Mitsubishi, and Solectron.  While at Allscripts Healthcare as a senior executive, he led several divisions supporting cloud hosting, applications support, and IT operations serving over 100 hospitals and healthcare systems, 160,000 physicians, and 500 million annual claims.

Jesse graduated with a BA (honors) in Economics from the College of William and Mary, followed by an MBA (honors) in International Marketing and Operations from CNU.  A former Army Officer, Jesse is a dedicated husband and father of three who enjoys spending time traveling, exercising, building things, and giving.

Keith Bank

CEO and Founder
KB Partners

Keith Bank is the Founder and CEO of Chicago based sportstech venture capital firm KB Partners. Prior to his 28 years in the venture capital world, he was an entrepreneur and real estate developer. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and received his MBA with honors from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jason Barsema

Co-Founder & President
Halo Investing

Jason Barsema is the Co-Founder and President of Halo Investing where he leads the team and product vision. With over a decade of experience managing Structured Notes, he built the Halo platform to provide all investors access to this incredible investment product.

Jason previously was a Partner on a large Private Banking team at Credit Suisse, where he managed portfolios for Ultra High Net Worth Individuals & Institutions.

Jason has his B.A. in Economics from Northern Illinois University and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Rob Biodrowski

Great Lakes Division Executive – Commercial Banking
Wells Fargo

Rob Biodrowski is an executive vice president and division executive for Wells Fargo Commercial Banking Great Lakes division. Based in the Chicago area, Rob leads a team focused on serving the needs of business customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio with annual revenues from $10 million - $2.5 billion.

Rob was previously managing director and head of Middle Market Investment Banking Coverage. He managed the investment banking business generated out of 12 regional offices throughout the U.S. largely driven by the partnership with Commercial Banking and Wealth &Investment Management.  Rob continues to support the middle market investment banking initiative as head of the partnership on behalf of Commercial Banking. 

Rob has more than 20 years of experience in financial services managing investment banking priorities. Rob rejoined Wells Fargo from Citigroup, where he was head of Midwest Investment Banking and also led the middle market investment banking coverage effort across North America. Prior to that, Rob was with Wells Fargo for almost 20 years where he held roles in Regional Investment Banking (RIB) and Industrials Investment Banking. In RIB, he was responsible for the origination and execution of investment banking services for clients based inIllinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, and Kansas. While on the Industrials platform, Rob covered mid- and large-cap clients across the capital goods vertical. Rob has completed more than 100 transactions across a range of industries.

Rob earned a B.S. from the University of Nebraska.

Will Bloom

Managing Director
Chartwell Financial Advisory

Will is an investment banker for Chartwell’s corporate finance practice and leads the firm’s capital markets team as well as its Chicago office. He has worked on both mergers and acquisitions as well as capital markets transactions within a variety of industries while executing high profile ESOP buyouts, terminations, and restructurings. Prior to Chartwell, Will was an investment banker with Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Transaction Development group, where he focused on executing sell-side, buy-side, and ESOP transactions for middle-market clients between $200 million and $2 billion in enterprise value.

Darrell Butler

Founder and Managing Director
Artemis Transaction Advisors, LLC

Darrell Butler, co-founder of Artemis Transaction Advisors 26 years ago, is a seasoned dealmaker having advised on more than 200 transactions. Focused on selling middle-market privately held businesses, Darrell brings tenacious advocacy and wise counsel to each client. He began his career at Arthur Andersen, holds an MBA from University of Chicago and serves as Director at Restonic Mattress Corp.

Dan Cameron

Transaction Advisory Services Senior Manager
ORBA

Dan Cameron is a Transaction Advisory Analyst with more than 18 years of experience in public accounting, working with corporations, individuals and partnerships in several industries, including manufacturing, e-commerce and technology. Dan is skilled in handling a wide range of mergers and acquisition matters for closely-held, middle-market and private equity clients, including planning to minimize taxes and leading tax due diligence engagements. Additionally, he is proficient in managing the income tax compliance process and providing tax advice to minimize or defer federal and state income tax liabilities for his clients. Dan is also experienced in representing clients before the IRS and state jurisdictions in examinations and other tax controversies.

Ed Campbell

President & CEO
Rose Paving LLC

Adam Fuchs

Senior Vice President
Wintrust Commercial Banking

Adam Fuchs is a Group Senior Vice President and hub leader for the west suburban middle market banking hub for Wintrust Commercial Banking. Adam works with many privately held middle market businesses that are family founder owned as well as sponsor owned. In his 15 years with Wintrust he has helped many businesses by providing access to capital to support working capital, equipment, real estate and construction financing needs. In addition, he works closely with the many great niche businesses in Wintrust including the banking specialists supporting ESOP’s, sponsor finance, private banking, international banking, contractor banking and leasing to name a few. 

Kanasha Herbert

Senior Counsel
Locke Lord

Kanasha S. Herbert is an attorney with significant experience representing companies and entrepreneurs in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and growth equity transactions, securities finance and compliance, intercompany spin-off and wind-down transactions, and corporate governance matters. She regularly represents private equity funds in portfolio acquisitions and venture capital and growth equity funds, angel investors and emerging growth companies in debt and equity financings.

Robert Hogan

Managing Director
Shorehill Capital LLC

Mr. Hogan is a Managing Director at Shorehill Capital and helped found the firm. Rob has over 20 years of private equity experience and he currently leads the Business Development team at Shorehill Capital.

Prior to his time at Shorehill he spent 15 years at CHS Capital investing in and managing industrial and distribution companies. Prior to joining CHS he was employed by Lehman Brothers, Inc. (1997-2000).

Rob currently serves on the Board of Directors of Functional Devices, Inc. He previously served on the boards of directors of Belt Power Holdings LLC; Fortiline, Inc.; Houston Wire & Cable Company (NASDAQ: HWCC); Kele, Inc.; Stronghaven, Inc.; SunSource Holdings, Inc.; and NorthStar Group Holdings, LLC. He holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

He and his wife Mary live in the western suburbs of Chicago and have four children.

James Jack

Managing Director, Head of the Business Owners and Multigenerational Wealth Client Segments
UBS

James is the Head of both the Business Owners and Multigenerational Wealth Client Segments within the Strategic Client Segments team.

James took on the Business Owners Client Segment upon its creation in 2018 to build an organization that supports business owners and the Financial Advisors that advise them. He has worked with clients on pre-business sale exit planning, such as succession planning, M&A transaction planning, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), and the emotional and self-identity ramifications of exiting a business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, James and his team supported business owners in navigating pandemic programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. In 2023, James’s remit expanded to include the Multigenerational Wealth Client Segment, which includes UBS’s support of wealth transfer and transition strategies between generations and the Rising Gen. James and his team work to bring the best of UBS’s resources to these important client segments.

James has been with UBS since 2006, previously working in the WMA Banking Group to build banking, cash and lending solutions that meet the needs of High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth individuals and the Financial Advisors that support them. James has driven and executed strategies to expand securities-based lending, develop a proprietary credit card tailored to UBS's unique client base and helped to manage UBS’s deposit program, including pricing, sales, and product development programs.

James holds a BS in Finance and Economics from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Outside of UBS, James is a member of the board of directors and co-treasurer for the Bronx Academy of Letters Foundation, supporting a public middle and high school in the poorest congressional district in the US, and enjoys experiencing travel and cultures different from his own. He also holds FINRA Series 7 license and Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation.

Ted Keim

Partner
Venable LLP

Ted Keim's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, investment and venture capital transactions, private equity, corporate reorganizations and restructurings, and complex joint venture/company representation matters. Ted's clients include a broad range of public and privately held companies, both in the United States and globally, across a wide spectrum of industries, including healthcare and life sciences/medical devices, food and beverage, financial and technology services, industrials, automotive, aerospace and defense, retail, and hospitality.

Payal Keshvani

Partner
Taft Law

Payal focuses on general corporate and transactional matters. She represents clients from inception to exit, including matters of corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, private equity transactions, minority investments, secured financing, and debt and equity issuances.

Dustin S. Klein

Chief Content Officer
Smart Business

Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.

Jeffrey Kolke

Partner
Franklin Hill Capital

Prior to becoming a partner at Franklin Hill Capital, Jeff Kolke was a managing director at Gladstone Capital and Monroe Capital, leading lower middle market debt and equity funds. He was responsible for originating and leading deal teams in closing senior unitranche, split lien term loan B’s, second lien and minority equity transactions; completing 16 transactions with a combined transaction value of over $800 million. In addition, Mr. Kolke had previously worked for GE Capital as a senior vice president, and closed over $1.5 billion in transactions.

Mr. Kolke has extensive experience in structuring and managing transactions for multiple corporate strategies including firms undergoing mergers and acquisitions, management buy outs, recapitalizations, growth capital, refinancing and turnarounds. His career began in the chemical and plastics industries working with GE Plastics, Nalco Chemical, and National Starch and Chemical. Additionally, Mr. Kolke is a certified Six Sigma Blackbelt.

Mr. Kolke received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois and a Master in Business Administration from Wayne State University.

Scott Lamerand

CEO
Inter-Med, Inc. dba Vista Apex and Perio Protect

Scott Lamerand is the CEO of Inter-Med, a private equity owned, platform company providing innovative dental materials and solutions into preventative, restorative and endodontic procedures Worldwide. Scott has led his organization since March of 2020, guiding the organization through the challenges of Covid and the post-Covid World. Prior to his role as CEO at Inter-Med, Scott founded Apex Dental Materials and led that organization for 15 years prior to a successful sale to Inter-Med.

Peter Leemputte

Principal
Wind Point Partners

Peter Leemputte is a Principal at Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $6 billion in assets under management. His active portfolio companies include Ox Engineered Products, Handgards, Ascensus Specialties, and Hasa. His involvement with prior portfolio companies includes Dicom Transportation Group, Petmate, and Aurora Plastics.

Prior to Wind Point, Peter was with J.P. Morgan in the firm’s investment banking division where he worked on M&A transactions, debt financings, and restructuring transactions across various sectors.

Peter holds a B.A. in economics from Stanford University.

Jared Leishman

Executive
INW

Jared Leishman is an experienced and respected leader in contract manufacturing. Most recently, Jared was CEO of Innovations of Nutrition and Wellness (INW), a platform of six contract manufacturers of nutritional supplements, personal care and liquid products.

Prior to INW, Jared served as CEO of Capstone Nutrition (Capstone), a global frontrunner in nutritional supplement manufacturing. Under his leadership, Capstone experienced a rapid growth trajectory, increasing its EBITDA more than 400% from 2019 until its acquisition by INW in May 2021, backed by Cornell Capital. Jared joined Capstone in 2005 when it was known as Cornerstone Research & Development, Inc. During his tenure, he served as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and ultimately CEO.

Before joining Capstone (f/k/a Cornerstone Research & Development), Jared worked in key finance positions at Deloitte LLP and Fidelity Investments. He's a Certified Public Accountant and has a BA and MBA in Accounting & Finance from Westminster College.

Tony Lorenz

Global Head of Corporate Development
rEvolution

Tony is the Global Head of Corporate Development and a founding investor at the industry leading sports marketing firm, rEvolution. Tony recently led the Event Solutions business at Apollo backed, Notified. As CEO of PRA (PRA), Tony transformed the business through 19 acquisitions to lead its sector in the Americas. Tony is a graduate of Harvard Business School – Owner/President Management program, and holds a BS in Accounting from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

William A. McComas

Managing Member
Bowie & Jensen, LLC

William A. McComas is the Managing Partner at Bowie & Jensen and a corporate attorney focusing on the technology sector. A leading technology attorney, he represents companies, investors, and entrepreneurs in many different technology industries. He counsels clients throughout the country in connection with financing, mergers and acquisitions, sales of assets, equity financings, and other general corporate matters. He is well established for helping companies to manage and develop commercial technology and strategies. He often publishes and speaks on such topics and has received numerous awards including citations in Best Lawyers in America and multiple "Lawyer of the Year" honors.

Tom Meredith

Partner
Brightstar Capital Partners

Tom Meredith is a Partner at Brightstar and Member of the Investment Committee. He currently serves as Board Chair of ReMarkets, Vice Chair of Likewize and BrightCell, all Brightstar portfolio companies.

Tom’s career spans more than 35 years and includes extensive experience in corporate finance, manufacturing, finance operations, and global financial markets. Prior to joining Brightstar, Tom was Vice Board Chair of Likewize, which was sold to Softbank in 2014. He was a Co-founder and Chair of the Board of Managers of Meritage Capital, an investment management firm specializing in multi-manager hedge funds.

Prior to establishing Meritage in 2003, Tom served in various senior positions at Dell, including CFO, SVP of Business Development and Strategy, and Managing Director of Dell Ventures. Prior to joining Dell, he was VP and Treasurer for Sun Microsystems and Co-Founder and GM of Amdahl Capital Corporation.

Daniel Miller

President
A1 Garage

Matthew Moran

Managing Partner
HC Private Investments

Matthew Moran is a founding partner of HC Private Investments. Prior to founding HC Private Investments, Mr. Moran was a senior investment professional at Wind Point Partners, a middle-market private equity firm based in Chicago. Mr. Moran currently serves on the board of Customized Distribution, Epicurean Butter, Prince Industries, QEI and Springboard Manufacturing. Mr. Moran holds a BA with high distinction in economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is actively involved with Little Heroes League and the Evans Scholar Foundation.

Michelle Moreno

Managing Partner
VentureDNA

Michelle Moreno is a Managing Partner with VentureDNA, leading the Investment Banking services and supporting the firm's advisory services. Focused on U.S. and global high growth companies, activities include Capital Raising, both equity and debt, for the issuance of Series A and B securities and related corporate debt offerings. Industries served include Technology and Services companies in Life Sciences, Healthcare, MedTech / Medical Devices, Professional Services, Manufacturing / Industrial Technologies, Marketing, Education, Energy, Food, and Government Services. Michelle has worked with companies of all sizes from Fortune 500 and large public companies through to family-owned businesses. Investors include institutional funds, family offices, and qualified investors.

Hafeezah Muhammad

CEO
Backpack Healthcare

Hafeezah Muhammad is the CEO of Backpack Healthcare, passionate about leveraging technology to address critical societal issues. With an extensive background in leadership and a profound understanding of the transformative power of A.I., she embarked on a mission to revolutionize mental health support for children. Her visionary leadership has catapulted her company to the forefront of the industry, setting new standards and paving the way for a more accessible and inclusive approach to mental wellness. She has acquired two venture backed companies in the last six months.

Thomas Murtagh

Partner
FORVIS, LLP

Tom Murtagh is a tax partner with FORVIS and a leader in the firm's healthcare service niche. With more than 20 years of experience, he specializes in corporate and partnership taxation for closely-held businesses and their owners.

Matthew Norwood

Senior Vice President–Wealth Management
UBS

Matt is highly investigative, critical, reasoned and ultimately creative in determining investment strategies on behalf of clients. Matt has a decade and a half of experience in counseling entrepreneurs on matters related to their business. Their entrepreneurial spirit has driven Matt to become more proactive and persistent.

Matt is a member of UBS's Presidents Council. Prior to joining UBS Private Wealth Management, Matt spent several years at Credit Suisse in the Private Banking division and 11 years before that in corporate banking providing senior debt capital to privately held businesses in the Midwest with JP Morgan and Bank of America. Matt gained broad exposure to entrepreneurial family-owned businesses. That breadth of experience provided Matt with insight into working with entrepreneurs and their advisors in all stages of the business life cycle from start-up to exit.

Matt's passion for investment management began in college where he worked on student-managed portfolios with more than $15 million in University endowed funds under management. After completing his Bachelor's from University of Dayton, Matt continued his education receiving an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he was a Dean's List graduate in Analytical Finance.

Matt and his wife Lindsay have four children and live in Glen Ellyn, IL. His hobbies include health and fitness activities, golf and traveling with his family.

Robert Novak

Managing Director
BDO

Rob Novak, CFA, is a Managing Director in Business Restructuring Services and is based out of Chicago. He has substantial experience in crisis management, operations improvement, debt refinancing/restructuring and has held multiple C-level positions.

Prior to joining BDO, Rob co-founded Bankruptcy Claim Exchange to advise creditors on maximizing value, and he worked in the Commercial Restructuring group of Alvarez & Marsal where he advised on numerous in and out-of-court restructurings over more than ten years. Rob also served as CFO with Midwest Gourmet Foods, a gourmet foods retailer and restaurant concept in Chicago.

Thomas Parro

Senior Managing Director
MERK Capital Corporation

Mr. Parro is an operationally focused professional with recognized expertise in optimizing and expanding company enterprise values throughout investment lifecycles and macroeconomic cycles.  He has 27+ years of experience in C-level management, private equity, family office, and institutional investing and portfolio management. In addition, Mr. Parro has considerable expertise in the strategic development and integration of both start-ups and acquired companies both domestically and internationally.  

For the past 10 years Mr. Parro has owned and operated an independent sponsor private equity investment group. In that 10 years has invested in 5 platform companies and several add on acquisitions. He has develop an extensive network of investment bankers, brokers, lawyers, accountants and consultants that provide the opportunity to review over 700 investment opportunities a year in various industries and platforms.

Prior to MERK, Mr. Parro led the mergers & acquisitions effort at Globe Union Industrial Inc. (“Globe Union”).  He was instrumental in growing Globe Union from a private label $125 million single product line company to a $750 million branded broad based product line company over a five year period with operations that included North America, Europe, Taiwan, and China. Mr. Parro also led the mergers & acquisitions effort for Field Container Co. (“Field Container”).  He was instrumental in acquiring numerous companies that help grow Field Container from $350 million to $500 million over a five year period. His primary responsibilities were integration of the companies in all facets of the operations including, manufacturing, sales and marketing, administrative services, and IT. While at the financial services division of GE Capital for approximately eight years, Mr. Parro managed numerous strategies that led to the growth of various companies through both organic as well as acquisitions.  

Peter Petitt

Managing Director | Aon IP Solutions
Aon

Pete joined Aon in 2019 following 20 years of investment banking and corporate development experience. As a banker he focused on M&A advisory and capital markets origination with leading technology-focused firms including Stifel, Cowen and Robertson Stephens. Most recently, Pete ran the semiconductor group at Stifel and advised on M&A transactions for Marvell (three carve-out divestitures), Silego (sale to Dialog) and Maxlinear (acquisition of Exar). Other semiconductor clients include SMART Global, Jazz Semiconductor, Mindspeed, Virage Logic, Tessera, Nanometrics, Verigy/Agilent. Pete also served as VP Corporate Development for RPX Corp, a patent risk management firm based in San Francisco, where he focused on structured patent acquisitions, strategy, M&A and investor relations.

Brett Schroeder

Assistant General Counsel, Corporate
US Foods

Brett Schroeder is the Assistant General Counsel, Corporate for US Foods, one of America's leading food distributors. In this role, he represents US Foods in significant corporate transactions, including complex M&A transactions on both the buy-side and sell-side, joint ventures and strategic investments, and manages US Foods' public disclosure and reporting requirements. Prior to joining US Foods, Brett was an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP and King & Spalding LLP, where he represented public and privately-held buyers and sellers in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, spin-offs, carveouts, divestitures and joint ventures. He is a graduate of Duke University School of Law.

Arti Shah

Vice President of Real Estate and Investments
Gala Capital Partners

Arti has over 15 years of experience in finance, real estate, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A). She spent the first five years of her career in financial valuation at Deloitte. She then joined a family office for over 8 years focused on real estate development, investments, and was the Managing Director of a portfolio of operating businesses. Currently, she is the Vice President of Real Estate and Investments for a family office based in Orange County, CA. At Gala Capital Partners, she plays a key role originating, developing, and acquiring a variety of investments to diversify the company portfolio. Arti earned a master’s in business administration (MBA) from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago in 2014 and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce, finance and marketing from DePaul University.

Suk Shah

CEO
Monarch Collective

Suk Shah is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Monarch Collective, one of the largest vacation rental management operators in the US.  Founded in early 2022, Monarch has completed 20 acquisitions to date and is one of the fastest growing verticals within StoicLane, a Chicago and Miami based private equity vehicle that has raised over $400M to provide strategic growth capital to owner/operators in across financial services, insurance, and real estate sectors.

Prior to Monarch, Suk was the CFO of Guaranteed Rate, one of the largest and fastest growing retail mortgage lenders in the country.  As CFO, Suk oversaw all the finance and capital related functions at Guaranteed Rate, focusing on driving bottom line profitability and enhancing shareholder value while supporting various strategic initiatives including M&A.  Under his stewardship, Guaranteed Rate originated over $100B of mortgages in 2021 and generated record profitability.

Prior to Guaranteed Rate, Suk was the CFO of Avant, where he helped build and grow the leading consumer lending platform to “Unicorn” status, helping raise over $600 million in equity and $4 billion in debt capital to fuel the growth of its personal loan and credit card products.  Suk also was instrumental in executing the spin-off of Avant’s technology platform, Amount, into a separate business that also achieved “Unicorn” status when WestCap made its landmark investment in the leading financial software platform in 2021.

Prior to Avant, Suk spent over a decade in various leadership roles at General Electric and HSBC Bank. Suk is also a Board member and Chair of the Finance Committee for the national non-for-profit, Start Early, which supports early childhood education and care services for underprivileged children from birth to five years of age. Suk also advises CFOs, start-up founders and early-stage venture funds across several industry verticals and areas of expertise including capital markets and fund raising.

Suk earned dual bachelors degrees in Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and an Executive MBA from Northwestern University.  Suk lives in Hinsdale, IL with his wife, Manshi, and their two daughters ages 15 and 12.  He is an avid Chicago sports fan and enjoys golf, tennis, and traveling with his family in his free time.

Kevin Slaughter

Partner
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC

Kevin Slaughter is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. He focuses on representing clients in complex commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, financing agreements, joint ventures, private offerings, supply/service agreements, distribution agreements, development and licensing agreements, and manufacturing agreements. Kevin has particular experience representing Fortune 500 companies in middle market transactions. Additionally, Kevin is a go-to attorney for clients in the cannabis industry, advising them on a range of issues including license applications, corporate governance and funding. He also assists cannabis clients with organizational structure, real estate matters, branding and licensing agreements and supply agreements. Clients appreciate Kevin’s practical advice, his effective communication skills, and his knack for problemsolving. Relying on his extensive experience and strong interpersonal skills, Kevin has achieved exceptional results for his clients. Above all, he listens to his clients to understand their needs, goals, and objectives. Kevin earns their trust and confidence by employing an analytical yet pragmatic approach that is centered around accomplishing the business objectives of his clients in a responsive, efficient, and effective manner.

Bill Sommerschield

Managing Director
Keystone Capital

Bill Sommerschield joined Keystone Capital in 2014 and serves as a Managing Director of the firm with a primary focus on Keystone’s investment activities.

Prior to joining Keystone, Bill was a Vice President at Lake Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm, where he focused on the firm’s investment activities and served on the Board of Directors of Engine Group, ORC International, HMI, and Addison Group. Bill also worked in the investment banking divisions of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse where he was actively involved in mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and equity financings in the business services, industrial, and education industries. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Bill was a Co-Founder of Wonder LLC, an experiential children’s retail company, where he led concept development, strategic and financial planning, and capital raising activities.

Sharon Spooler

Managing Partner
Chief Outsider

Sharon Spooler is a Managing Partner at Chief Outsiders with responsibility for the Midwest region. Sharon helps CEOs and Founders cut through the noise to understand what is working, how to measure marketing ROI, and how to scale programs for growth. An engineer by training, Sharon believes in the process of marketing, measurement, and that order of operations matters when it comes to developing marketing and sales in growing companies. She has worked for start-ups to Fortune 100 companies in technology, professional services, SaaS, and financial services. As a Managing Partner, Sharon puts that experience to work by matching CEOs and companies with the right fractional CMO and CSO talent.

Rob Stepen

Business Performance Advisor
Insperity

Rob Stepen, Business Performance Advisor with Insperity applies decades of experience as a business owner to work with Small to Mid-size businesses to realize their company goals by improving their efficiency, accelerating growth and driving revenue by introducing our PEO Model.

Christian Streu

Partner & CFO
The Partner Companies

Christian Streu is Chief Financial Officer at The Partner Companies (TPC), a global diversified manufacturing company that creates mission-critical solutions for innovators in the aerospace, defense, clean energy, medical, technology, and telecom industries. Founded in 1997, TPC has grown into an international leader with 10 operating companies in the United States, China and Wales: E-Fab, Elcon, Fotofab, Lattice Materials, LT Precision, Microphoto, Optiforms, PEI, Pinnacle Precision and UPG.

Under Christian's leadership, TPC has made significant strides in the advanced manufacturing acquisition landscape, notably with the acquisitions of UPG Company, Pinnacle Precision and PEI since 2021

Marc Talluto

Chairman of the Board
Thirdera

Marc Talluto has been in the IT services space throughout his career starting with Accenture and Deloitte Consulting before founding his own IT services company, Fruition Partners in 2003. As Founder and CEO he built Fruition into a global services firm partnered with the software company, ServiceNow. Marc took an equity investment from Sunstone Partners in 2012 to do global acquisitions and then grew the company 300% in 2 years. DXC then acquired the company in 2015 and Marc stayed on responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Global ServiceNow practice while they acquired 5 more companies globally and grew the overall revenue to $250m annually before his departure in 2019.

Fruition Partners was a proud recipient of several awards:
● Forbes Magazine - #1 on the Inner City 100 list
● Inc Magazine – Inc 500 list
● Inc Magazine – Hire Power Award
● Brill Street – Top 20 employer for Gen Y in Chicago

Marc is currently an active investor and Board member in the technology sector:
● Thirdera – Executive Chairman and responsible for overall investment thesis
● Sunstone Partners– limited partner and executive operator
● Illinois Wesleyan University - Entrepreneur in Residence

Justin M. Weber

Investment Officer & Corporate Development Officer
Family Office

We actualize opportunities in water, alternative, energy, and infrastructure projects nationwide by delivering programmatic value creation via organic and inorganic growth of actively managed portfolio companies.

We create value by proving the team and resources to commercialize and adopt emerging technologies, utilize alternative data, and execute atypical strategies to solve for x.

Thaddeus Wong

Co-Founder & Co-CEO
@properties

Thad Wong is the co-founder and co-CEO of @properties, the nation's 8th largest brokerage firm by sales volume (REALTrends 500). @properties and its affiliated companies have over 3,500 agents in 13 states, as well as annual closed sales volume of over $16 billion.A highly creative and energetic entrepreneur, Wong has been a driving force behind the development and deployment of pl@tform™, @properties' proprietary suite of end-to-end real estate technology applications. He also directs the design and implementation of @properties' award-winning marketing programs, agent training and coaching initiatives, and recruitment activities. Additionally, Wong has provided venture funding for a number of real estate tech startups, including Konverse, First.io, and m@ilcontrol.