Committee

Jacob Babcock, CEO and Founder of NuCurrent, leads the world's top wireless power technology company, with key licensees like Samsung and Honeywell. Previously, he served as North American legal counsel for cleverbridge, Inc., and as a technology attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP. A former teacher and football coach, Jacob holds over 30 patents and a JD from Northwestern University. He resides in Chicago with his family, risking life and limb to cheer for the Packers and Brewers.

In 1976, Doug joined Jasper Engines & Transmissions as a sales trainee, then became the advertising manager, sales manager, and vice president. The company was purchased in 1987, and he was elected president. In 1989, JASPER became involved with NASCAR, and in 2001, Doug partnered with Roger Penske to form Penske Jasper Engines.

Penske Jasper Racing was formed in 2003 and sold in 2009 to Penske to focus on producing NASCAR Transmissions. On March 2, 2010, Doug announced that Jasper Engines and Transmissions had become a 100% ESOP company. He became the chairman and CEO of Jasper Holdings, Inc. (JHI) when it was later established. In 2023, JHI employed 4,300+ Associates, recorded $1.1 Billion in revenue, and was valued at $1.6 Billion. Since the ESOP‘s inception, JHI has distributed over $609 Million in stock.

Tim Bosslet is the Chief Financial Officer of Chomps. Chomps is the fastest-growing snack brand and food brand in the U.S., with products made from the highest-quality proteins and no harmful ingredients. All Chomps sticks are made with grass-fed and finished beef, venison, or antibiotic-free turkey. Available in original size (1.15oz) and a mini-size stick (0.5oz), Chomps have 0g sugar and never contain soy, dairy, artificial preservatives or colors, MSG, or artificial nitrates or nitrites. Additionally, Chomps is Whole30-approved, certified gluten-free, and allergy-friendly.

Tim previously spent nearly 10 years in the investment banking divisions of J.P. Morgan, Greenhill, and Houlihan Lokey. In 2019, Tim joined Chomps and is currently serving as CFO.

Brad Bostic, Co-Founder and CEO of Health Cloud Capital (HCC), directs growth-stage investments in precision healthcare technology. As the founder and owner-operator of HCC's portfolio companies, he specializes in developing AI-driven SaaS solutions that intelligently leverage health data to identify risk signals and generate actionable responses. Over 1,000 healthcare systems worldwide utilize his innovative software, spanning labs, prescribing, and medical device data. With 30+ patents, Bostic is a recognized authority, speaker, and advisor in the healthtech sector.

Paul Carlisle is Chief Operating Officer and Market Head of Wintrust Commercial Banking, where he is responsible for leading and coordinating middle market banking across all of the Wintrust Banks. Paul has spent his entire career serving middle market organizations in the greater Chicago area. He joined Wintrust in 2010 and prior to that spent over 25 years with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor banks, American National and Bank One.

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.

Paul is a second-time founder with a background in scaling government technology. He co-founded Optivolt Labs, raised over $10M in venture deals, and secured more than $5M in defense contracts. Now at Ascent, Paul focuses on enhancing firefighter and warfighter safety through innovative technology. He hold an engineering degree from UIUC and also been recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30.

As Deal Partner of Blackmore Partners, a Chicago-based independent investment firm that specializes in "EXECUTIVE-1ST " investment strategies, Edelstein leads all deal activities with the objective to generate returns above 3x MOIC.

Chris, is responsible for all aspects of branch profitability and growth for the Chicagoland market.

Prior to his move to Chicago, Chris managed the Florida Suncoast Complex for Raymond James. Chris joined Raymond James in 2018 after working with Morgan Stanley as the manager of their Los Gatos branch in California.

In addition to his role as Complex Manager, Chris works with professional athletes, entrepreneurs and affluent families, helping them manage complex financial matters – personally and professionally.

A graduate of the University of South Florida, Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and earned his MBA from Saint Leo University.

Chris, is responsible for all aspects of branch profitability and growth in the Chicagoland market.

Prior to his move to Chicago in 2022, Chris managed the Florida Suncoast Complex for Raymond James. Chris joined Raymond James in 2018 after working with Morgan Stanley as the manager of their Los Gatos branch in California.  In addition to his role as Complex Manager, Chris works with professional athletes, entrepreneurs and affluent families, helping them manage complex financial matters – personally and professionally.

A graduate of the University of South Florida, Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and earned his MBA from Saint Leo University. He has also completed the rigorous requirements to earn his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification.

Mike is an executive with strong leadership skills and extensive manufacturing management experience. He has held leadership positions of President and Vice President in companies with revenues of $80 million to $250 million. He has demonstrated the ability to increase profits while leading and driving continuous improvement throughout an organization. Mike holds a MBA from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan where he graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan.

Matthew Gurwin is a Vice President and Private Wealth Advisor for Graystone Consulting at Morgan Stanley. He specializes in advising wealthy business owners and families, especially those considering substantial liquidity events due to the sale or recapitalization of a privately held business. A veteran of the financial services industry, Matt draws on his 20 years of experience in the field to collaborate with professionals in a range of industries, build relationships with existing and prospective clients, and enhance internal operations to improve our clients' experience.

Matt earned both his Bachelor’s Degree and his MBA from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Graystone Consulting -Chicago, Matt was a Principal at Doeren Mayhew leading their firm’s business development efforts

Earlier in his career, Matt worked at TelemusCapital Partners, LLC, as a managing director and as an Investment Banker for Deloitte Corporate Finance. Outside the office, Matt enjoys spending quality time with his wife, Aundrianna and their four children.

Robert Johnson is the Managing Partner of the Solomon Group, a social enterprise management consulting company and the co-founder of The Collective, a social impact business incubator that raises capital for social enterprises.

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 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.

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.

Mr. Kotz serves as Managing Partner of Old Town Equity. Mr. Kotz has 25+ years of experience in private equity, investment banking and the futures industry. Before Old Town Equity, his private equity experience includes leading the Chicago office as Managing Director for Gladstone Investment, a division of The Gladstone Companies, Principal with Gridiron Capital and Senior Associate at Altus Capital Partners. Mr. Kotz received an MBA with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelors Degree from Boston College, Carroll School of Management. Active investments include Diamond Fulfillment Solutions and Challenger Breadware.

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. 

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.

Melissa Lederer, chief experience officer, is focused on leading teams to design solutions that drive engagement, collaboration and success for mHUB corporate partners and startups. A seasoned business professional with more than 20 years of broad experience in both corporate and agency settings, Melissa has served a variety of technology-based businesses of all sizes and has a special passion for supporting high-growth startups on brand formation and scaling into new markets.

Over the past 10 years, Melissa has been an active force in helping to build Chicago’s robust entrepreneurial community. Melissa was a member of the founding team of 1871, Chicago’s innovation hub recognized by UBI Global as the #1 university-affiliated incubator in the world and served as its chief marketing officer for more than two years. Following 1871, Melissa helped found Chicago’s healthcare incubator and innovation center MATTER, where she was responsible for defining and building the MATTER brand and managing all areas of the company’s marketing, communications and events. Melissa continues to support MATTER strategic initiatives and special projects.

Prior to her years focused on driving civic entrepreneurship, Melissa served as the SVP of marketing for Q Interactive (formerly CoolSavings) where she oversaw all marketing, communications and creative functions and served on the company’s senior leadership team. Melissa was recognized in 2019 and 2020 in the Crain’s Chicago Business “Notable Women in Manufacturing”.

Klarian is a boutique Entrepreneurial Advisory firm, focusing on strategic, operating and financial needs of passionate entrepreneurs and the legacy of the companies and families they lead. We deliver great value by leveraging a deep understanding of the dynamics of growing businesses, as well as substantial transactional experience and relationships.

After a highly successful 17-year career as a commercial lawyer, including first chairing public company mergers, David has dedicated the second chapter of his professional life to building a deep and unique understanding of how passionate entrepreneurs influence strategic, operational, financial and transactional paths in ways that determine either entrepreneurial challenge or success.

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.

Behzad Mansouri is a Division Executive at Charles Schwab where he helps lead the growth of the firm's UHNW and Institutional client business, across all asset classes. He serves on the Board of a VC Fund and clean energy company, complimenting his background in capital markets and investment management. An alumni of Columbia University and Harvard Business School, he has previously worked for both US and International firms including Merrill Lynch, Barclays Captial, BNY Mellon and Credit Agricole.

Recognized as one of the region's leading technology attorneys and ranked by Chambers for his corporate expertise, he represents clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies on commercial transactional matters. His practice focuses on helping businesses improve their core functions through legal counsel in areas including financing, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments, and general corporate matters.

Bill has established himself as an expert in managing and developing commercial technology strategies, providing representation on complex business transactions such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, electronic commerce, outsourcing, and intellectual property management. His unique value stems from his executive business and technology management background, having worked for one of North America's largest book manufacturers and a major global ocean carrier before becoming an attorney, where he developed software and managed major vendor contracts.

A cum laude graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law with a B.A. in Computer Science from Brown University, Bill has received numerous professional recognitions including being named Lawyer of the Year for Information Technology Law in Baltimore multiple times (2019-2022) and for Copyright Law in 2024. He is a frequent business and technology law columnist for publications including the Legal Times, National Law Journal, Baltimore Business Journal, and The Daily Record.

Julia Monfrini Peev is the Founder and Managing Partner of PACE Healthcare Capital, a venture capital firm investing in digital health and healthcare technologies based in Chicago, IL. As a seasoned institutional VC/PE investor, Julia has deployed $1B of capital in successful and transformative healthcare businesses, with a demonstrated track record.

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.

Neal Nath is the Founder and Managing Partner of N3 Capital Management, LLC, a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on making majority and minority investments in lower middle market companies. Mr. Nath has two decades of institutional investing, transaction, and operational experience. Mr. Nath has led successful investments in various industries including industrial, consumer, business services, and real estate.

Prior to founding N3, Mr. Nath was a Managing Director at Aves Capital Management, L.P., where he originated, structured, and executed bespoke middle market debt and equity financing transactions. Mr. Nath also served as a member of the firm’s Investment Committee and Valuation Committee.  

Previously Mr. Nath was a Managing Director and senior member of the private equity investment team at Z Capital Group, where he made control private equity investments and oversaw value creation initiatives across several middle market portfolio companies.  Mr. Nath was also an investment banker with Houlihan Lokey and a management consultant with The Keystone Group.

Mr. Nath received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.  He is a member of the board of Advance Switchboard Distribution and previously served on the boards of Factor75, Premier Thermal Solutions, Twin-Star International and Carillon Miami Wellness Resort.

Michael Nolan is the Development Director – Private Equity and Quality of Sales at Sales Xceleration. He is responsible for building relationships with private equity sponsors and helping their portfolio companies grow their topline performance to build value creation and accelerate performance. Michael and his team leverage a collective of 110 sales leaders with portfolio company experience to help their companies grow 32% in year 1, resulting in $1.7B in revenue growth. Their focus is to drive significant growth through strategy formulation, process development, and effective execution in pre-acquisition due diligence, value acceleration during the hold period, and value maximization to support successful exits.

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.  

Luca is a Transaction Advisory Manager in ORBA’s Tax Group. He is responsible for the direction of the client services and has worked for an array of clients in various industries, including closely held businesses, manufacturing, distribution, financial services, technology and construction. Luca has focused his last several years on executing deals in the small-market and middle-market for a variety of buy-side and sell-side transactions. Luca possesses a diverse set of skills which allows him to effectively navigate the complexities of transaction-related services for our clients. He is expert in thoroughly conducting the due diligence necessary to identify and analyze the potential risks, legal issues and other factors impacting transactions. His years of project management experience ensures that deadlines are met and tasks are executed efficiently.

Almost two decades of experience in the B2B credit card processing / integrated solutions space. He has worked closely with the C-Suite at midsize firms all the way up to Global Fortune 500 organizations. Having studied opera and theater at Northwestern, he built a strong understanding of the value that collaboration and thinking "outside of the box” and brings that to his approach to client relationships. Raymond leads Calibr’s external partnerships as well as architecting and delivering solutions and saving proposals to clients.

Michael is the Managing Principal and Founder of Traverse Pointe Partners. He is responsible for investment sourcing, valuation, transaction structuring, fundraising and administrative activities on behalf of the firm. Michael is the Chairman of Integrated Health Systems. Small Miracles, Greater Midwest Urgent Cares and the Hope House.

Marne Smiley is obsessed with helping companies grow in her role as CEO of Bumper Lanes. She is an accomplished marketing executive with extensive experience in providing outsourced marketing solutions to drive growth through mergers and acquisitions. Specializing in brand integration and strategic positioning, [he/she/they] leverages data-driven insights to optimize marketing efforts, ensuring smooth transitions and maximizing value.

Danielle is the managing partner of the Chicago office for Forvis Mazars where she leads a team of dedicated partners and team members in all service lines and industries to help clients unlock their full potential and deliver unmatched client service. Danielle has been in the healthcare industry her entire career and served as the National Industry Partner for the Healthcare Practice for five years before taking the role as Chicago Managing Partner.

As the industry leader, she lead the firmwide practice of more than 1,000 dedicated healthcare professionals with a goal of innovative growth and expansion of services and locations. She has more than 25 years of experience working with large integrated health providers as well as physician practices, children’s hospitals, and private equity groups.

She has worked with hospitals to develop growth strategies and partnerships, performance improvement solutions, and data-centric risk-based analysis; and to coordinate related initiatives with value-based care, telehealth, and the opioid crisis. She has been involved in multimillion-dollar exempt bond offerings and coordinated large integrated health system audits.

She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, Missouri Society of CPAs, Illinois CPA Society, Healthcare Financial Management Association, and Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

Danielle is a 1996 honors graduate of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a B.S. degree in accounting.

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.

Ugo Udeogu is the Managing Partner at MSix Capital Group, a lower middle market private equity fund. With a promising stint in American football, including a tryout with the Indianapolis Colts, he demonstrated early on his dedication and physical capabilities. An unforeseen injury redirected his path from the field to the world of business and technology, where he has since amassed extensive experience in operations and strategy.

Building on his experience in athletics, he co-founded and ran a venture-backed startup, navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship and demonstrating his capacity for leadership and innovation. His journey through the startup ecosystem honed his skills in strategic decision-making, operations, and resource allocation, laying a solid foundation for his future endeavors.

He holds an MBA/MA from the renowned Wharton School and Lauder Institute, complemented by a Bachelor's in Computer Science, grounding him in both technical and managerial aspects of business. His career spans diverse operational roles across established enterprises and startups, encompassing strategic implementation and efficiency improvements.

Jonathan Webb is a Co-Managing Partner at the National Christian Foundation (“NCF”) and has 30+ years of finance experience from a career in investment banking and private equity. He has extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, principal investing, strategic planning, and business development.

At NCF, a leading advisor of donor advised funds, Jonathan is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions team, which focuses on originating and structuring non-cash gift strategies for the granting of public equities and alternative assets (closely held business interest, real estate, and intellectual property). As the industry’s recognized leader in complex gifts, in 2023 NCF executed $1.2 billion in transactions.

Prior to joining NCF, Jonathan was a co-founder of Legacy Acquisition Corporation (“Legacy”), a $300 million Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) which successfully executed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. Other experience includes working at Duff & Phelps as a Managing Director in Mergers & Acquisitions, a Vice President at Lehman Brothers, and in various other roles at Oppenheimer & Company, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Oppenheimer, and Loop Capital Principal Investments.

Jonathan studied finance at Morehouse College and holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School. He serves on boards for both non-profit and for-profit entities and enjoys a variety of hobbies and mission work.

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.

Nicole is a second-generation manufacturer and the president and CEO of HM Manufacturing. As a skilled and seasoned leader, she is invested in supporting the next generation of manufacturing leaders in addition to advancing the manufacturing industry as a whole.

She sits on the board of directors of numerous associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA), and mHUB. Nicole also serves as the current chairman of the Technology and Manufacturing Association (TMA).

Dr. Atif Zafar is a board certified in internal medicine and practices as a hospitalist at Indiana University. He is a serial entrepreneur with disruptive companies in the medical device and computer technology spaces. As an Associate Professor at Indiana University he had $25 million in grants, served at AHRQ on the National Health IT Resource Center. Now he is developing novel medical devices to treat heart disease, chronic pain and designing GPUs (graphics processing units), high performance computers and hardware for teaching engineering students. He is also building a massive fund in Dubai for health tech and deep tech ventures.