Emily is an Operating Partner and head of talent at Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that partners with founders of bootstrapped software companies to help them realize their potential. For nearly 20 years, Mainsail has been helping management teams navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with rapidly scaling a software company. With offices in Austin and San Francisco, the firm has raised over $2.2 billion in committed capital and invested in more than seventy companies. For more information, visit www.mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.

Prior to Mainsail, Emily was an Engagement Manager at Heidrick & Struggles in the Global Technology & Services Practice focused on executive level placements for Private Equity backed portfolio companies. She began her career in 2006 in management consulting, where she engaged on several US-based cross-continental projects in India, China, Hong Kong and Brazil. She moved to São Paulo, Brazil in 2008 and joined an executive search boutique dedicated to executive and board level positions across a variety of industries. Prior to repatriating back to the US in 2013, Emily served as the Managing Director for the Brazil subsidiary of Altimetrik, an IT multinational consultancy focused on ERP, cloud, and mobile app development.

Emily holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from Ibmec São Paulo in Brazil.

Mainsail Partners is a growth equity firm that partners with founders of bootstrapped software companies to help them realize their potential. For nearly 20 years, Mainsail has been helping management teams navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with rapidly scaling a software company. The firm includes women and men who are former software company operators who have seen these challenges first-hand. Mainsail offers assistance across a variety of functional areas including talent, finance, customer success, sales and marketing, product management, and R&D. With offices in Austin and San Francisco, the firm has raised over $2.2 billion in committed capital and invested in more than seventy companies. For more information, visit www.mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.

Steven Berman leads the Accel-KKR’s executive search function. Working with deal teams and portfolio companies to drive value by having the right people in the right seats.

For over two decades, Accel-KKR has leveraged our vast pool of resources and focused expertise in mid-market software and tech-enabled services to help hundreds of businesses go further than they have imagined.

Ted is an internationally-recognized expert on leadership and organization development. He advises investors, CEOs, and boards globally to help them position the right leaders for key roles and to support those leaders and teams for maximal value creation. Ted assists top performing organizations to anticipate and plan for future core business competencies and to install them in dynamic governance processes such as executive succession.

An organizational psychologist, human resources executive, management consultant and master coach for more than 30 years, Ted authors a bi-monthly leadership column in Chief Executive magazine and is also on the executive education faculty of the Harvard Business School. Ted has helped leaders around the world achieve enduring change in their organizations, their teams, and themselves by expanding their psychological, behavioral, and organizational insights into leadership.

Career Highlights: Ted Bililies, PhD:
• Internationally recognized expert on leadership and organization development
• Founded AlixPartners’ transformative leadership practice in 2014, advising global CEOs, their boards, and private equity investors
• Serving nearly three decades as an organizational psychologist, human resources executive, management consultant and master coach
• Executive Education faculty of the Harvard Business School and has held teaching appointments at Harvard University in four of Harvard’s graduate schools: Medical, Business, Arts & Sciences, and Extension
• Frequent speaker at leadership and investment conferences
• Featured in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC’s Power and Money
• Author of bi-monthly leadership column in Chief Executive magazine
• Serves as exclusive advisor to the CEO of the Year Award committee
• Board Member, Perkins School for the Blind
• Board Member, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
• John Harvard Scholar, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University

For nearly forty years, AlixPartners has helped businesses around the world respond quickly and decisively to their most critical challenges – circumstances as diverse as urgent performance improvement, accelerated transformation, complex restructuring and risk mitigation.

These are the moments when everything is on the line – a sudden shift in the market, an unexpected performance decline, a time-sensitive deal, a fork-in-the-road decision. But it’s not what we do that makes a difference, it’s how we do it.

Tackling situations when time is of the essence is part of our DNA – so we adopt an action-oriented approach at all times. We work in small, highly qualified teams with specific industry and functional expertise, and we operate at pace, moving quickly from analysis to implementation. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients until the job is done, and only measure our success in terms of the results we deliver.

Our approach enables us to help our clients confront and overcome truly future-defining challenges. We partner with you to make the right decisions and take the right actions. And we are right by your side. When it really matters.

Elizabeth is an Operations VP, Human Capital at Trive Capital, where her responsibilities include partnering with investment and management teams to develop and execute human capital strategies and projects in support of Trive’s portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Trive, Elizabeth served in various roles at Lennox International, a global HVAC manufacturer, including as HR Business Partner supporting corporate functions, a factory HR Manager leading engagement and retention, and a Talent Acquisition Specialist supporting global recruiting efforts. Previously, Elizabeth worked as Head of HR and Operations at RIDE TV.

Elizabeth received her MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington, an MA in Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management from Southern Methodist University, and a BA in Spanish from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Kristin joined New State Capital Partners five years ago as Senior Operating Partner, Human Capital with more than 25 years of hands-on growth strategy, executive search, talent acquisition & development experience. New State takes a hands-on role in value creation and Operating Partners are a full time, integral part of the firm's team.

The bulk of Kristin’s career has been focused on strategic talent acquisition for a wide range of industries including tech and industrials across a broad spectrum of company sizes from startups to F100s. Kristin specializes in helping companies grow quickly and build value. She has worked across a range of companies in roles including advisor, mentor and coach.

Prior to New State, Kristin spent six years at Business Talent Group (now part of Heidrick & Struggles) and also ran her own boutique executive search firm.
Kristin received her M.B.A. from NYU's Stern School of Business and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

New State Capital invests in founder-led companies in B-to-B services and Industrials ($8-$40 Million EBITDA) with a focus on value creation and growth. The firm strives to be nimble, decisive and cooperative, approaching each potential investment as an opportunity to create a long lasting and valuable relationship.

New State has made a deliberate choice to employ an experienced team, deploying a fully-dedicated Operations team for every investment.

David Cohen joined Kelso in 2019 as a Partner and Managing Director leading Human Capital work. He is focused on applying talent and human resources best practices to enhance the firm’s investment process, portfolio companies and Kelso Specialist Network. He spent the preceding nine years at American Securities in a similar role in support of their middle market portfolio.

Prior to his work in private equity, Bristol-Myers Squibb for more than eight years where he held various HR leadership positions including three and a half years based in Singapore as their HR leader for Asia Pacific. Prior to joining BMS in 2001, David was with General Electric for nine years where he held various HR positions in the Company’s Healthcare, Industrial Systems and Plastics businesses. Over the course of his 35+ year business career, David has worked outside the United States three times and has extensive experience starting and developing businesses in India, China, Southeast Asia and Japan. Finally, he began his career managing a small rural based development organization in Botswana, Africa as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer.

David has a B.A. in Economics and an MBA in General Management from the University of Michigan.

About Kelso

Kelso is a founding firm in the private equity industry with a unique history and legacy, having been founded by the inventor of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (or “ESOP”) more than 40 years ago. The principles of partnership and alignment of interest serve as the foundation of the firm’s culture and investment philosophy. Kelso is focused on North American mid-market buyout transactions within four core sectors. Since 1980, Kelso has invested through 11 funds with over $15 billion of equity capital across 135+ investments. Kelso benefits from a successful investment track record, industry-leading GP alignment, deep sector expertise, a long-tenured investing team, and a reputation as a preferred partner to management teams and corporates. The firm is based in New York, NY.

Dina DeMarco is an accomplished talent acquisition leader. She has held leadership roles in Talent Acquisition at the University of Chicago Medicine and Baptist Health of Florida. Her expertise extends to her tenure as SVP in Hueman's Recruitment Process Outsourcing division, where she developed recruitment strategies and delivery models for organizations in a variety of industries.
In 2020, Dina founded Hueman PE Talent Solutions, bringing both tactical and strategic talent acquisition solutions to PE-backed portfolio companies.
Dina's industry influence is underscored by her membership in the Forbes HR Council, a recognition of her thought leadership. Additionally, she has been recognized by HRO Today and has presented at numerous conferences.
Residing in Atlantic Beach, Florida, with her husband Jeff and rescue dog Buddy, Dina is involved in her community, previously serving on the board of several non-profits. In her leisure time, you will find Dina reading or playing soccer.

Recruitment should never hinder organizational growth. At Hueman PE Talent Solutions, we comprehend the rapid pace and high growth expectations for portfolio companies. We acknowledge that people are the driving force behind profits, and without effective recruitment, portfolio companies face obstacles in their growth journey.
By collaborating with Hueman PE Talent Solutions, private equity firms can mitigate investment risks and ensure that talent acquisition aligns with the VCP (Value Creation Plan). We offer portfolio companies access to top-notch recruitment resources at highly affordable rates, with an average placement fee of 9%. Our program is designed to be flexible, scalable, and results-oriented.
Hueman PE Talent Solutions emerged as a division of Hueman People Solutions in 2020, identifying a gap in recruitment solutions for rapidly expanding companies. While there are numerous executive search firms, there is a scarcity of good agencies focusing on crucial middle management and staff-level roles – and that's precisely where Hueman excels.

Rick is a purpose-driven entrepreneur and executive search leader on a mission to unleash human potential globally. As co-founder and managing partner of executive search firm Acertitude, he is charting a new course to take businesses to the next level by connecting them with brilliant people at work.

Rick personally advises some of the largest and most admired global private equity firms, middle market PE firms, portfolio companies, and corporate enterprises, solving significant leadership challenges related to value-creation, growth, restructuring, and digital transformation. Over his 25-year career, he has conducted over 500 executive searches for board members, CEOs, and C-level executives across the private equity, technology, healthcare, and professional services sectors.

Launched in 2015, Acertitude represents a new era in executive search, already a top 30 global search firm, and continues to expand rapidly in the private equity space. The success of Acertitude expands on Rick’s role as founder of search firm TEG, an Acertitude company. He holds an MBA, Finance from Drexel University and a B.S., Accounting from St. Joseph’s University.

When he’s not at work, Rick relishes family time with his wife and their two sons. Weekends are active, filled with running, training, and sports and their shared love of travel.

Acertitude is the executive search firm unleashing human potential for private equity firms and portfolio companies globally. We recruit Board, CEO, and C-level talent that transform businesses, teams, and performance. Our approach to search is built on taking extreme ownership of our client’s needs. We get closer to clients, move at your speed, and turn insight into impact.
https://www.acertitude.com/

Mara Lamoureux Edgar is the Managing Director, Human Capital at The Riverside Company where she leads portfolio talent strategy and company value creation on behalf of the Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund. Mara has lead HR and Talent functions for 25 years in both operating company roles and as an Operating Partner in various industries. Prior to joining Riverside, she held the dual role of Chief Human Resources Officer and Director of Portfolio Talent Management & HR Strategy at Parthenon Capital. Earlier in her career, Mara held senior roles at TA Associates, Arrowroot Capital, IQVIA, Kantar and Cayan. Mara has a BA from Wheaton College and a JD from Suffolk University. She is a Member of the Massachusetts Bar.

The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm that makes growth investments ranging from loans to fast-growing software and tech companies to control investments in companies with up to $400 million in enterprise value. The firm invests through nine product strategies focused on various geographies, tactics, and criteria. Since 1988, Riverside has grown from a small unfunded PEG to a global enterprise with more than $13.1 billion in assets under management conducting control and minority buyouts, growth equity investing and corporate divestitures. Riverside invests in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. Through more than 900 investments, the firm has developed industry specializations in business services, consumer brands, education and training, franchisors, healthcare, and software & IT. Riverside has offices across the United States and Europe and has additional offices in Hong Kong and Australia.

Dr. Sandy Fiaschetti is the founder and Managing Partner of Lodestone People Consulting, a firm which provides human capital diligence and value creation services to investors and their portfolio companies. Prior to founding Lodestone, she served as a Human Capital Managing Director for a private equity firm. She has been both an internal and external consultant to both private equity firms and mid-cap and large companies across a variety of industries.

As a business psychologist, Sandy has advised numerous firms, boards, and CEOs on organizational culture and effectiveness, talent assessment and acquisition, talent management, and leadership development. She has coached scores of C-suite executives and created effective leadership teams. She is particularly passionate about bringing science and psychometric soundness to people-related activities.

Dan advises boards, CEO's, investors and business leaders on strategy execution and value creation through leadership and organization performance. After a successful corporate career, Dan founded Summit in 2014 to help growth-oriented companies and business leaders scale and improve performance. He partners closely with clients to catalyze change and is an expert in leadership, strategy, assessment, executive and organization development.

Under Dan’s leadership, Summit has become the industry leader for PE investors and high growth companies in leadership and organization assessment and performance. Summit has been recognized by Forbes as America’s Best Management Consulting Firms in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and ranked as one of the fastest growing firms in the US by Inc., Consulting Magazine, and Charlotte Business Journal.

Dan is a Board-Certified Executive Coach (BCC), holds a NACD Directorship Certification, and is an active member of several industry and professional organizations, such as Fast Company’s Executive Board, Bloomberg Breakaway CEO Network, Forbes Coaches Council, Inc Masters, the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the American Psychological Association (APA). He also serves on the boards of Clemson University College of Business and the Belk College of Business, University of North Carolina Charlotte.

Dan authors and presents numerous topics on CEO performance, leadership, organization change, strategy, leading in global contexts, and strategic talent management. He is regularly featured in top business publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Forbes, Inc, Yahoo! Finance, and Chief Executive Magazine, as well as industry publications, such as Boardroom Insider, Consulting Magazine, HR Executive, PE Hub, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Middle Market Executive.

Summit Leadership Partner advises boards, investors, CEOs and senior leaders on scaling businesses, improving performance and increasing returns by unlocking the full potential in their leaders and organizations. We do this through our expertise in behavioral and leadership science, proven business acumen, and unparalleled data and benchmarks to ensure objective insights. Our solutions are practical and actionable to help our clients assess, develop, and improve their human capital to perform at peak levels. We understand the complex challenges CEOs and management team face and are trusted partners to catalyze change. Summit has been recognized by Forbes as America’s Best Management Consulting Firms in 2022, 2023 and 2024, ranked as one of the Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America over the last four years, and was listed as #5 on Consulting Magazine’s Fastest Growing Consulting Firms. For more information, visit www.summitleadership.com, and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Jamie Jacobs serves as the Chief Talent Officer of Oak Hill Capital. Working across the entire portfolio of Oak Hill funds focusing on all aspects of Human Capital with specialties in Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Organization design and assessment, HRIS, compensation, and benefits advice. For almost eight years prior to partnering with Oak Hill, Jamie was the Director of Human Capital at American Securities where she worked with portfolio companies’ leadership teams on all aspects of Human Capital. Previously Jamie was with Morgan Stanley for nearly eleven years where she held a number of leadership positions within the firm including heading HR projects, program and data management for the wealth management division, restructuring and strategy for the firm’s recruiting function, Senior HR Business partner for the Private wealth management business, Head of Business Management for the International Private Wealth Management business and Head of Business Management and COO for the Global Talent Management organization. Earlier in her career Jamie worked in Management Consulting at PriceWaterhouseCoopers focusing on technology, business process, and strategy consulting. Jamie received a BS in Business and Economics from Lehigh University.

Oak Hill Capital is a private equity firm managing funds with over $19 billion of initial capital commitments and co-investments since inception. Over the past 36 years, Oak Hill Capital and its predecessors have invested in approximately 100 private equity transactions across broad segments of the U.S. and global economies. Oak Hill Capital applies an industry-focused, theme-based approach to investing in the following sectors: Business Services, Industrials, Media & Communications, and Consumer. Oak Hill works actively in partnership with management to implement strategic and operational initiatives to create franchise value. For more information, please visit: www.oakhill.com.

John Knapp is an Operating Director and Talent Specialist in Berkshire Partners’ Portfolio Support Group, where he focuses on talent leadership and human capital best practices across the portfolio. Prior to joining Berkshire, John was a Partner with David Barrett Partners, a global executive search firm. Earlier in his career, he was a Principal with Egon Zehnder where he led the firm’s North American Asset Management practice and a Vice President of Institutional Wealth Services for Fidelity Investments. He began his career with Accenture in the firm’s Strategy and Business Architecture practice, and earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, has been investing in well-positioned, growing companies for more than 35 years. Berkshire Private Equity has made more than 145 private equity investments since its inception and has a strong history of partnering with management teams to grow the companies in which it invests. Stockbridge, founded in 2007, seeks to make public equity investments in high-quality companies with strong competitive positions and long-term growth prospects. The firm’s Stockbridge and private equity teams frequently collaborate and leverage their collective industry expertise in multiple areas, including in communications and digital infrastructure, consumer, healthcare, technology, and services and industrials. For additional information, and to see a full list of the firm’s private equity investments, visit www.berkshirepartners.com.

Conor is the Chief Talent Officer at Shore Capital, a microcap private equity firm focused on partnering with companies that have between $1-10 million of EBITDA. Conor is responsible for the recruitment of best-in-class executive leadership talent across Shore Capital’s portfolio companies, including the curation of a senior leader network, and driving innovation of assessment and human capital best practices.

Previously, Conor served as Partner and Head of the Private Equity practice at True Search. Conor served private equity firms and their portfolio companies through delivering a comprehensive and innovative suite of strategic talent services, and executive search engagements.

Prior to joining True, Conor was a Partner at a Chicago-based executive search boutique focused on serving private equity clients. Prior to his search career, Conor served as a consultant with Navigant Consulting in Chicago, where he provided business valuation and advisory work for private equity and other financial services clients.

Conor graduated with a B.S. in Finance from Miami University, and an M.B.A from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Steve is a Senior Vice President for Audax Private Equity where he leads Portfolio Human Capital. Previously, he was the Talent Partner at Kodiak Venture Partners. Steve also worked in the executive search industry at Korn Ferry and Russell Reynolds, where he focused on building leadership teams for early stage technology companies. Earlier in his career, he ran sales and marketing at several technology companies in Boston. Steve is a graduate of Denison University where he received a B.A. in History.

Based in Boston and San Francisco, Audax Private Equity is a leading middle market, growth-oriented investment firm with approximately $19 billion of assets under management, over 210 employees, and 100-plus investment professionals. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has invested in more than 165 platforms and 1,200 add-on acquisitions. Through our disciplined Buy & Build approach, across six core industry verticals, Audax helps portfolio companies execute organic and inorganic growth initiatives that fuel revenue expansion, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. For more information, visit audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Ruthanne is the Founder & CEO of Aster Talent. She brings to the Firm over 20 years of recruitment experience partnering with funds across size, strategy and geography.

In recent years, she has spent the lion's share of her time placing Human Capital/Talent professionals including Heads of Human Capital, Talent Partners and other specialized roles helping funds to meet some of the most complex challenges on the people front. Ruthanne is Hogan certified regularly leveraging Hogan assessment tools to guide and advise clients and candidates alike.

Ruthanne has an MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business and a BA in International Relations from UC Santa Barbara. A passionate independent movie and documentary lover, you can find her without fail at the Sundance Film Festival every January.

Aster Talent is an executive search and talent advisory boutique founded to serve the specialized talent needs of the alternative investment industry.

This hyper-focus has given us the opportunity to gain unparalleled industry insight and to build long-standing, trusted relationships with both clients and candidates.

The collective experience of our team enables us to be true extensions of our clients who rely on our counsel for hiring, compensation, on-boarding and on-going talent advisory.

Today, we are proud to partner with some of the most prestigious funds in the world and to have a client roster that comes entirely from referral

Katie Solomon is Managing Director, Talent Management at Genstar Capital. She works across the firm’s portfolio to help drive growth through the identification, assessment and acquisition of talent. Katie brings experience in recruiting, investor relations, finance and consulting to her role at the firm.

Prior to joining Genstar in 2011, Katie was Vice President, Human Capital and Investor Relations at Vector Capital. Previously, she worked in executive search at Russell Reynolds Associates where she focused on recruiting senior level executives to private equity and venture backed companies. Before that, Katie led the marketing team at Harvard Business School Career Services and directed the global investment banking recruiting department at Robertson Stephens. Katie began her career as a Consultant with Bain & Company where she advised both Fortune 500 companies and private equity firms and their portfolio companies.

Katie received her B.A. Phi Beta Kappa, and her M.A. from Stanford University. She received her M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business

Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for over 30 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $49 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the financial services, healthcare, industrials, and software industries. The firm closed Fund XI in April, 2023 with approximately $12.6 billion in total commitments. Genstar’s vision is to help build lasting, impactful companies that will continue to succeed well beyond their ownership.

Chris Trendler is a Managing Director and the Head of Portfolio Talent for the firm, responsible for leading the firm's talent strategy across the portfolio. Prior to joining MDP in 2021, Chris was a Partner at ghSMART and Company, where he advised investors, CEOs and Boards on critical talent issues.

Madison Dearborn Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm, specializing in buyout and growth equity investments in established middle and upper-middle market companies located primarily in the United States. Since MDP's formation in 1992, the firm has raised eight funds with aggregate capital of approximately $28 billion and has completed over 150 investments. MDP is currently investing out of its most recent fund, MDCP Fund VIII, in businesses across a broad spectrum of industries, including basic industries; businesses & government software and services; financial and transaction services; health care; and telecom, media and technology services.

John Weaver joined Risk International in 2019 and is the Senior Director of Private Equity. He works with the risk management and benefits advisory teams to drive value creation for private equity clients and their portfolio companies.

Before joining Risk International, John held executive roles with insurance consulting and risk management firms, helping companies and their management teams achieve their financial goals by employing data-driven approaches to arrive at favorable outcomes.

John has over 20 years of experience in sales, consulting, and business process outsourcing, having spent over ten years with ADP in several strategy and business development roles.

Risk International is an independent insurance, risk management consultant, and employee benefits advisor, delivering solutions through data and analytics. With no ties to the insurance industry, we align exclusively with our clients, providing unbiased support in navigating the changing insurance market. Our independent client-centric approach is evident in our transparent fee-for-service model, with 100% of fees directly paid by clients, eliminating conflicts of interest.

Recognizing that companies invest in insurance to shield themselves from financial losses, we understand the intricacies of securing appropriate coverage can be overwhelming. Leveraging our expertise and resources, we collaborate with clients to develop optimized insurance programs that are practical and cost-effective, ensuring that the insurance programs align precisely with our client's unique needs.

Visit: https://riskinternational.com