Committee

Vera Anderson, Founder of Global Elements Consulting, is a renowned Legacy Mindset Consultant advising ultra-high-net-worth families and global business leaders transitioning through succession or sale, and a Chair for Tiger21. With over $300M in international acquisitions, board leadership, and expertise spanning private equity to startups, Vera empowers clients with bespoke strategies to achieve harmony, purpose, and enduring impact.

Blair Badham is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Blair served as Managing Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at Butler Snow Advisory. During his time at Butler Snow Advisory, he led sell side, buyside and capital raise transactions for privately owned and closely held businesses. Prior to joining Butler Snow, Blair managed the market launch and business development activities of EBSCO Capital, the investment division of EBSCO Industries. Headquartered in Birmingham, EBSCO Industries is a privately held conglomerate comprised of over 20 businesses and more than $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Before his role at EBSCO Capital, Blair served in multiple capacities for Jemison Metals, a Birmingham-based steel service center, including strategic planning, cultivating new territories, implementing software-based supply chain management tools, and developing and managing relationships with Fortune 500 industrial conglomerates. Blair began his career in commercial banking, and spent five years with First Commercial Bank's commercial and industrial lending team, where he managed numerous middle market relationships for the bank.

Blair earned a B.S. from the University of Alabama in 2003 and an M.B.A., with honors, from Samford University's Brock School of Business in 2009. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and serves as treasurer for his church.

Krishan Arora currently serves as the Managing Director and CMO of Novastone Capital, a global private equity firm with a portfolio of 21 global acquisitions. Headquartered in Switzerland, Novastone solves succession challenges faced by small—to medium-sized enterprises through our Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) program.

Prior to joining Novastone, Krishan Arora was the Founder and CEO of The Arora Project, a venture capital media agency that has raised and invested over $125,000,000 in high-growth ventures worldwide.

Gloria Bailey is the Market Executive for the West Central Florida Business Banking Team as well as the Market Integration Executive for the Central Florida Market. Her dedication includes leading a team of business advisors focused on understanding each client’s unique needs to deliver strategic financial guidance and solutions. Gloria’s positive energy encourages a fresh perspective among her team. The team and her take care of their client’s business as if it were their own, helping them achieve their goals.

Ben Cady, Certified Business Performance Advisor with Insperity partners with business leaders across the nation to identify areas where their businesses can maximize their organizational success through time-tested employment strategies and business solutions. With Insperity, Ben has a multi-disciplinary team of experts at his disposal to enable business leaders to be more systematic and strategic regarding the role people play in the success of their companies. Insperity, a trusted advisor to America’s best businesses for over 35 years serves more than 100,000 businesses with over 2 million employees in all 50 states.

James Camarda brings two decades of expertise in the alternative investment sector, having collaborated with some of the world’s leading alternative investment firms. Mr. Camarda has advised financial advisors, family offices, foundations, endowments, and individuals on leveraging alternative investments to optimize their investment objectives, including portfolio construction.

During his extensive career at Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Mr. Camarda established himself as a thought leader in the alternative investment space. As a Director and Divisional Alternative Investments Specialist, he led a team of four specialists, managed a seven-state territory and engaged with over a thousand financial advisors. His tenure included working with a comprehensive platform featuring over 75 evergreen funds and approximately 30 new private market drawdown funds annually.

At Star Mountain Capital, Mr. Camarda plays a pivotal and multifaceted role, including forming and managing strategic partnerships with wealth management platforms and other investors.

Mr. Camarda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from SUNY Buffalo State College and is Series 66 and Series 7 licensed. Outside of his professional endeavors, Mr. Camarda is dedicated to philanthropy, through his support of the Boys and Girls Club, the Latin American Association and the Foster Care Support Foundation.

As VP, Client Partner Dualboot Partners, I spearhead our efforts to help businesses unlock their full potential through cutting-edge software development, data analytics, and AI solutions. With a deep understanding of industry trends and client needs, I collaborate closely with organizations to craft tailored strategies that drive digital transformation and maximize operational efficiency.

Raechel Canipe is a Venture Partner at Valor Ventures, the Founder and CEO at Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship, and the Chief Marketing Officer at RevStar. She dedicates her time to mentoring ambitious entrepreneurs and connecting them with the network and resources they need to succeed. Raechel’s community impact and business success have been celebrated with two Innovation Awards, a ChangeMaker Award, and as a nominee for Business Woman of the Year.

Abhi is a Partner at NAMAKOR Holdings where he is responsible for managing the investment team, sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities, and managing existing portfolio companies. He is closely involved with the leadership on NAMAKOR’s strategic initiatives and growth plans. Prior to NAMAKOR, Abhi worked on the investment team at Sunsar Capital Management ($1.0B+ in Real Estate assets) and as an Associate Consultant at Wipro Consulting.

Over the course of his career, he has conducted transactions in excess of $1.5B in value.

Abhi holds a B.B.A from Symbiosis International University and M.S from Brown University

Chris Cate is President of the recently merged Valpak and Clipp Direct Marketing companies. As President, he focuses on day-to-day execution and management of the Company’s strategy. Chris is responsible for leading all technology, business intelligence, digital, manufacturing and operational support teams.

Robert joined Trivest in 2020. He is responsible for business development initiatives at the firm, including the origination and evaluation of investment opportunities. Based in Miami, Robert manages Trivest’s deal relationships in the Gulf Coast region.

Before joining Trivest, he was a Relationship Manager at Wells Fargo Bank, where he was involved with sourcing, structuring, and executing middle-market senior debt transactions. He received his B.S. in finance and management and an M.S. in finance from Florida State University.

Robert is also the board chairman for Pace Center for Girls Miami, a non-profit school for at-risk girls, and is a board member of ACG South Florida and Exit Planning Exchange.

Michael Faraone is a Partner at Shadow Lake Partners with over 25 years of capital markets experience including as an investment banker focused on middle-market growth companies. His primary responsibilities at Shadow Lake Partners include originating, evaluating, executing and managing private equity transactions, as well as capital formation, investor relations, and talent acquisition responsibilities.

Mr. Faraone was previously Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Skyway Capital Markets, primarily advising privately owned businesses. Mr. Faraone has significant corporate finance experience advising both private and public companies across numerous industries on mergers and acquisitions, capital raises of equity and debt, project finance and general financial advisory assignments. Mr. Faraone previously worked in the Equity Research and Investment Banking departments at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and International Assets Advisory LLC, respectively. Mr. Faraone is a graduate of the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Minor in Economics.

David Fowles is a Regional Director at The Riverside Company focusing on originating deal opportunities and qualifying add-on acquisition candidates in the Southcentral and Southeast regions.

Before Riverside, Dave spent three years at Mangrove Equity Partners focused on deal origination. Before that he had a twenty+ year career as a US Army Special Forces Officer (commonly known as Green Berets), where he served with distinction leading special operations forces across the globe, earned three Bronze Star's, including one with a “V” device for valor. He brings a wealth of leadership, organizational, and analytic experience to Origination and Riverside.

When he decided to transition to the private sector, Dave enrolled in the Executive program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, earning an MBA. He also holds a BA in Political Science from SUNY Oswego.

Cory Gaffney joined The Anderson Group in 2006. Previously, Mr. Gaffney worked in private equity at Wynnchurch Capital. In addition, Mr. Gaffney worked as an Equity Research Associate and Investment Banking Analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners and Raymond James Financial.

Cory also has previous work experience with Beacon Strategic Resourcing, a provider of Asian manufacturing outsourcing services to United States-based manufacturing and distribution companies.

Cory is a graduate of Yale University (BA) and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

As the Chief Executive Officer, Jeff collaborates intimately with the executive team at Deerhold, steering the company's growth and innovation strategies.

Before joining Deerhold, he was a pivotal figure at Deerwalk, first as President and then as CEO, until its acquisition by Cedar Gate Technologies. Jeff's background includes co-founding four other companies prior to Deerwalk including D2Hawkeye where he was a co-founder with Deerhold Executive Chairman Rudra Pandey.

Jeff serves on several boards of directors of innovative companies in the healthcare technology field in both the payer and provider space. Jeff is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Tampa and he currently resides in Tampa with his wife Pamela.

As a seasoned business development executive and CRO with a unique blend of life science, IT, and education expertise, Mark catalyzes transformative change, empowering companies to unlock their full potential. With a proven track record of driving substantial growth within Fortune 100 companies across diverse sectors, including commercial, clinical, biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, and IT, he ignites business growth through strategic vision and collaborative leadership. A sales enablement expert, he walks alongside multidisciplinary teams to develop innovative strategic solutions and achieve exceptional results.

Will joined Boyne Capital in 2023. As a Vice President of Business Development, he helps drive the sourcing and origination efforts at Boyne. Prior to joining Boyne, Will served as a Senior Associate on the origination team at Sole Source Capital, a lower-middle market private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas. Will previously worked for Edge Capital Group, where he managed investment strategies across all asset classes for family offices, foundations, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Will received his BS in Economics with Financial Applications from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Michael Harden is a senior managing director at AmbroseAdvisors where he leads Ambrose’s Investment Banking division. He has 30 years of experience in accounting, mergers & acquisitions, financings, ESOP buyouts and valuations. He is a specialist in ESOP buyouts and therefore has experience in a wide array of industries, including craft breweries,  energy, technology, government contracting, manufacturing, distribution, business services and construction.

Prior to joining Ambrose, Michael was a managing director and partner of Eureka Capital Partners, a leading boutique investment bank, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, ESOP buyouts, capital raising, as well as valuation and fairness opinions. Before Eureka, he was a managing director at BCC Capital Partners, another boutique investment banking firm. Prior to BCC, he spent seven years with Credit Suisse First Boston's Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Michael began his career in the audit group of Coopers & Lybrand and subsequently the business valuation group of Arthur Andersen.

Michael graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Business Economics and Accounting. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is a Registered Securities Principal (Series 24) and a Registered Securities Representative (Series 7 and 63) through FINRA.  Michael is the past chairman of the ESOP Association’s Finance Advisory Committee and he also serves as a Director on the Board of seven companies, five of which are 100% ESOP-owned companies.

Mr. Hill is a managing partner and co-founder of Hyde Park Capital Advisors, LLC.
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During his career, Mr. Hill has executed hundreds of transactions, in aggregate totaling more than $5 billion, including numerous mergers & acquisitions, financial advisory engagements, initial and secondary public offerings, private placements of equity and debt securities and fairness opinions.

Prior to forming Hyde Park Capital in January 2000, Mr. Hill was employed for nine years in the Investment Banking Department at Raymond James & Associates, Inc., most recently in the position of Managing Director and Head of the Investment Banking Technology Group, which he co-founded in 1991. Prior to Raymond James, Mr. Hill was employed by Morgan Stanley in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group within the Investment Banking Department in New York City. Mr. Hill also has prior work experience at IBM Corporation.

Mr. Hill is a former director and Chairman of the Florida Venture Forum. He is a former Director and Chairman of the Investment Advisory Council, the Oversight Board for the $130 Billion State of Florida Pension Fund. He is a member of the Tampa Bay CEO Council and the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG). Mr. Hill is also actively involved in STAR (Special Operator Force Transition Resource), comprised of select Tampa Bay business leaders, working with retiring special forces operators out of Tampa-based United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) at MacDill AFB.

Mr. Hill holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Hill was awarded the Beta Gamma Sigma honorary at the University of North Carolina. Mr. Hill holds Series 7, 24 and 63 securities licenses.

Tim R. Holcomb PhD is CEO at Embarc Collective, a tech innovation leader for early-stage tech entrepreneurs ranked as the top incubation program in N America by UBI Global. Embarc's mission is to empower Florida’s entrepreneurs and startup talent to build bold, thriving, and highly impactful companies that are scalable and help shape the state of Florida into a leading technology hub. Tim has 35+ years of strategy, international business, and startup experience, including work in 25+ countries. He is a serial founder with two successful exits and has advise(d) startups and high growth companies that have raised more than $700M in venture, growth equity, and PE funding.

At KEY Investment Partners, Pete is responsible for origination, due diligence, and execution of investment opportunities in addition to developing strategic partnerships and fundraising initiatives for the firm. Pete is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of BDSA and sits on the Board of Directors of Front Range Biosciences, two of KEY’s portfolio companies.

Prior to founding KEY, Pete spent four years as a member of Partners Group’s (SIX: PGHN) Private Real Estate Group where he was responsible for originating opportunities, conducting due diligence, and executing portfolio transactions valued between $300mn and $1.5bn in gross asset value. While at Partners Group, Pete closed 12 portfolio acquisitions, deploying ~$700mn in equity ($2.5bn gross asset value).

Prior to Partners Group, Pete spent three years at Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) where he focused on the acquisition and asset management of Class A multifamily properties.

Pete holds a BBA in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Originally a Chicago native, he moved to Denver in 2016 to help build out Partners Group’s U.S. real estate team. After seeing the growth in the cannabis industry first-hand, Pete pivoted his career to focus on connecting investors with early-stage cannabis companies.

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. 

Eli Minski, Principal, joined WM Partners in 2015. He is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities, as well as monitoring existing portfolio companies. Prior to joining the Management Company, Eli worked as cash manager and treasury analyst at Nutranext, LLC, where he was responsible for monitoring and forecasting net working capital and bank reporting. He was also involved with Nutranext's acquisition and integration of Nutri-Health Supplements. Prior to Nutranext, LLC, Eli worked as a financial analyst at Bayview Center for Mental Health, a non-profit community mental health center in South Florida.

Ron is Director at KLH and responsible for identifying investment opportunities, including initial financial, operating, and competitive analysis of businesses. Prior to joining KLH, Ron served as an Assistant Vice President at USAmeriBank, where his responsibilities included origination, analysis, and transaction execution on lower middle market senior loans. Ron graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and earned a Juris Doctor from Stetson College of Law.

Over his 35-year private equity career, Glenn has helped build two of the most respected and experienced lower middle market private equity funds. Glenn is an early convert and firm believer in the power of internal operating partners in private equity, to make good on the promise of adding material value to entrepreneurial companies and their people.

Enrico Palmerino is the founder and CEO of Botkeeper, which provides accountants with an automated bookkeeping platform using human-assisted machine learning and AI. Botkeeper's platform delivers the fastest, most accurate, and low-cost bookkeeping available to accounting firms seeking a scalable CAS solution for their clients.

Enrico also serves on the Board of OnProcess Technology and Fidelity Bank and is an investor and advisor in several prominent tech companies. He has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting, Top 30 Most Inspiring Business Leaders, and 2020 Golden Bridge Entrepreneur of the Year.

Botkeeper has raised over $100M from marquee investors and serves several thousand companies and 80+ accounting firms, processing 40M+ transactions per quarter.
Prior to Botkeeper, Enrico was co-owner and Managing Director of SmartBooks, a cloud accounting firm which grew from 6-40 employees in 3 years before he was bought out in 2015 so he could launch Botkeeper. Early in Enrico’s career he was ranked 2nd among Bloomberg’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 in recognition of his co-founding of ThinkLite. Enrico grew ThinkLite from a dorm-room startup to $8.5M ARR before graduating college and successfully exiting the venture.

Ryan Petnuch is a Senior Associate at Alterna Equity Partners where he is responsible for evaluating and executing new investment opportunities as well as portfolio management. Previously, he worked as an investment banker at Cross Keys Capital, specializing in sell-side mergers and acquisitions for founder-led businesses. Ryan began his career at PNC, underwriting corporate credit transactions in the industrials sector.

Luke Posson is a seasoned banking executive with over 18 years of experience in commercial and investment banking. As a Managing Director and the Tampa Market Lead for CIBC Bank USA, he works closely with public, private and sponsor-backed companies to provide customized debt solutions and advisory services. In addition to his work on the Gracepoint Foundation and with ACG Tampa, He is a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Peter Powers is the Co-Founder of SP Venture Partners. Peter is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with owner/operators and family offices as well as leading the asset management team for SP Venture Partners.

Prior to founding SP Venture Partners, Peter lead the real estate platforms for his family’s investment office, MPI Family Office.  As head of MPI’s real estate efforts, Peter focuses on the procurement of real estate investment opportunities, management of MPI’s current portfolio of $850mm of real estate assets, and the development of co-investment relationships. Peter also helped pivot MPI’s investment focus towards affordable housing through the development of a LIHTC investing platform and an adaptive reuse platform. Before Peter joined MPI full time, he was the Senior Analyst for MACC Venture Partners, a privately held real estate investment from, where he identified, researched, and underwrote multifamily assets. He also worked alongside the marketing team for Capstone Multifamily Group, the property management arm of MACC Venture Partners, where he helped assist team members with carrying out investment plans for particular assets.

Peter holds BS degrees in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate from Florida State University. Besides his passion for real estate, Peter is a club race car driver and an avid outdoorsman.

Rebekah Rice is the Business Banking Market Executive for Tampa & St. Petersburg at the #1 Business Bank in the nation, Bank of America. Rebekah has been serving businesses for over 20 years. Rebekah leads an advisory team focused on businesses from $1MM to $50MM. Her team delivers the most comprehensive set of solutions in the industry coupled with best-in-class advisory capabilities, all while ensuring an exceptional client experience. With a strong emphasis on operational and regulatory integrity, Rebekah establishes meaningful relationships, streamlines business processes, and elevates measured outcomes at all levels of her business. Rebekah is a graduate of the University of South Florida, living in Tampa Bay for 25 years.

David is Founder and Managing Partner at Reformation Partners. David was formerly Vice President at FirstMark Capital, a $3B+ B2B and B2C venture capital firm based in New York City. Prior to FirstMark, David worked in the capital markets and investment banking division at Goldman Sachs. David graduated as Valedictorian and Summa Cum Laude from Dartmouth College.

Ty is the Managing Partner of Burr & Forman's Orlando office, a former member of Burr's Executive Committee and a member of its Corporate & Tax practice group. His legal practice involves representing clients in general corporate matters, mergers & acquisitions, venture capital and start-up/early-stage financings and other corporate financing transactions.

Alexandra Schaffrath is EVP, Chief Financial & Strategy Officer at Ultimate Medical Academy where she is responsible for all of the company’s financial and strategy functions including M&A. Schaffrath serves on the Tampa Metro board of the American Heart Association and is the 2025 Chair of the AHA’s Go Red Campaign. Schaffrath has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Matt received a BAcc from the University of Florida and an MBA in Finance from the University of Tampa and maintains a CPA and multiple insurance licenses. Matt spent the first five years of his career at the public accounting firm Grant Thornton. Matt then joined Wells Fargo Insurance in 2013 (acquired by USI in 2017). During this time, Matt built one of the largest insurance teams in the country. In January 2023, Matt joined Lockton Companies to help grow the Central Florida marketplace. Matt has extensive insurance experience supporting diverse clients with risk management and employee benefits.

Tom has spent the last 22 years at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch where he considers himself an “Intra-Preneur”. He is the founder of a 9 person boutique within the company called Singh & Associates.

He and his team specialize in pre-exit planning for business owners looking to sell their company in 12-36 months. By using their Proprietary financial Modeling Process, they run various simulations and prescribe strategies to help owners maximize their desired outcome.

He also oversees the Avalon location of Merrill Lynch managing 9 Billion of client assets and has been named the top 13 “Best in State Wealth Advisors” list by Forbes Magazine – 4 years in a row.

As a Managing Director at Benchmark International, Mr. Smoot has originated more than 100 deals at Benchmark International and now heads a team that originates each US transaction.

His primary role is to direct the different aspects of origination so that we can identify the most attractive businesses, and properly educate business owners on the M&A process and market conditions. Throughout this process, it is important that we serve potential clients to Benchmark standards and instill confidence in anyone considering hiring us to represent them for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mr. Smoot has originated over 100 deals at Benchmark International and now manages the Deal Origination Team that originates all US transactions. 

Lauren Smyers is a Principal, Business Development at Validor Capital with over 10 years of private equity experience. Prior to Validor Capital, Lauren led business development at Weatherford Capital. Previously, Lauren served in marketing and investor relations at The Carlyle Group and Siguler Guff. Lauren earned her BS degree, cum laude, in Behavioral Neuroscience from Northeastern University. When Lauren is not in the office, she can be found on the golf course or pickleball courts.

David is a partner in the firm’s Corporate Group and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. David has extensive experience in structuring and consummating mergers and acquisition transactions and in representing banks, mezzanine lenders and private equity firms when they make investments in companies. Upon joining LP in 2009, David founded and currently serves as the head of the firm's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) practice, which serves clients who are involved in various types of transactions involving ESOPs.

Doug Starcher is the Managing Partner of the Orlando office of Nelson Mullins, an AmLaw 75 law firm. He is also head of the firm's Florida M&A team. Doug has spent his entire career counseling entrepreneurial business owners from start-up to exit.

Leader in Redpath and Company's Consulting Services Practice including Valuation, Transactions Advisory, Business Advisory and Accounting Services across multiple industries including Private Equity, Manufacturing, Government, Retail, Healthcare, Financial Services, Construction and Distribution.

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.

Mark Woytowich is the President of MasonWays Plastics LLC, a diversified manufacturer of rotational molded plastics offering solutions for C-stores, supermarkets, mass merchandisers and foodservice operations. Additionally, he is Vice President, Strategic Integration with New Pendulum Corporation where he plays a central role in managing the efficient integration of acquisitions into the New Pendulum family of companies.