Committee

Matt is co-founder and Managing Partner of 12 South Capital Partners. He brings experience in sales, operations, strategy, and finance.

Prior to founding 12 South Capital Partners, Matt worked at MVision Private Equity Advisers, Ltd based in London. At MVision, Matt managed multiple private equity fundraisings, ranging from 250 million - 4.0 billion Euros. In addition, he covered investor relationships across continental Europe and the Middle East.

Matt has consulting experience in multiple industries. He worked for Schlumberger Business Consulting on oil & gas projects across the Middle East and for Netflix, serving as Chief Military Advisor to Brad Pitt for the satirical film War Machine (2017).

Previously, Matt spent over six years as a U.S. Army Officer, serving multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. In his last role, he was the deputy operations officer for a 450-person air cavalry squadron that provided reconnaissance and security for coalition troops spread across Southern Afghanistan.

Matt earned his M.B.A from London Business School and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Matt is a sales-oriented CEO with expertise in acquiring and transforming family-owned manufacturing companies. He drives growth through digital marketing, operational improvements, and fostering cultures of success. He recently sold LB Plastics to AZEK (NYSE: AZEK), a market leader in outdoor building products. Previously, he led a $1B division at Lowe’s Home Improvement and worked in leveraged buyouts and M&A advisory.

Jose R. Costa has a long track record of successfully creating corporate value and leading large, multi-unit retail organizations with responsibility of +$2B in annual sales. Mr. Costa is a change agent that has increased organizational performance in multiple industries through identifying and realizing new growth opportunities, developing integrated strategies, hiring and developing exceptional talent, and delivering flawless execution. Skilled in mergers and acquisitions and integrating complex businesses in both company and franchise operations.

Mr. Costa possess deep expertise growing private equity portfolio companies as both senior executive and board director for several of the largest consumer focused PE groups (3G Capital, Harvest Partners, Roark Capital Group, HAL Investments, The Jordan Company, Durational Capital Management, A&M Capital Opportunities and Oaktree Capital Management) in North America and Europe.

Mark DeMarcus is a Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Business Banking for First National Bank’s Charlotte Region. In this role, Mark leads the business unit in providing companies across a variety of industries with industry-leading suite of business products and services, such as tailored cash flow solutions, capital financing options, to support growth of mid-sized companies throughout the Greater Charlotte area.

Prior to Salem Capital, Blake was an experienced Credit/Risk Management professional with over 15 years experience in the Banking industry. Mr. Evans held numerous underwriting and portfolio management roles with Carolina First Bank (The South Financial Group - parent), Morgan Stanley (Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A.), Bank of America, and SunTrust now Truist.

Mr. Evans specializes in SBA/Business Banking and Commercial Underwriting and Financial Analysis, Credit/Risk Reporting and Review, Securities-Based Lending, and High Net Worth/Affluent Lending. These areas of concentration and expertise supported multiple business lines, which included Business Banking/SBA, Middle Market, Corporate Banking, Small Business and Private Wealth.

As Co-Managing Partner, President, and CEO of family investment holding company Salem Capital LLC, Mr. Evans is responsible for the management of Salem's existing investment portfolio, sourcing/prospecting new investments/transactions, and all day-to-day administrative functions.

Blake received his B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College in 2005. He is active and involved with numerous community/philanthropic organizations including: Spoleto Festival USA, Mecklenburg County Council/BSA, Holy Angels, Gibbes Museum of Art, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte Symphony (CSO), Miracle Park-Rock Hill, SC (York County Disabilities Foundation), High Cotton Classic, Camp Canaan, and Foundation for the Carolinas (FFTC). Mr. Evans also serves as a market advisory board member (Central Carolinas) for Oakworth Capital Bank (OTCQX: OAKC).

Hailey Foreman is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in business development and finance. Currently serving as the Director of Growth Strategy & Business Development at League One Volleyball since April 2025, Foreman previously held the position of Vice President at Wheelhouse from July 2021 to April 2025, after serving as Senior Associate.

Prior experience includes roles as an Associate at Lindsay Goldberg and an Investment Banking Analyst at Lazard, where Foreman began as a Summer Analyst. Early career experiences include internships in accounting and banking at Edison Nation and NewDominion Bank, respectively.

Foreman earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.

Louis Foreman is founder and Chief Executive of Enventys Partners, an integrated product design and engineering firm. Over the past 25 years Louis has created 9 successful start-ups and has been directly responsible for the creation of over 20 others. He is the inventor of 10 registered US Patents, and his firm is responsible for the development and filing of well over 700 more.

Louis is an assistant professor of Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University. Louis serves on the Board of Directors of the James Dyson Foundation, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), The Federal Reserve Bank Industry Roundtable, the Intellectual Property Owners Educational Foundation (IPOEF), and the SBA National SBDC Advisory Board.

Louis served for 7 years on the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, including the last two years as Chairman. In June of 2022, Louis was inducted into the International IP Hall of Fame.

Juan Garzón joins Innovate Charlotte with more than 6 years of entrepreneurial ecosystem building experience in the region. Prior to accepting this position, he was the head of ecosystem development for American Inno and general manager for Charlotte Inno (formerly StartCharlotte, which he founded). Juan’s experience includes nonprofit and private business leadership including as director of PitchBreakfast and principal of the communications consulting firm Garzon Company. He has also served as a coach and mentor to numerous startups and nonprofits. Juan is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University Charlotte, where he majored in marketing and served as student body president.

Dale Gillmore is the Founder & CEO of Quest. He brings over 25 years of M&A and family office experience, working closely with privately held business owners. He is a licensed CPA in NC and Michigan, passed the Series SIE, Series 3, 63, 79 & 82 exams and is a FINRA member. Dale has a passion for helping children and in 2010 he founded the Make an Impact Foundation.

Ray is a partner at Axum Capital Partners, a private equity group based in Charlotte. Previously, he served as a professor at Duke's Fuqua School of Business, the head of the merger and acquisition group of First Union Securities (now Wells Fargo & Co.), a managing director of the M&A Group of The First Boston Corp. (now Credit Suisse Group) in New York, N.Y. and practiced law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, N.Y., where he worked on the IPO of Intel Corp., represented Chemical Bank (now JPMorganChase) and was involved in multidistrict litigation on behalf of IBM.

Levar Haffoney is the founder and Managing Partner of Vedere Capital Group (VCG), a private investment firm. He is responsible for all aspects of strategy, deal sourcing, due diligence, negotiations, financing, and post-acquisition management.

Mr. Haffoney is a board member with ArtsATL and chairs the Resource Development Committee. He is also the former board Chair with Spectrum Health Services, Inc., a federally qualified health center, based in Philadelphia.

Mr. Haffoney began his career in financial services. He earned a B.S. in Business, Management, and Economics from the State University of New York and an M.B.A. from the Eastern University College of Business and Leadership.

Sean Healy is a VP at Keswick Partners, responsible for sourcing new investment opportunities and conducting preliminary diligence for potential investments. Prior to Keswick, Sean was head of origination for a family office, led his own search fund, and also served in various strategy and management consulting-related roles for companies spanning all stages of the business lifecycle. Sean served as an Officer in the US Army and remains a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserves today.

Cliff is co-founder, managing director and general partner at Cultivation Capital. The firm was named the most active venture capital firm in the Midwest by Pitchbook, and a top 10 leading firm by Crunchbase. Previously, he was founder and president of Foot Healers and the Professor of Practice and Academic Director for Entrepreneurship at the Olin Business School at Washington University, where he was named one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurship Professors in the World.

As Partner and Head of Origination at HiGro, Chadd has nearly 20 years of private equity and capital raising experience. He specializes in sourcing off-market deals and driving growth for portfolio companies. His expertise spans business and tech-enabled services, as well as media, and he leverages a broad network to deliver strong outcomes for investors and management.

Jay Jester is a Partner at Plexus Capital, LLC, with over 30 years in M&A and private equity. His career started at Bowles Hollowell Conner, an early M&A boutique, and spanned significant roles including Managing Director at Audax Group, where he helped grow the fund from $500 million to over $25 billion. At Plexus, Jay focuses on strategy and managing investments, particularly in smaller market deals with companies generating up to $100 million in revenue. He specializes in recapitalizations, management buyouts, and growth capital, bringing a deep understanding of the dynamic small deal market.

Brad Jones is Executive Vice President of Commercial Banking for the Carolinas, overseeing FNB’s multiple markets in North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition to his home market in Charlotte, Jones manages the execution of FNB’s Commercial Banking sales model throughout its Eastern North Carolina, Piedmont, Raleigh-Durham and South Carolina Regions. Brad has more than 35 years of extensive financial services experience, including prior leadership roles with BBVA, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

At Gridiron Capital, Sean focuses on developing new business partnerships, marketing, communicating with business owners, and managing investment sourcing and exit planning. Prior to joining Gridiron Capital, Sean served as vice president at BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Virginia. His responsibilities at BB&T included executing mergers and acquisitions advisory for middle-market businesses, as well as establishing and strengthening business development relationships with middle-market investors. Earlier in his career, Sean worked at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

Brian Kestler is a highly experienced and respected banking professional with a career spanning over two decades, all rooted in the financial industry. Brian has collectively dedicated six years to FNB, where he currently serves as the Team Lead for a group of commercial lenders. Under his leadership, this team is responsible for serving businesses across Mecklenburg, York and Union counties, driving growth and fostering strong client partnerships.

Lee is managing partner of Smart Business Network Inc., a national events, media and marketing company founded in 1989, primarily responsible for expanding the company’s Aspire deal-making conference throughout the U.S. He plays a key role in establishing corporate policies and developing long-term strategy and growth plans. Previously, he founded and chaired the Growth Group at national law firm Arter & Hadden LLP (now Tucker, Ellis & West), which focused on working with middle-market and high-growth technology companies. 

Matt founded Plumb Line Capital Partners, LLC (PLCP) and serves as Managing Partner. PLCP works with a number of long term focused investors / family offices investing, advising, operating, and helping to grow family / founder / entrepreneur owned companies. PLCP structures these deals as "direct deals" in order to bring in the most strategic investors, board members, industry experts, etc. to accelerate the growth / scale the operations of the company. PLCP works in board member / strategic / operational partnership roles to these operating companies.

Additionally, Matt is Managing Partner of Abatemaster, a leader in environmental services including asbestos surveys, inspections, & abatement, lead based paint removal, mold remediation, soda blasting, and demolition services in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia for 25 years.

He has previous experience working as a private equity investor at investment firms that focused on investments in family, founder, entrepreneur, and management team owned companies where he was actively engaged as a board member in the strategy and operations of portfolio companies. Previously, he worked as an investment banker where he provided public and private companies with mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity capital raising advice.

Keith Luedeman is founder and former CEO of goodmortgage.com, an award winning internet mortgage lender. Keith led goodmortgage.com to be recognized for many successes including Best Place to Work for Mid-Size Companies and Online Lender of the Year by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Under Keith's guidance, goodmortgage.com was named to the Inc. 5000 five times, earning it a place on the Inc. 5000 Honor Roll.

Earning individual awards along the way, such as NCTA Tech Exec of the Year, Keith developed a reputation as a passionate entrepreneur who shares his business wisdom as Board Chair of Innovate Charlotte, Board Chair of the Queens University Entrepreneurial Leadership Circle Advisory Board, an active investor in the Charlotte Region and a mentor to startups.

Dr. Craig McCall is an executive coach, team facilitator, and corporate advisor on talent and teams. For 25 years and with hundreds of senior leaders, Craig has coached to prepare for the C-suite, smoothly on-board to stretch roles, operationalize and execute on strategy, build executive presence, drive change, and create high performance teams.  He assesses senior talent for selection and succession, and directs leadership programs for global companies.

Craig is a licensed psychologist and holds a Doctorate in Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and a B.A. from Boston College. He is a Registered Corporate Coach through the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches and is Hogan leadership assessment certified. He has held coaching faculty positions at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and Capella University, and professorships at Loyola and Argosy Universities in Chicago. He has presented numerous times at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business on talent assessment. Craig sits on the emeritus board at the Partnership to Educate and Advance Kids, a not-for-profit that provides mentoring and financial support for inner-city adolescents in Chicago. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mark McDowell is the co-founder of the Charlotte Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in Charlotte area startups. Mark has thirty years of experience as an investor and entrepreneur in digital technology, telecommunications, and software. His focus areas include wireless, applied AI, robotics, and blockchain.

He has served as a board member at more than 20 venture and PE backed companies, and has been involved in numerous financing rounds, M&A transactions, exits and IPOs.

Mark holds BS and MS degrees from MIT. He and his wife Jill divide their time between Cornelius and Boone, NC.

Brian Morin is a 20-year serial entrepreneur, currently the CEO of Soteria Battery Innovation Group and President & COO of Dreamweaver International. His 15 years in the lithium-ion battery industry have made him an expert in lithium-ion battery safety, which is the focus of Soteria. Currently, he is shepherding Soteria toward a 2026 microcap IPO, and is interested in meeting parties who can help with this journey.

Barrett has 20 years experience in business development, brand strategy, business consulting, advertising and marketing. He has strategically advised brands such as Lowe’s, Wendy’s, Xbox, Hanes, Virgin, BB&T, Mizuno, Ruby Tuesday, and NASCAR. Barrett currently works for Dualboot Partners, which is a software development firm that builds great software companies. He is also working to impact and continue the momentum of the startup ecosystem in the Southeast and serves as a mentor for startups in accelerator programs in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Richmond, and Norfolk.

As a job recruiting agency based in Richmond, Lingo Staffing works closely with businesses and associates nationwide from our eleven locations throughout the U.S. Our focus is on administrative, light industrial, and professional jobs. Our services include temporary and temporary-to-hire staffing, direct hire, payrolling and on-site staffing. Any of these services can be customized to your needs.

Co-founder of Packard Place, RevTechLabs, and RevTechLabs Capital. Member of Charlotte Angel Fund and Venture South investing groups. RevTechLabs also produces the Fintech Generations and Venture 135 Conferences in Charlotte

Alex Smereczniak is the co-founder and CEO of Franzy, a franchise marketplace platform revolutionizing how people discover and fund franchise businesses. Previously, he co-founded 2ULaundry and LaundroLab, scaling them to over 100 franchise units. Alex is passionate about helping others transition into entrepreneurship and lives in Charlotte with his wife and newborn son.

Ralph Strayhorn is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of NRPI. He leads the firm’s growth strategies in markets throughout the United States, with a focus on southeastern states.

Ralph brings insights and experience from a longstanding career in financial services, including chief executive officer of Cape Fear Bank Corporation, chief administrative officer and member of the board of directors at BNC Bancorp and president and chief executive officer of SterlingSouth Bank & Trust Company.

His expertise in lending, compliance and operations guides the firm’s philosophies and practices in delivering top-tier service to clients.
Prior to leading this firm, Ralph led a private consulting practice focused on helping banks navigate mergers, sales and complex compliance issues. His leadership of bank transitions earned praise from boards of directors and regulators alike.

He was appointed by the Governor of North Carolina to the board of the Golden Leaf Foundation where he served as the chairman of the investment committee. He was recently reappointed to the board by the Speaker of the House.

Ralph received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina and his JD from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Eric Thome is the Vice President of Talent and Operations at Broadtree Partners. Eric has a background as an entrepreneur that successfully acquired a company, as well as a consultant and angel investor.

Investment banker and strategic advisor to entrepreneurs and VC funds. Former group head/MD at Fifth Third and Regions Securities/IB; director at Fidus Partners; and consultant for Bain & Company.

Steve joined Meduit in 2018 and oversees finance, accounting, mergers & acquisitions and compliance for the company. For nearly two decades Steve has served in key operational and financial roles for private equity portfolio companies and has led numerous acquisitions, debt and equity financings. His career experience includes completing a successful IPO process as well as 10 years at Price Waterhouse Coopers in both their New York City and Paris offices. He earned his BS degree in Accounting from Babson College.

Chris is the managing partner and co-founder of Tillery Capital. During his more than 20 years as an investor, he has led and/or played a significant role in 17 platform investments and 17 add-on acquisitions, across a wide range of industries, with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $1.3 billion. During this period he has invested more than $240 million in equity and completed more than $1.3 billion in financings. He serves on the board of directors of each of Tillery Capital's portfolio companies.