2025 Hall of Fame Inductees
Presented By: PNC Bank
Matthew Hicks
Founder & Managing Partner
Excellere Partners
Matthew Hicks was a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Partner, Member of the Investment and Management Committee at Excellere Partners. He also serves as a Fund Advisor at Workhorse Capital. He has more than 30 years of experience in private equity investing and financing middle-market companies. Prior to forming Excellere Partners, he served as a Vice President of Stone Arch Capital, LLC, an Upper Midwest-focused middle-market private equity firm. Prior to SAC, he was a Vice President at George K. Baum Merchant Banc, LLC, a private equity firm focused on a buy-and-build investment strategy primarily within the food and beverage, consumer products, and business service industries.
Prior to GKB, he was an investment professional with Bank of America's private equity subsidiary, BankAmerica Capital Corporation. Prior to that, he was a financing professional with Bank of America's Leveraged Finance Group. He has participated in numerous buy-and-build investment platforms in food and beverage products, healthcare services, outsourced marketing services, consumer products, office furniture products, and industrial and municipal products. He currently serves on the board of directors of ADVENT, Medlogix, and The ACES.
He previously served on the board of directors of MedExpress, Advanced Pain Management, MTS Medication, AIS, PhyMed, Mentis, and SePro, prior to their sales. He earned an MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship, finance, and strategic management from The University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business and earned a BS in Finance from the University of Utah.
Bryan Leach
Founder & CEO
Ibotta
Bryan Leach is the Founder and CEO of Ibotta (NYSE: IBTA), a leading performance marketing platform that enables CPG brands to reach over 200 million consumers through its Ibotta Performance Network. Under his leadership, Ibotta revolutionized the industry with a pay-per-sale model, ensuring brands only pay when promotions drive actual sales.
Since founding Ibotta in 2012, Bryan has guided the company through tremendous growth, culminating in the largest tech IPO in Colorado history in 2024. Recognized nationally for his leadership, he has been named a Top 10 U.S. CEO by Glassdoor, CEO of the Year by ColoradoBiz, and EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Rocky Mountain Region.
A former partner at Bartlit Beck LLP and law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Bryan is a Harvard, Oxford (Marshall Scholar), and Yale Law graduate. Bryan has also reached the summit of all 58 of Colorado's Fourteeners.
Steve McConahey
Chairman
SGM Capital, LLC
Stephen McConahey is a respected business leader and Co-Founder of Iron Gate Capital, where he brings decades of experience in finance, leadership, and public service. Before launching Iron Gate, he served as President and COO of EVEREN Capital Corporation, which he co-founded following a management and employee buyout of Kemper Securities. Under his leadership, EVEREN went public in 1996 and was later acquired by First Union Corporation. Earlier, McConahey led Boettcher & Company as Chairman and CEO and held senior roles at Kemper Financial Services.
His career began at McKinsey & Company and included a White House Fellowship and service as Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs under President Gerald Ford. McConahey holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Harvard Business School and continues to serve his community through board leadership with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and other civic organizations.
Alex O'Brien
Co-Founder & CEO
Cardinal Group
As CEO, Alex O’Brien has led Cardinal to remarkable growth while preserving its people-first culture. Promoted amid the pandemic in May 2020, he guided the company to nearly 30% portfolio growth and added 850 new team members, ranking Cardinal among the top 2% in U.S. real estate career opportunities on Glassdoor. Under his leadership, Cardinal became the only real estate firm named a Glassdoor “Best Place to Work” in 2023 and now ranks No. 34 on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Top 50 Multifamily Operators list.
O’Brien’s leadership extends beyond business. A U.S. Marine veteran, he co-founded Valor Bridge and serves on the board of Salute Colorado, both of which help veterans transition into successful civilian careers. He’s also a founding market sponsor of Entryway, a nonprofit connecting at-risk families and individuals to housing and employment opportunities. O’Brien credits his Marine Corps mentor for shaping his leadership philosophy.