Eric Alfuth

Managing Partner
Caymont Ventures

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 Benbow

Private Capital Advisor
Insperity

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!

Scott Bishop

Partner and Managing Director
Presidio Wealth Partners

Scott co-founded Presidio Wealth Partners in 2023. He has worked in the financial services industry since 1995. Throughout his career, Scott has focused on customizing the financial planning process to identify specific estate, business succession, investment and retirement strategies for individual clients and their businesses. Presidio's team utilizes a very comprehensive and customized approach that helps to ensure that our clients' planning and investment opportunities are identified and correctly focused on now and into the future.

Michael Blankenship

Partner
Winston & Strawn LLP

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.

Christine Butler

SVP, Corporate Banking
Bank of Texas

As a Senior Vice President in the Corporate Banking group, Chris drives business development efforts and manages a cross-services team to deliver financial solutions to corporate and middle market clients. She has over 20 years of experience assisting with working capital, acquisition finance, real estate, treasury services, asset management, and corporate advisory needs. 

A native Houstonian, Chris received an MBA from Emory University and a BBA in Finance and Accounting from Baylor.  She serves on advisory boards for Neuhaus Education Center, Dress for Success, and The Kinkaid School. Chris and her husband have three grown children. 

Dev Chatterjee

Co-Founder, BreviTest Technologies
Co-Founder & Managing Director, Fannin Innovation Studio

Dr. Chatterjee is an early-stage biomedical technology expert with other a decade’s experience in creating, managing, and leading biomedical startups – with technologies ranging from drugs, devices and diagnostics. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Fannin Innovation Studio, LLC, and the Chief Scientific Officer of Brevitest Technologies.

Fannin Innovation Studio is Texas’ most active biomedical development group focused on early-stage pharmaceutical and medical device assets, both those in-licensed from academic institutions and those developed internally. Brevitest is a diagnostic company spun out of Fannin and Brevitest’s diagnostic platform has won multiple awards, including the AACC Disruptive Technology Award, the Texas New Ventures award, and the Goradia Innovation Prize. Prior to Fannin and Brevitest, Dr. Chatterjee was a NASA/DoE awardee postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Chatterjee holds an M.D. from Calcutta Medical College and an M.S. from the Indian Institute of Technology. He was awarded his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore for his work on the uses of upconverting nanoparticles in cancer.

Carrie Colbert

Founding & General Partner
Curate Capital

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

Managing Partner
Craig Group

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.

Allie Danziger

SVP & GM, AscentUP
Ascent Funding

Allie Danziger has a heartfelt passion for helping ambitious people succeed with over 15 years of experience leading, mentoring and recruiting through two businesses which she has started and successfully exited.

In 2009, Allie started one of Texas' top marketing agencies, Integrate Agency, which she sold in 2018. Under her leadership, Integrate Agency generated over $15MM in revenue, employed over 250 young professionals and helped over 600 clients grow.

In 2020, Allie used her experience in coaching, training and hiring hundreds of employees to found Ampersand, a leading workplace training platform focused on teaching the "unwritten rules of the workplace" and providing the skills and confidence young professionals need to succeed. The company's training platform has lifted up over 10,000 professionals and is working towards eliminating the skills gap from higher education to employment and break systemic barriers in place.

Ampersand was acquired by Ascent Funding in 2023 to scale the company’s mission to support student’s success, and Allie now leads the success program as SVP and GM of AscentUP, living in Houston, TX.

Charles Drobny

CEO
GlobaLogix

Chuck Drobny Jr. is the CEO of GlobaLogix with over 18 years of experience in delivering customized SCADA solutions for the oil and gas, as well as municipal water industries. With a strong foundation in engineering, management, and fluency in Spanish, he has successfully bridged operational gaps and provided tailored solutions from the wellhead to the website. His leadership focuses on guiding a dedicated team in developing cutting-edge solutions that enhance safety, efficiency, and productivity across all stages of operation. Chuck fosters a culture of trust, resilience, and service while constantly seeking new technologies to ensure real-time solutions for clients. His passion for excellence and perseverance is evident in his unwavering commitment to success.

Hossam Elbadawy

Managing Director
SCF Partners

Hossam is a Managing Director and Technology Partner at SCF, overseeing the firm's venture portfolio. With extensive experience in the energy sector, technology development, and commercialization, he evaluates and executes new investment opportunities. Hossam previously founded O&G Technologies, a Houston-based technology incubator, and held leadership positions at Lime Rock Partners and Tercel Oilfield Products. He brings expertise from a 17-year tenure at Schlumberger.

Steve Fenton

Texas-South Region Area Managing Partner
SeatonHill Partners

Steve Fenton is the Texas-South Region Area Managing Partner for SeatonHill.  He is a highly accomplished executive with senior level experience in the financial and accounting consulting, staffing, and recruiting industry.  With three decades of leadership experience, he has successfully established and implemented strategic vision and focus for achieving business goals and initiatives.  His extensive knowledge of market trends, market development, and recruiting/consulting operations have contributed to Steve’s proven record of revenue growth, increased profitability, and increased market share in existing and start-up markets.

David Fowles

Regional Director, Southeast, Origination
The Riverside Company

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 as a Vice President 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 Riveside.

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.

Cleve Glenn

Partner
Baker Hostetler

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.

Patrick Hayes

Co-Managing Shareholder
Andrews Myers, PC

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.

Chuck Hendee

CEO
Chuck and Miriam Hendee Investments LLC

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

President & Co-owner
Three Brothers Bakery

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.

Lee M. Koury

Managing Partner
Smart Business Network Inc.

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. 

Chris Mahoney

President, Born Global Community
Retired Senior Executive, ExxonMobil

Jeremy Newton

Managing Director
TSPN Wealth Management, Merrill

Jeremy is a Managing Director, Wealth Management Advisor and Equity Plan Consultant with Merrill.

As the managing member of TSPN Wealth Management Group, his objective is to help simplify the complexities of relationships with regards to the enterprise at Bank of America/Merrill.

He started his career at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management after graduating from Texas A&M's Mays school of business. He was recruited from Merrill in February of 2008 to open the downtown Houston office for Morgan Stanley. After 8 years of service, where he was a Family Wealth Director, he was recruited to Merrill to build the team that is today called TSPN Wealth Management Group.

Owais Qureshi

Founder & Principal
the Visual Cue®

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

Jon Rice

Area Managing Partner & CMO
Chief Outsiders

Jon Rice is a marketing veteran who takes a hands-on approach to growing revenue while establishing a sustainable marketing process for his clients. In his ten years as a Chief Outsider and over 50 engagements, Jon has been a top performer, known for strategic thinking, a collaborative approach, and for leaving clients with improved marketing capabilities as part of their DNA. Jon has a significant background in multi-unit retail marketing and providing marketing leadership to such major national brands as Midas Muffler, Pizza Hut, Marriott, and Chuck E. Cheese’s.

Brian Rose

Partner
Porter Hedges LLP

Lenny Saizan

Managing Director, Urban Capital Network
Owner/Broker, Murphy Business Sales – West Houston

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.

Jason Sanders

Tax Partner – Houston Office Managing Partner
Crowe, LLP

Jason leads Crowe’s Federal Tax - South practice. Based in Houston, TX, Jason also serves as the Office Managing Partner in Houston.  He has over 25 years of experience in income tax planning, compliance, and tax accounting for public and private companies across a wide array of industries. As a trusted advisor and leader, Jason works closely with his clients to develop and execute proactive and pragmatic tax planning and savings strategies.

Josh Schmidt

Partner and Chief Operating Office
Juniper Capital

Mr. Schmidt is a Partner of Juniper and a member of the Investment Committee for Juniper IV. Mr. Schmidt has over 15 years of experience in the Energy Industry and has been involved in the formation and management of over ten private energy companies. He currently serves on the boards of several private energy companies and one public energy company.

Prior to joining Juniper, Mr. Schmidt served as a portfolio manager and fundamental analyst for Whiteside Energy, a Houston-based hedge fund. At Whiteside, Mr. Schmidt was responsible for managing a portfolio of investments in the natural gas and electricity markets across all regions of the United States. In addition to his role as a portfolio manager, Mr. Schmidt was responsible for developing and maintaining numerous models that provided a proprietary, data-driven view of real-time supply and demand fundamentals in both natural gas and electricity markets.

Prior to Whiteside, Mr. Schmidt worked at Citigroup Energy in Houston as a natural gas and electricity trader. Mr. Schmidt received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Jessica Seff

Director
Statesman Business Advisors

Jessica Seff joined Statesman in 2018 as Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions and currently serves as Director. She brings more than 12 years of experience in corporate finance, financial and strategic planning, and regulatory compliance for a wide range of companies including Lehman Brothers, Shell Trading, Axiom Commodity Group, and Yes Prep Public Schools. She holds the coveted CFA designation, and she collaborates extensively with the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Houston. Jessica is registered with FINRA holding the Series 63 and 79 licenses.

Jessica received her B.B.A. from Vanderbilt University, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and her Master’s degree is from the London School of Economics.

Jeffery Sheldon

CEO, General Partner & Managing Director
CITARETX

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 Stanaland

Chair
Vistage

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.

Jake Stewart

Co-Founding Partner
1876 Partners

Jake has more than 14 years of leading complex organizations as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army. Since entering the private sector and joining Reynolds in 2019, he has been involved in transactions of nearly $1.0 billion in value. Jake is a mentor for the Texas A&M University Chapter of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, has been a guest lecturer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and continues to serve as a Major in the Army National Guard. Jake holds a BS in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Texas A&M University.

Robin Sturgis

Founder & CEO
infoFluency

Robin is the founder and CEO of infoFluency, a company passionate about data and visual analytics and the apps that bring insights to life. infoFluency specializes in putting data in a useable form for business leaders and decision makers.

Robin is a graduate of Texas A&M University, is married with 3 adult daughters, and enjoys travel.

Mark Thimmig

Chairman & CEO
Conservaco, LLC

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.

Jeff Thompson

Principal
Bernstein

At heart I am an educator. My parents were both teachers, and I have always had a passion for not just solving problems but explaining the solutions so that clients understand not just “what” we are going to do, but “why” that is the best path forward.

I like complexity. My clients are business owners, executives, professionals, and their families. While they may seem different, they all share in the fact that their success has brought complexity to their lives and they need a partner to provide sophisticated planning and solutions. For some it is the challenge of multigenerational wealth transfer, for others the planning of an exit from a closely held business, and for many, the development of a comprehensive strategy for managing their wealth across life stages. Regardless, they count on me to be the quarterback of a process that brings a combination of Bernstein resources to partner with them and their other trusted advisors and identify the best path for the future.

Whitney Wall

Commercial Banking Market Executive
Wells Fargo

Logan Walters

Partner
Forge Equity Partners

Logan Walters is a private equity investor and business advisor with over 15 years of finance, operations, and consulting experience working primarily in institutional private equity firms and operating companies. During his career he has completed mergers and acquisitions with over $1.25 billion in aggregate value. He prides himself most on the many relationships he has developed with entrepreneurs and investors who have trusted him as a financial and/or strategic partner.

Bret West

Originations
PNC Business Credit

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

Director
Westerman Capital

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

Managing Director; Co-Practice Leader, M&A and Transaction Solutions
Aon

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.

Sunny Zhang

Founder; Founding Partner
TrueLeap Inc.; Born Global Ventures

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.