Greg Achten

Managing Director
UBS

Gregory is managing director and market head for the UBS Wealth Management Chicago Market that includes offices in Downtown Chicago, Northbrook, Oakbrook, Barrington and Naperville, and Madison and Milwaukee Wisconsin. Previously he spent 28 years at Merrill Lynch, where he began as an operations manager and held numerous roles to include 14 years as a financial adviser, resident director, regional sales manager in Dallas, complex director in Tulsa and managing director in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, Indiana and Boston.

Susan Beth

COO
NRD Capital

Susan, CFE, CM&AA, is Chief Operating Officer of NRD Capital. As such, she is primarily charged with fund management, portfolio company oversight, executive recruitment and deal sourcing. Susan was previously the Chief Operating Officer of Super Wash, Inc., the nation's largest franchisor of self-serve car washes. Susan is a past member of the Board of Directors of the International Franchise Association (IFA), and she is a professional motivational speaker. Susan has been immersed in business operations for 30+ years. She took her leap into business ownership when she bought her first franchise at the age of 19. She went on to acquire two more locations and was a multi-unit franchisee for 9 years. In 2012, Susan founded the Franchise Capital Exchange event.

Andrew Busser

Managing Director of Strategy
Pitcairn

As a respected advisor and strategist, Andy has spent his career helping families navigate the complexities of investing their wealth. Andy is driven and curious, with a passion for solving complex problems, and is a family office industry leader. Andy brings to the Leadership Team an enthusiasm for excellence and is known for building successful relationships with clients and employees. As head of strategy for Pitcairn, Andy has spearheaded the development of the Pitcairn Experience, and he continues to position Pitcairn as a leading innovator in the family office industry.

Harry Cendrowski

Managing Director
Cendrowski Corporate Advisors

Harry is a founding member of Cendrowski Corporate Advisors and a licensed CPA in Michigan, Illinois and Florida. He is a veteran of the private equity and venture capital industries as an investor, founder and advisor to several funds. He has served as an expert witness in numerous disputes, as court-appointed receiver for multimillion dollar estates and as the accountant to the trustee in high-profile bankruptcy cases.

Matt Coughlin

Founder & CEO
XSELL Technologies

Matt is a leader with contagious passion for great customer engagement, and the economic and business impacts created when customers are engaged in exactly the right way. Prior to founding XSELL, Matt had the opportunity to work with many quintessential brands including Disney, Apple, Carnival, AT&T, GE, Walgreens helping them to bring their customer experience to life. His experience in these environments led to his observation of a power law in sales, regardless of the brand, wherein top performing agents were not marginally better than their peers - they were multiples better,  and they delivered disproportionately successful results.

Teresa Hall

Chairman of the Board | CEO
MEI Enterprises Inc. | Meetings & Events International

Teresa is the founder and CEO of Meetings & Events International (MEI). A native of Indiana, Teresa received her Undergrad and Graduate degrees from Indiana University. She started her career at Hoffman La Roche where worked her way up the company ladder into Product Management, Training, Research and Development, and Global Meeting planning. Teresa left Roche in 1983 to settle down back in her hometown, Evansville, Indiana. She started receiving calls from colleagues asking her if she could work with them, doing what she did while at Roche, on her own as a contractor. That was the beginning of MEI. After 33 years building a company that provides services for the Life Science Industry.  On December 31, 2016, Teresa sold the company to the employees as an 100% ESOP. When the ESOP was formed, Teresa signed a five-year employment contract to lead MEI in the transition of the company and to ensure the succession of the employees and the management to the ESOP. The creation of the ESOP allowed MEI to become tax exempt at the National and State level and the company continues to grow and prosper. In April 2018 MEI Enterprises, Inc. applied and received certification to be WBENC Certified, becoming one of the few ESOP’s qualifying for this Certification which gives MEI’s client base great advantages.

Steve Henn

CEO
IDEAL Industries

With more than 35 years of experience, Steve Henn brings IDEAL proven expertise in global management, acquisitions, and integrations, innovation, high- performance team development and manufacturing. Steve leads IDEAL with his unique vision and wealth of knowledge across industries. A graduate of Georgia State University (MBA) and Seattle Pacific University (BA – Accounting & Finance), Steve spent 29 years with Illinois Tool Works before joining IDEAL in 2019. He is a past Board Member of Ocean Conservancy and Junior Achievement.

Doug Holladay

Founder & CEO
PathNorth

Jennifer Johnson

Vice President
BMO Harris Bank

Jennifer is a Vice President in the Corporate Advisory practice at BMO Harris Bank. She specializes in providing corporate finance advisory services to privately held businesses on a variety of topics, including mergers & acquisitions, ESOPs, and complex financing structures, among other corporate finance topics.

Kam Kniss

CEO
Wheaton Bank & Trust Company, N.A., a Wintrust Community Bank

Kam has been appointed CEO of Wheaton Bank & Trust, part of the Wintrust Community Banks family. Since joining Wintrust in 2010, he has developed deep relationships and become a trusted advisor to numerous middle market businesses and private equity sponsors. Kam has played a critical role in the growth of Wintrust Commercial Banking through his business development efforts, dedication to mentoring younger bankers, and involvement on internal committees to improve operational efficiencies.

Jay Frederick Krehbiel

Managing Director
KF Partners

Jay is the President of KF Partners, a single-family office based in Chicago. Jay also serves as Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hindman Auctions, a leading middle market auction house in the United States with offices in 12 cities. Prior to his current roles, Jay worked for Molex, Inc. in Chicago and Shanghai, Pacific Equity Partners in Sydney, Audax Group in Boston, and Bain & Company in New York City & Chicago. Jay serves on the boards of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he is the Treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee. Jay also serves on the boards of The Taft School, The Irish Georgian Society, St. Chrysostom’s Church and the American Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland. Jay has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern. He lives in Chicago with his wife, two children, and a rather spoiled Weimaraner named Tosca.

Gregory Lafin

Managing Director
BKD

Gregory is the head of BKD Capital Advisors’ (BKDCA) Chicago office and has provided merger and acquisition advisory services to small and mid-sized businesses for more than 25 years. Greg joined BKDCA in 2014 when Wolf & Company merged with BKD, LLP. He has extensive experience in providing investment banking services including seller services, acquisition searches, due diligence, financial structuring and modeling, negotiation support and profit improvement advisory support. Gregory serves various industries, including health care, manufacturers and distributors, business services and technology firms. Greg is a NAFC M&A Task Force Member of the American Trucking Association and a Board, Executive Committee member and Past President of MBBI. He is also a FINRA Registered Investment Advisor - Series 66, FINRA Registered Investment Banking Professional - Series 79 and FINRA Registered Office Principal Series 99. He is a licensed Illinois independent business broker and an affiliate member of the Illinois CPA Society. Gregory is a 1989 graduate of DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, with a B.S. degree in accountancy, and a 1993 graduate of Keller Graduate School of Business, DeVry University, with an M.B.A. degree in finance.

Michael Marzec

Managing Partner
Smart Business Network

Michael is Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of Smart Business Network, a national media and conference business serving CEOs and owners of middle market companies. Michael applies more than 25 years of media and marketing experience to guide the company’s content and user experience efforts for Smart Business magazine, custom publishing clients and Smart Business Dealmakers, a leading M&A education and networking organization. He holds an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University.

Ward McNally

Partner
McNally Capital LLC

After the McNally family sold Rand McNally & Company, Ward spent 10 years supporting his own family’s direct private equity investing efforts, with a focus on partnering with other like-minded family investors. In 2008, Ward founded McNally Capital to continue his family’s legacy of owning and operating private companies. Ward has worked with hundreds of family offices and business owners, with the dedicated purpose of supporting their objectives to create long-term value through Direct Family Capital. Ward holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Michelle Moore

Partner
Reed Smith

Michelle is a partner in Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group and is a member of Reed Smith’s Executive Committee, the Firm’s global governing board, where she also serves on the Audit Committee and the Talent Committee. Michelle’s practice primarily focuses on the areas of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (both for private equity and strategic acquirers) and general corporate counseling. She represents her clients in their structuring and formation, acquisitions and divestitures, recapitalizations, management buyouts and restructurings. With her extensive experience acting as many of her clients’ “outside general counsel,” she also advises on day-to-day corporate and commercial matters, including financing issues and the negotiation of general commercial contracts such as manufacturing, supply and service agreements, addressing her clients’ needs through all stages of growth.

Adrian Nohr

Manager
CLA

Adrian is a transaction services manager with more than eight years of experience working with privately held companies and their owners. She manages buy-side and sell-side due diligence engagements and transaction support. She has worked on transactions ranging in size and industry including manufacturing, distribution, retail, technology, professional services, and construction.

Vipul (Vip) Patel

Senior Vice President
Aon

Vip is a senior broker in Aon’s Transaction Solutions Practice and focuses on the placement, brokering, structuring and negotiation of representations and warranties insurance policies in connection with mergers and acquisitions by private equity firms and corporations.

Hunter Powell

CEO
MADSKY & CodeBlue

Before joining MADSKY, Powell was a Principal at BW Forsyth Partners, where he was responsible for assessing new platform and add-on acquisitions, and leading key strategic initiatives for Cor Partners. His focus there was to develop organic and acquisition growth strategies and execute strategic initiatives which ultimately resulted in about 600% revenue growth over nine years.

Helana Robbins Huddleston

Partner
CohnReznick

Helana, CPA, CIRA, is a Partner specializing in transactional advisory and restructuring services. She has over 18 years of expertise in financial due diligence, restructuring, financial auditing, internal control evaluation, and business process improvement. Helana leads buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence engagements with strategic and financial buyers for private and public companies with enterprise values ranging from $20 million to $500 million in a variety of industries.

Michael Ryan

Divisional Vice Chairman
UBS Global Wealth Management

Mike is a Divisional Vice Chairman for UBS Global Wealth Management and a member of the WM USA Management Committee. In his role as vice chairman, Mike focuses on engaging with UBS clients to help deepen their understanding of the macroeconomic, social, geopolitical and policy trends and how they impact both the short- and long-term investment outlook. With more than 35 years of experience in the financial industry, he is widely recognized as a leading market expert. Previously, Mike led over 50 US-based research professionals as Chief Investment Officer Americas for UBS Global Wealth Management and served on the Global Investment Committee, which is responsible for formulating the UBS Global Wealth Management Investment House View. With more than 35 years of experience in the financial industry, he is widely recognized as a leading market expert. Mike is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and a member of the CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management Research), the Fixed Income Analysts Society Inc. (FIASI), and the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA). He holds an MBA in finance from the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School and a BA in political science/economics from the University of Rochester.

John Savercool

Senior Lobbyist and Managing Director
UBS Americas Inc.

John serves as Managing Director and Head of the UBS U.S. Office of Public Policy. This office covers all of the primary business units within UBS, including the Investment Bank, Wealth Management and Global AM. In this capacity, John directs the firm’s lobbying, political and policy advocacy efforts at the federal level. He manages a staff of five in Washington in support of this mission. John is a veteran of Washington of 34 years. He began his career with U.S. Congressman Mike Oxley of Ohio. John then embarked on a 17-year career with Texas Senator Phil Gramm, the former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. John also served as chief of staff for Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in 1993. John left the Senate in 1999 for a career in the private sector. In 2003, he was selected by UBS to become the firm’s first full-time, senior lobbyist to direct the firm’s advocacy activities in Washington. John’s lobbying targets to date have included all major banking and securities issues, regulatory reform in financial services and tax legislation, among others. John also directs the firm’s political action committee and manages the firm’s political relationships in Washington. 
John is a graduate of Frostburg State University (Maryland).

Ken Serwinski

Chairman
Prairie Capital Advisors

Ravi Shah

Principal
McNally Capital

Ravi is a Principal at McNally Capital, where he focuses on evaluating and executing direct private equity investments and supporting portfolio companies. Prior to joining McNally, he was a Senior Associate at Flexis Capital, a New York-based private equity firm. Ravi began his career as an investment banking analyst at Moelis & Company, where he focused on M&A and restructuring transactions across industries. He received a BSc in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. Ravi is Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors for Ballet Chicago, a professional-track school of ballet. He also trains and competes in powerlifting with USA Powerlifting and, as a state referee, supports the availability of drug-tested powerlifting competitions in the United States. He previously served as an Auxiliary Police Officer with the New York City Police Department, Patrol Borough Manhattan South Command.

Kevin E. Slaughter

Partner
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC

Kevin is a corporate lawyer who solves problems and assists clients with complex commercial transactions. Kevin has focused his practice on the areas of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and private offerings. Kevin also has extensive experience drafting and negotiating a variety of commercial agreements, including: master supply/service agreements; distribution agreements; reseller agreements; development and licensing agreements; and manufacturing agreements. Most recently, he has leveraged his transactional experience to assist clients in the cannabis industry.

Julie Smolyansky

CEO
Lifeway Foods

Julie became the youngest female CEO of a publicly held firm when she took over Lifeway Foods at the age of 27 in 2002. Since then, Julie has continued the company’s growth trajectory with creative product development and marketing, bringing an Eastern European product into the U.S. mainstream and boosting annual company revenues to over $120 million in 2017 from $12 million when she took over. Under her leadership, the Company has expanded distribution throughout the United States, Mexico, the UK, and Ireland as well as portions of Central and South America and the Caribbean. She has been named to Fortune Business ‘40 under 40,’ Fortune’s 55 Most Influential Women on Twitter and Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 1000. She is a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Julie serves as a member of the United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council and was part of the 2015 class of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum. She has produced several documentaries, including “The Homestretch,” “Honor Diaries" and “The Hunting Ground.” In 2013 Julie co‐founded a non‐profit, Test400k, an organization dedicated to advocating ending the backlog of 400,000 untested rape kits in the United States. She will release her first book, The Kefir Cookbook: An Ancient Healing Superfood for Modern Life, Recipes from My Family Table and Around the World in March of 2018. She lives in Chicago and is the mother of two girls.

Jamil Taylor

COO
The Village Brands

Jamil is responsible for managing Village’s nationwide expansion and overseeing operational excellence amongst the Company’s local partners and vendors. Mr. Taylor joined the Village management team in April 2019 and immediately led the team to successful cannabis applications in Maryland and Missouri. Prior to joining Village, Mr. Taylor was a founding member of Justice Grown and an executive of various vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis businesses. Mr. Taylor possesses a keen understanding of how to build a successful cannabis business, from inception to maturity, including cultivation, processing and dispensary day-to-day operations in some of the most regulated states. Mr. Taylor is recognized in the industry for his ability to translate state requirements into winning applications in highly competitive states. Prior to cannabis, Mr. Taylor served as a Partner at VCap Investment Group (VCAP), an associate at LaSalle Capital Group and as an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. He has worked on various investment banking transactions, from venture to M&A, in the consumer products, manufacturing, distribution, business services and residential real estate sectors. Mr. Taylor received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Mark A. Thomson, CPA

Managing Director
ORBA

Mark provides financial and business advisory services for a variety of industries, including manufacturers, distributors and service organizations. He provides guidance on audits, reviews and compilations, strategic management, income tax planning, litigation support and business advisory issues. He also has extensive experience with buy/sell situations and has helped clients plan for, and complete, their sales transactions.

Ben Van Vlerah

Commerical Regional Manager
Huntington Bank

Ben is the Commercial Region Manager leading Middle Market Banking in Illinois for Huntington Bank. For more than two decades, Van Vlerah has been advising executive leadership teams for commercial and non-profit businesses across Illinois. Van Vlerah started his banking career as a credit analyst and relationship manager on the Middle Market Banking team at American National Bank. In 2003 Van Vlerah joined Banco Popular North America to start up their Commercial Banking team. In 2010, Van Vlerah joined FirstMerit Bank who was acquired by Huntington Bank in 2014. At FirstMerit, Van Vlerah was once again tapped to start a Commercial Banking team. Over the next 10 years he developed a team of bankers and is currently Commercial Region Manager. Ben obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Knox College. He actively supports and participates in numerous civic organizations including Facing Forward to End Homelessness, Rosecrance and Junior Achievement. He is an active member and board member of the Chicagoland Chapter of YPO. Van Vlerah and his wife Stephanie reside in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago with their two sons.

Thomas R. Vance, JD, LLM

Director
ORBA

Thomas is Director with ORBA’s Tax Department, he is adept in all aspects of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs and recapitalizations for corporations, limited liability companies and other flow-through and disregarded entities. He helps clients minimize the tax impact on acquisitions and investments so they can achieve maximum value from their transactions.

Roger Veome

Managing Director, Investments; Regional Executive
Alex Brown A Division of Raymond James

Gary Walter

President & CEO
Infutor Data Solutions, LLC

Gary is CEO of Infutor Data Solutions, industry lead in Identity Resolution. Walter has scaled the company from 5-155 people and currently works with private equity from Norwest Venture Partners.

Michael Wilson

Partner
Locke Lord LLP

Michael represents private equity funds (including SBIC funds), banks, companies and entrepreneurs in M&A, debt finance and venture capital transactions in a wide variety of industries. He has substantial experience with technology, health care, energy, and food and beverage transactions. He also serves as an officer on the Executives’ Club of Chicago Leadership Circle Advisory Board.

Jeff Wink

Chief Financial Officer
Bounteous, Inc.

Jeff is an entrepreneurial executive with over 15 years of diverse experience and a record of documented success within digital solution providers, healthcare, and information technology growth driven business. Jeff has experience taking a company from privately held to private equity backed and then to a sale to a public company and has significant buy and sell side M&A. He currently serves as CFO of Bounteous, Inc., a private equity backed company, and Bounteous has completed 4 acquisitions in the past 4 years.

Suzanne Yoon

Founder & Managing Partner
Kinzie Capital Management

Suzanne Yoon is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm that invests in lower middle market companies in the consumer, manufacturing and service industries. In 2017, she launched Kinzie as part of her long-standing vision to advance the use of technology, data analytics and innovation to help investors unlock value for companies. She has more than 20 years’ experience investing in and advising middle market companies. Before founding Kinzie, she served as a Managing Director of Versa Capital Management, where she led transaction development throughout North America.