Committee

Eric Alfuth has a background in executive leadership and investment management. His career began in equity research before moving into portfolio management. He left the investment world to become CFO for a public company and later worked with McKinsey before joining a private equity backed startup. After selling his last company he launched Caymont Ventures to focus on early-stage venture investing.

Amanda Cooper Benbow, СВРА, is a visionary strategist with a proven track record of collaborating with premier private equity firms, investment firms, and family offices to orchestrate seamless mergers and acquisitions. With unwavering precision, Amanda delivers bespoke human resource infrastructures that empower organizations to navigate complex transactions with ease. Her mission is to elevate both the firm and its current/future investments by offering comprehensive solutions for procurement, administration, and ensuring absolute compliance across all facets of human resources. Amanda's expertise and commitment to excellence set the gold standard in driving success and sustainable growth in today's dynamic business landscape.

Amanda joined Insperity in fall 2017 as a business performance advisor and has a stellar track record of being an annual top performer, achieving Pinnacle Summit three times and Chairman’s Club twice.

While not at the office, Amanda is mother to two adorable little girls, a wife to an oil & gas entrepreneur and dedicated philanthropist. She enjoys traveling with her family, is an enthusiastic about her board position at Arrow Child & Family Ministries. Amanda always has the best interest of her peers and clients at heart!

Matthew is a Chief Outsiders Partner and CMO based in Houston. He helps new and growing B2B and B2C businesses increase market valuation and grow volume and profits above expectations. Matthew’s international retail and commercial branding strategy and marketing campaigns deliver best-in-class brand strength and recognition. And, his innovative strategic problem solving, customer insight, cross functional execution, and organizational development align to deliver breakthrough performance.

Mike is the managing partner of Winston’s Houston office. He focuses his practice on corporate finance and securities law, including securities offerings, public company advisory, special purpose acquisition company offerings, private equity and venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate representation.

Carrie Colbert is Founding and General Partner of Curate Capital, a venture capitalist firm dedicated to championing women-led businesses by providing not only financial support but also invaluable mentorship and resources. Her journey into the world of venture capitalism was born out of over two decades of experience in the energy industry, ten-plus years as an influencer, plus five-plus years of angel investing.

Throughout Carrie's career, she witnessed the disparities and challenges women face in male-dominated sectors. Fueled by a passion for equality and a desire to make a meaningful change, she decided to channel her expertise and resources into a venture that would empower women entrepreneurs to thrive. At Curate Capital, their mission extends beyond financial returns; it's about creating a more inclusive and equitable business ecosystem where all voices are heard and valued.

Summer Craig, the President & CEO of Craig Group, is a seasoned digital marketer with a background driving ROI-focused strategies for multi-million dollar companies.

From starting her career at Austin-based ad agency GSD&M working on Mastercard, Walmart, and Southwest Airlines to navigating the corporate communications complexities of mergers and buyouts in the telecom industry at SBC Global-Cingular-AT&T, Summer rapidly rose through the ranks and her analytical prowess became a hallmark of her career. This skillset, combined with her expertise in media buying and selling, positioned her as a standout in the early advertising landscape.

Charging into the digital realm, Summer played a pivotal role at AOL, contributing to the adoption of innovative Martech and pioneering programmatic advertising. That experience was a stepping stone to Summer’s tenure at HomeAway.com (later VRBO), where the company completed a successful IPO and she delved into the world of venture capital, and her entrepreneurial flame was lit.

She moved back to Houston and soon became a regional client rep with New York-based Publicis ZenithOptimedia overseeing Gulf States Toyota, where she learned the intricacies of operating one of the world's largest privately held businesses under a major brand. Summer transitioned into an in-house leadership role where she was responsible for showing marketing effectiveness to the board, dealer council and executive stake-holder groups.

In 2019, Summer founded Craig Group, a company rooted in data-first sales and marketing, leveraging her extensive wisdom and expertise built over the course of 20 years to create impactful results for clients.

Beyond building a large team across four states, Summer's most impressive personal accomplishments include summiting Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Rainier as a proud mom of three. Her out-of-the-office passions — ranging from mountain climbing and camping to competitive sports and giving time to causes she believes in — reveal an authentic commitment to pushing boundaries and pursuing hard goals.

For decision-makers at private equity-backed businesses and independent family-owned companies, Summer Craig is a valuable and dynamic partner, combining a wealth of experience with a relentless focus on delivering tangible value.

Cleve Glenn brings a holistic business perspective to his corporate and commercial practice, where he focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and outside general counsel services, including drafting and negotiating commercial leases, sale-leaseback transactions, master service agreements, supply agreements and financing documents. His corporate clients include middle market energy companies, real estate development companies, private equity portfolio companies, family offices and financial services companies. Cleve also provides mergers and acquisitions and commercial law counsel to a publicly held rail transportation company providing services to the industrial, energy, transportation and construction industries.

Cleve's background as general counsel and CFO of an energy services company allows him to understand every client's business goals and view each transaction within that framework, resulting in creative solutions with impactful results. A Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas, he has been named a Top Lawyer in Corporate Finance Mergers and Acquisitions by Houstonia Magazine and a Most Effective Dealmaker by Texas Lawyer.

Manny González is the Chief Executive Officer of Ethoscapes, providing the strategic vision and operational excellence to help the company’s businesses grow. His 35 years of service industry experience provided the skills to combined three of the most prolific landscape, installation, and erosion control businesses in the Houston market in just the last 4 years.

Patrick Hayes’ practice focuses on commercial real estate and assisting clients in acquiring, disposing, capitalizing and forming companies. Patrick’s real estate practice covers all aspects of commercial real estate, including acquisition, development, capitalizing, financing, leasing and disposition of all product types of commercial real estate. His corporate/commercial practice centers on the formation and restructuring of commercial entities, including corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, as well as the acquisition, capitalization, financing and disposition of business enterprises, the preparation of various contracts and agreements, and the representation of clients in their ongoing business activities.

After selling a successful manufacturing company that Chuck Hendee took from a startup to twenty million in revenue, he now helps small business leaders grow more successful businesses and live better lives. Chuck has been a mentor with the University of Houston Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship since the late nineties and is now a chair with Vistage Worldwide. He provides services as a business coach, mentor, and consultant. Consulting includes designing and implementing incentive systems.

Janice Jucker is co-owner of Three Brothers Bakery with her husband, Robert Jucker. The bakery was founded in 1949 by Bobby’s father and two uncles after surviving the Holocaust. They like to say they are “Memory Makers Who Happen To Be Bakers®…for five generations and almost 200 years. Now there are 4 locations in Houston employing approximately 75. Their pecan pie was named “best mail order pecan pie America has to offer” by Country Living Magazine and has had many accolades along with their Pumpecapple Piecake. Prior to joining the bakery in 2005, Janice worked for Lucent Technologies and Avaya selling multi-million dollar communications systems.

As the CEO of Cemvita, he leads a team of scientists and engineers that are creating radical solutions to reduce the carbon and environmental footprint of industries such as energy, chemicals, and mining.

Fueled by curiosity and optimism, Moji's mission is to create the natural resource industry of the future. His vision is to help create a future where waste products and ready-to-retire infrastructure can be re-imagined as the foundational drivers of economic growth and energy independence.

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. 

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.

T. M. “Roe” Patterson is a 30-year Energy Industry veteran. He has worked in, owned and operated multiple businesses in both the public and private energy sector. Currently, he owns and invests in multiple businesses inside and outside of the energy space, playing varying roles in each venture’s governance including CEO, Chairman of the Board, Board Member and Board Adviser. He is also currently raising capital for his first private equity fund, Marauder Capital.

Name of the game in any business is evolve or dissolve.

The Visual Cue evolves your brand so that your business stays competitive in times of change.
+ Entering new markets
+ Growing through acquisition
+ Post-merger
+ Launching new offering
+ Price competition
+ Attract the right customer/talent
+ Mixed Reputation

Lenny Saizan is co-founder and Managing Director of Urban Capital Network (UCN), an investment firm focused on democratizing premium investment opportunities for a broader pool of investors. Lenny also owns and operates Murphy Business Sales – Southwest Houston, where he helps business owners exit plan, maximize value, and sell their businesses. Lenny also works with buyers interested in business acquisition or franchising.

Prior to launching UCN and his Business Brokerage, Lenny worked 10 years in Oil and Gas, leading teams in Financial and Operational Controls, and Audit. Lenny started his career as an Electrical Engineer, specializing in automation, controls, and systems integration.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from L.S.U. and his MBA from Tulane University.

Jeffery Sheldon is CEO, GP & Managing Director of the CitareTx venture capital funds and its management company, and CEO of three CitareTx portfolio companies: EMIT Corporation, Houston Medical Robotics, Inc. and Coagulex, Inc. He also serves on several other venture capital fund boards and founded numerous start-up companies, including IDev Technologies, Inc. sold to Abbott for $310 Million.

Robin has dedicated her career to empowering businesses, starting as a business analyst, she later became President of SQL*Systems and later founded RMS and Company, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Since 2006, as a Vistage Chair and seasoned executive coach, Robin invests over 1,000 hours annually advising CEOs and senior executives. A recipient of Vistage's highest accolades, including the Star, Chair Excellence, and Cope Awards, her mission remains to challenge and elevate business leaders to achieve their utmost potential.

Mr. Thimmig is an industry expert and thought leader across multiple industries including, automotive, marketing, education, investment, esports, and media, launching new brands and products along with raising capital.

Bret West recently joined PNC Business Credit in 2021 as a senior vice president and business development officer serving the Texas, Louisiana and Southwest markets. He is based in Houston, Texas.

Previously, Bret had an extensive career in commercial/corporate banking as the Head of Energy Services Group at Wells Fargo Bank. Bret developed the strategies that helped to propel bank’s success and leadership position over the past 20+ years in the areas of loan syndication, capital markets, treasury management and corporate services.

Bret began his career with Barnett Banks in Tampa where he received his formal credit training before becoming a Business Banker, Credit Officer and then Middle Market lending.

Bret received his B.A. in Finance from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He is active with his church and the community and has served on corporate boards of National Association of Oceans Industries (“NOIA”) and Literacy Now, a Houston non-profit focused on literacy intervention.

Luke Westerman is a former Wall Street investment banker and venture capitalist with 20+ years experience investing in and advising dynamic entrepreneurs.

He is currently active in several companies and projects in Houston and also serves as a Director at Westerman Capital, a family office.

He and his partner Ale reside primarily in Houston along with their 15 year old hurricane rescue dog, Franky. They are passionate about the arts and are devoted animal welfare advocates.

Matthew Wiener is the co-practice leader for Aon’s Transaction Solutions team. In this role, Mr. Wiener is responsible for the development and implementation of transactional-based risk solutions for M&A transactions and alternative investments.   

Prior to joining the Aon Transaction Solutions team, Matthew was an attorney at Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he specialized in M&A, corporate finance and securities law.

Dr. Sunny Zhang is an award-winning educator, entrepreneur, and investor. She is the founder of TrueLeap Inc., an education technology provider improving global access to quality digital education. A tenured professor at the University of St. Thomas, Dr. Zhang has been teaching in business schools for 20 years. She co-founded Born Global Ventures (startup studio) and Born Global Community (501c3) supporting global startups and diverse entrepreneurs.