Thompson Aderinkomi

Co-Founder & CEO
Nice Healthcare

For over a decade, Thompson Aderinkomi, MS, MBA, has been a leader in healthcare, addressing access and affordability. As CEO and Cofounder of Nice Healthcare, he has led its 300% growth since 2020. Thompson also co-founded Healthcare.mn and serves on the board of Youthprise. He holds degrees in Economics, Statistics, and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management.

Leah Berend

Managing Partner
Marrin Investment Partners, LLC

Leah Berend is the founder and managing partner of Marrin Investment, a private markets investment firm. With a background in accounting and private equity, she is driven by a mission to "Leave Businesses Better than You've Found Them." A certified public accountant with advanced degrees in accountancy and organizational leadership, she delivers Private Equity As a Service™ to drive lasting growth for portfolio companies. Leah is also the host of ‘The Future of Private Equity’ podcast, exploring the future of private equity investing.

Jack Brady

Partner
Cadence Private Capital

Jack has a strong M&A background gained through his experience in private equity at Stone Arch Capital and investment banking at Harris Williams. He possesses a skillset for sourcing and analyzing new investment opportunities, leading due diligence efforts on prospective investments, and working with portfolio companies on strategic initiatives and add-on acquisitions. A St. Paul, Minnesota native, Jack now lives in the North Loop of Minneapolis. Jack graduated from the University of Minnesota (B.S.B. in Finance).

Max Bremer

Partner
Saul Ewing LLP

Max Bremer advises entrepreneurs and established companies on key transactions throughout the business life cycle, from formations and financings to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Max works with clients in a variety of industries, including health care IT, medical devices, data analytics, block-chain technologies, renewable and alternative energies, software, food and agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing. Max's financing experience includes deals built with private equity and debt financing (including seed, angel, strategic and venture capital investments). He also has handled public offerings and put together joint ventures.

In addition to his transactional practice, Max also often serves as outside general counsel to his clients, providing advice on a number of matters critical to their success. Max works hard to earn his clients' respect and values the role he plays as a trusted advisor.

Tim Butler

Managing Partner
GrowthFire, LLC

Prior to founding GrowthFire, Tim served as Board Member, CEO and senior Sales and Marketing executive for multiple companies across the technology industry. He’s passionate about transforming emerging stage companies into more successful companies. Tim earned his Finance undergraduate from The University of Missouri and MBA in Marketing from the Carlson School of Management. He’s earned industry credentials in Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, and other industries.

Christopher Carlisle

Partner, Emerging Company/Venture Capital Group Leader
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Chris is a leading corporate finance attorney with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and emerging company/venture finance. He offers legal guidance to a diverse range of clients, including founders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalist and private equity funds, spanning from startups to established publicly held enterprises. These clients represent various industries, such as consumer products, software (including among other segments, fintech, insurtech and enterprise software), health care technology, professional and IT services, franchise, agriculture, branded products and industrials.

David Dalvey

Founder & Managing General Partner
Brightstone Venture Capital

Laura Hacker Dorsch

Principal
Norwest Mezzannine Partners

Laura Hacker Dorsch is a Principal with Norwest Mezzanine Partners. She is responsible for business development, new investment process, and portfolio management activities as a core member of several deal teams. Prior to joining NMP in 2016, Laura worked as a vice president at BMO Harris Bank, an associate at BMO Mezzanine Fund, and an investment banking analyst at BMO Capital Markets. Laura holds an MBA with Distinction from the Kellogg School of Management and a BBA from the Wisconsin School of Business.

Brian Gaister

Co-Founder, CEO
Pennington Partners & Co.

Brian is a Co-Founder of Pennington Partners & Co., SaaS Ventures, and PTM Partners. A financial entrepreneur, he is passionate about building and investing in companies and tireless in the pursuit of innovation.

As the co-founder and CEO of Pennington Partners & Co., Brian leads the strategy and vision behind the firm. Founded in 2016, Pennington’s mission is to create the leading entrepreneurial ecosystem for successful entrepreneurs and their families helping them navigate the challenges of complex wealth and maximize their greatest potential.

Brian grew up in an entrepreneurial family where he learned the importance of hard work and giving back to one’s community. He is an active member of the Jewish Federation National Young Leadership Cabinet, the premier leadership development program of The Jewish Federations of North America. He serves on the investment committee for the Bender JCC of Greater Washington and serves as a committee member for the Holocaust Museum Tribute Dinner. Most recently, as a third-generation Holocaust Survivor, Brian launched a podcast series interviewing second-generation Holocaust survivors who share a similar passion for entrepreneurship and Tikkun Olam (improve the world) and have overcome great odds to make the world a better place.

Previously, Brian was a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. He earned a Bachelor of Science in International Business from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Brian holds Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) and Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®) certifications. Both certifications are awarded by the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA®) in conjunction with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Booth School of the University of Chicago.

Susan Gohman

Founding Partner
Lightspring Capital Partners

Susan Gohman is a Co-Founder and Partner of Lightspring Capital Partners, a majority women-owned firm. Lightspring is a buyout fund which provides equity and mezzanine capital to lower middle-market businesses located in the U.S. The firm seeks to be the first institutional capital in its investments, targeting control-oriented investments in companies across a wide range of sectors with $10-75 million of revenue and $2-$8 million of EBITDA.

Ms. Gohman accumulated over twenty years of experience investing in and lending to lower middle market firms prior to launching Lightspring. She spent over a decade at an SBIC mezzanine fund, worked within a banking group that had a dual debt and equity investment mandate, and started her career investing in debt private placements in both Midwest based and foreign companies.

Susan received her M.B.A., with Honors, from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and her B.S., with High Distinction, from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. She also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Joel Grebenick

Partner
Northern Lakes Capital

Joel helped form Northern Lakes Capital in 2021. He maintains certain responsibilities at private equity firm Stone Arch Capital and previously was an investment banker at Lazard, advising on sell-side and buy-side M&A transactions along with corporate divestitures, minority equity capital raises, and debt advisory mandates.

Over the course of his career, Joel has primarily focused on M&A transactions with the vast majority involving family-owned businesses. He is a frequent speaker at private equity, private company and university panels and is active in numerous community volunteer activities.

Joel is a graduate of Marquette University (B.S. in Finance and Accounting).

Elizabeth Grussing

Business Performance Advisor
Insperity

Insperity provides an array of human resources and business solutions designed to help improve business performance. We provide a wide range of business performance solutions, enabling business owners to be more systematic and strategic about the role people play in the success of a company.

Ashley Hawks

Founder
SOAR Leadership Groups

Ashley Hawks is the Founder of SOAR Leadership Groups, an executive peer community dedicated to empowering Founders and CEOs to "reach new heights" both personally and professionally.

In 2023, Ashley was honored as Dealmaker of the Year for the successful acquisition her business, Forever Bride, to David’s Bridal.

Ryan Heck

Partner
Ballard Spahr LLP

Ryan Heck is a corporate attorney who focuses his practice on advising public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, investments, buy-and-build strategies, and other transformative transactions. Ryan regularly counsels private equity and corporate clients across a number of industries, including manufacturing, technology, professional services, and the life sciences.

Ryan serves as outside counsel to corporate clients and private equity portfolio companies by providing practical, solution-oriented advice in commercial transactions and general business matters. He also is the Hiring Partner for the firm's Minneapolis office.

Jordan Iverson

Partner
Baker Tilly US, LLP

Jordan Iverson is an audit partner at Baker Tilly who also leads the Minneapolis private equity practice. He works closely with privately held and publicly traded clients to provide a variety of accounting, assurance and consulting services. He specializes in working with commercial, manufacturing and distribution companies, including SEC reporting entities and private equity owned companies.

Jeffrey Kiesel

CEO
Restaurant Technologies, Inc.

With more than 30 years of senior leadership experience, Jeff Kiesel is both the head and heart of Restaurant Technologies. He led the company to expand into a national service provider, established a new products team that has successfully launched a series of value-added services, and continues to lead the evolution of an innovative and highly engaged team of over 1,600. Jeff joined in 2005 as CEO and stands by the set of values we call the 5 C’s: customer, character, commitment, courage and community. These values ensure that we put our customers and our community first—never being afraid to reach out to help, lead by example and put our best foot forward.

Charlie Knipper

Vice President
Northern Lakes Capital

Charlie joined the Northern Lakes team in 2024 with over a decade of experience supporting founder- and family-owned businesses. Prior to Northern Lakes, Charlie was an Investment Banking Vice President in the M&A advisory group of Lincoln International. Prior to Lincoln International, Charlie was a Manager in the M&A transaction services group of Deloitte. Charlie is a graduate of the University of Iowa (B.B.A. and M.Ac.) and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (M.B.A.), and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).

Dennis Knoer

Partner
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Dennis is a partner and the Chair of the Minneapolis Business Law Practice at Taft. He delivers sophisticated legal counsel on complex transactions, placing a premium on client service and efficiency. Dennis represents public and private companies, as well as private equity funds, with their M&A needs, assembling transactional teams to leverage deep practice and industry knowledge and provide effective results.

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. 

Steve Kozachok

Partner, Chair of Private Equity Practice Group
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Steve is a partner and the Chair of the Private Equity Practice Group at Taft. He has over 25 years of corporate law experience, having handled hundreds of M&A and financing transactions representing billions of dollars in transaction value. He was previously a partner in the corporate group of another leading law firm, then associate general counsel for St. Jude Medical, then General Counsel of Secure Computing, a publicly held software company, through its sale to McAfee, and has been with Taft since 2009.

Brett Larson

Attorney | Division Chair
Messerli Kramer

Brett Larson is a Shareholder and Chair of the Minneapolis Division at Messerli Kramer. He focuses his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate organization and reorganization, international transactions, and succession planning for businesses and business owners. Brett also serves as outside general counsel to many U.S. based businesses in the lower-middle and middle markets.

Dan Mallin

Founder & CEO
Equals 3, Inc., dba Lucy

Dan Mallin is a force in technology-based entrepreneurship, creating transformative tools that serve the needs of Fortune 1000. Working with business partner Scott Litman, he’s repeatedly broken new ground in digital transformation. Together, the two have grown and sold four businesses and built forward-thinking tech platforms that are still in use day-to-day by some of the world’s largest brands.

Peter Mark

Partner
Cadence Private Capital

Peter has diversified experience across the investment life-cycle – including M&A, integration, and operations leadership gained in a variety of roles at Vista Outdoor. He maintains strong expertise in analyzing, executing, and operating investments, with an emphasis on post-acquisition operations and scaling. A Minneapolis native, Peter now lives in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Peter graduated from the University of Notre Dame (B.A. Economics, Mandarin) where he was a walk-on to the Varsity hockey team.

Bonnie Speer McGrath

Chair, TIGER 21 Minneapolis
TIGER 21

Bonnie Speer McGrath is former Founder/CEO who currently leads the Minneapolis chapter of TIGER 21, a group of high-net worth entrepreneurs, investors and executives. She pioneered technology training for bankers and lawyers and eventually sold her business to Kaplan and the Washington Post. She is passionate about education as a way to help more people onto a path of prosperity and currently serves as a trustee of Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis.

Dan McIntosh

Director, M&A
BMO Capital Markets

Dan has been focusing on healthcare middle market M&A since starting at BMO in 2017. He previosly worked at Alvarez and Marsal, where he started in 2014 and was involved in a number of merger integration, due diligence and performance improvement engagements. Prior to joining A&M, Dan worked as an Equity Research Associate at Robert W. Baird, where he covered small- & mid-cap technology stocks. Dan also held several management roles at GE Healthcare while working in the company’s diagnostic imaging and life sciences businesses. In his early career, Dan worked in operational and financial roles at GE Plastics, General Mills, and Cargill.

Paul Meyering

Partner
Duco Capital, LLC

Paul has over 30 years of experience in private equity, mezzanine, and investment banking. Prior to joining Duco Capital, Paul spent 10 years at Spell Capital, a private equity firm, and was responsible for all aspects of acquiring, managing, and divesting private company investments. Paul was the President of Medallion Capital, a mezzanine finance company, for 13 years, was Vice President of Corporate Finance for Dougherty Summit Securities, and also has experience in venture capital, asset-based lending, and asset securitization. He has served on the Board of Directors of numerous private companies and as President of the Minnesota chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. He holds degree in finance and economics from Northwest Missouri State University and an MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota

Jeff Missling

CEO
SpineThera

Mr. Missling has an extensive background in formulation, preclinical, and clinical development of polymeric, sustained release drug products including biodegradable microspheres, ophthalmic implants, drug coated medical devices, and biodegradable implants. He has raised over $30M in start-up capital at SpineThera and built a world class team.

Paul Moffatt

Vice President
Encore One LLC

Paul is responsible for sourcing and evaluating potential investments, structuring and negotiating transactions, and working with portfolio companies. Paul has spent his entire career serving the middle market.

Prior to joining Encore One in 2017, Paul enjoyed a successful 16-year career in sponsor finance and commercial banking, most recently as a Vice President in the Twin Cities Commercial Banking Group at U.S. Bank.

Prior to joining U.S. Bank in the Twin Cities, Paul held similar roles at LaSalle Bank, Cole Taylor Bank and MB Financial in Chicago. Paul has helped advise and fund over 100 companies, in various stages of development with a wide range of transactions and special situations.

Paul graduated from Marquette University with a BS in Finance and minor in Political Science.He received his MBA from the Kellstadt School of Business at DePaul University. Paul lives with his wife and two children in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

John "Ozzie" Nelson, Jr.

Chairman & CEO
NELSON Worldwide

In 1987, Ozzie entered his father’s 15-person interior design firm. Over the following years, he expanded the firm’s core design business with emerging technologies and consulting capabilities to create a compelling service delivery platform for large corporate clients. Under his direction, the firm expanded from a single discipline to its current 10 fully integrated service lines. Since becoming CEO in 2003, the firm has executed more than 40 mergers/acquisitions, taking NELSON from #37 in the industry to “Top 10” with growth of more than 500 percent.

Carleton (Cully) Olmanson

Co-Founder & Partner
GMB Mezzanine Capital

Brock Peterson

Managing Director | Regional Commercial Banking
CIBC

Brock is a Managing Director, and Commercial Banking Group Head of CIBC’s US commercial banking team in Minnesota and has been with CIBC Bank for the last 7 years. Brock and his team have responsibilities that include delivering the bank’s extensive products and capabilities including commercial lending, treasury management/depository services, capital markets, investment banking and M&A advisory to privately held, publicly traded and private equity sponsored middle-market businesses in the Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota markets. Brock has 20+ years of banking experience in the Minnesota market including 13 years at US Bank, and also spent time as a VP at SPS Companies, an employee-owned, plumbing and HVAC distribution company. Brock holds a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College.

David Rudolph

Managing Director & Region Manager
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

David Rudolph is an Executive Director and Region Manager for Chase’s Commercial banking business in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

David began his career in 1999 with American National Bank of Chicago (a predecessor bank of JPMorgan Chase) as a member of the bank’s credit analyst training program. In David’s 19 years of banking experience, he has been responsible for managing and growing client relationships in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, distribution, service and retail. He is dedicated to serving mid-size companies as a relationship manager, meeting the domestic and international needs of the bank’s clients by providing comprehensive lending, investment banking, treasury and asset management solutions.

David holds a Master of Business Administration from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Iowa.

Steve Ryan

Partner
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP

A partner in Taft's Minneapolis office, Steve was the president and managing partner of Briggs and Morgan, P.A. until its combination with Taft on Jan. 1, 2020, and partner-in-charge through January of 2021. He currently serves as a member of Taft's Executive Committee. Throughout his nearly 30 years with the firm, Steve has served in a number of other leadership roles including firm chair, practice group leader and as a member of the board of directors and executive committee. A noted practitioner in the areas of banking and finance, capital markets and real estate, Steve’s strong business acumen informs his approach to building a sustainable firm that responds nimbly and meets the needs of clients today and long into the future.

Terri Shepherd

Founder, EVP
CaptureINTEL

Terri Shepherd founded a Background Investigations Firm in 2007 which has since merged and rebranded to what is now known as CaptureINTEL. We conduct comprehensive searches for buy-side acquisitions.

Terri founded her first company in 1984 and has been an entrepreneur ever since. She loves to build systems, processes, and companies. Terri’s experience of over 28 years in the credit and collections industry provided her the knowledge and vision to start Capture Research as a subsidiary in 2007. After two acquisitions and selling two companies herself, Terri focused her business on the mergers and acquisitions industry. After merging Capture Research with Heartland Investigations to become CaptureINTEL, Terri currently leads the Investigations division. Her focus is to work with clients that can benefit from the skills and experience of CaptureINTEL. Providing the highest quality investigation with tenacity and integrity is her top priority.

Alec Sherod

Partner
Hellmuth & Johnson

Alec Sherod has extensive experience successfully representing both public and privately held companies across many industries. In his practice, Alec assists buyers, sellers, and financial advisors in a wide variety of domestic and international M&A transactions. He also represents clients in financing transactions, including advising issuers and investors in securities law compliance, handling acquisition financing for lenders, borrowers and investors and representing clients in private placements of equity and debt.

John Stocco

Client Development Executive
Aon

John is a Client Development Executive at Aon, where he helps Fortune 500 corporations to middle-market companies with their Risk Mitigation, Insurance, and Transaction Liability strategies. Previously, John led the Professional Services vertical for a middle-market Insurance firm.

Josh Susser

Founding Partner
Cascadily Partners

Josh Susser founded Cascadily Partners and leads its sector focused private equity investments in education and training businesses. Prior to Cascadily, Josh led education investments at ECMC Group, an education finance agency. Josh began his career serving consumer middle market M&A clients at Piper Jaffray, an investment bank.

Nick Tietz

Founder & CEO
ILT Academy

I help founders, entrepreneurs, and enterprise companies drive business and move their companies forward.

I'm an Innovator, collaborator, rule-breaker and changemaker. I love my family. I love my kids. I'm very passionate about helping others become the best version of themselves.

As a catalyst and champion for results driven solutions, I have spent the last 20+ years designing and developing embedded omni-channel experiences that connect businesses to their customers leveraging various technology platforms to deliver the maximum value to their customers. Using empathy, creativity and behavior design to craft customer experiences that delight and align to customer needs and drive business results.

Aurora Toth

Partner & CMO
Chief Outsiders, LLC

Aurora is a Partner & CMO at Chief Outsiders, where she helps B2B and B2C clients in the areas of brand strategy, differentiation and implementing go-to-market execution plans to accelerate value creation. All Chief Outsiders are battle-tested Strategic Operators ™ who work fractionally to transform marketing & sales for clients across varying industries. Aurora’s collaborative style and metrics-based approach to marketing strategy, delivers quick improvements that lead to sustainable growth.

Mike Traeger

Director, Consulting Practice Lead
Redpath and Company

Mike Traeger, Director, leads the Consulting Practice Team at Redpath and Company. He helps organizations make more informed and strategic decisions in the areas of transaction advisory, business transformation, and accounting advisory.

Mike has over 20 years of market leadership working with privately held and public companies, private equity firms, and lenders and has advised companies across a variety of industries including healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, technology, construction, and consumer products. He helps clients prepare for change by guiding them during times of high growth, distress, integrations, and separations.

Matt Winston

Senior Vice President
Brown & Brown

Matt is a Senior Vice President with Brown & Brown. His responsibilities include all aspects of risk management and insurance program design, marketing, and administration including the coordination of ancillary services between the client and the insurance carrier. He is actively involved on a consulting basis for his clients with respect to their insurance and general business needs.

Ping Yeh

CEO
Vocxi Health

Ping Yeh is a serial entrepreneur and is currently CEO of Vocxi Health - a startup that detects the presence of disease from one minute of breathing. Ping serves on several health technology company boards including Oncodea, LifeBridge, Medical Alley, and the University of California-San Diego. Ping is a cancer survivor and his experiences have driven his focus on improving the patient experience.

Pamela York

Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Capita3

Pamela York is an investor, serial entrepreneur, and inventor with extensive success from launch to exit in technology-based companies. Currently she is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Capita3, a venture capital group investing in early startups innovating in health.

Over her career Pam’s been involved in 100+ deals with over 15 startup company exits to date, and served on numerous boards, including EmpowerU, NAMUH, and Collider. She’s been a mentor or advisor for United Healthcare Techstars, Revolution, and Medical Alley and is currently a venture fellow for MATTER Health.

Previously Pam pioneered three technology platforms that went on to successful commercialization and co-founded two VC-backed startups that each had exits, one with a highly successful IPO. She also led the University of Iowa’s technology commercialization foundation, where she oversaw a portfolio of 1000 technologies concentrated in life sciences, built a startup pipeline from scratch, and oversaw the launch of 30+ companies that attracted hundreds of millions in venture capital financing and numerous exits to date. 

Additionally, Pam has 20 years of experience in transformational leadership development. She’s featured on TED talks for a novel leadership accelerator for founders and innovators, known as Capita3 Leader Launch. To date Pam has led 38 cohorts through Leader Launch with 400+ participants. The US SBA, Mayo Clinic Office of Entrepreneurship, MN-SBIR and others are sponsors of this work. Previously, Pam was adjunct faculty teaching the National Science Foundation I-Corps^TM lean startup programs to faculty and graduate students and taught lean startup principles to Saudi Arabian women leaders. She has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from University of Illinois and completed a private equity financing program at Wharton.

Lesley Zaun

SVP & Chief Legal Counsel
Pohlad Companies