Advisory Board

Gary B. Appel ’77 has spent over 40 years in the financial services industry. Currently, he serves on the Advisory Board of the Private Equity Program at Columbia Business School. He serves as a Senior Advisor to Investcorp International Inc., a global alternative asset manager, which he joined in 2013 as Vice Chairman of their North American Private Equity business. He also currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Wendel Luxembourg S.A., a publicly listed investment company.

At TA Associates, Jeff Barber focuses on growth capital investments, leveraged recapitalizations, and management-led buyouts of business services, consumer products, financial services, and other growth services companies. Mr. Barber has a BA from Johns Hopkins University (1995), with all university and departmental honors. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School with honors and was a Beta Gamma Sigma Scholar.

Based out of WTW’s New York office, Joe helps private equity funds and corporations manage risk and enhance returns through their insurance and human capital strategies, particularly in relation to investments and transactions. With wide ranging experience across commercial risk advisory and insurance brokerage, Joe is a leading practitioner in Directors and Officers (D&O) Insurance and transaction and investment related risk-transfer solutions, such as Representations & Warranties Insurance, Tax Insurance, Contingent Risk Insurance and Political Risk Insurance.

David E. DeLeeuw is a founding partner of Lion Chemical  Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in premier businesses operating in the chemical and related materials industries. Mr. DeLeeuw founded Lion Chemical Partners with his brother, Peter DeLeeuw, in 2014. Prior to Lion Chemical Partners, David and Peter founded Lion Chemical Capital in 2001, and since the Firm's founding, Lion Chemical has invested and/or advised on transactions in the chemical industry valued at over $4 billion.

Hythem El-Nazer is a Managing Director with TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm headquartered in Boston. He focuses on investments in software and technology-enabled companies. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Accruent, Bomgar, Gamma Technologies, Idera, MicroSeismic, Mitratech and TEOCO. Hythem has led or was actively involved in over a dozen investments, including AboveNet, Aicent, Answers, Idea Cellular, MetroPCS Communications, RGM Advisors, and WIND TELECOM. Prior to joining TA in 2004, he worked in the U.S.

Mr. Sean Epstein Global Head of Private Equity and Venture Capital Partnerships at Gainsight in Washington, DC – a Vista Equity company.

Stewart Gross is a Managing Director of Lightyear Capital and a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Lightyear Capital in May 2005, Mr. Gross spent 17 years at Warburg Pincus, where he was a Partner and member of the Operating Committee.  Mr. Gross began his career as a Financial Analyst in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Gross serves on the Board of Directors of Lightyear Capital portfolio companies Cetera Financial Group, Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited, and Higher One Holdings, Inc. Mr.

Mike Hahn is a seasoned investor and performance improvement expert. He co-founded Ten Oaks Group, a premier family office exclusively focused on corporate carve-outs. Ten Oaks employs a unique, bespoke approach to transactions by determining the 'wish list' of the seller and customizing a transaction approach to best align, while focusing on speed and certainty. Since its founding in 2018, Ten Oaks has completed almost 30 transactions across the globe in a wide array of industries.

William T. Hobbs II is a retired Managing Partner of Carousel Capital, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm. Mr. Hobbs joined Carousel in 2002, having previously served as a Managing Director at Wachovia Securities (Formerly First Union Securities/Bowles Hollowell Conner), where he founded the financial sponsors group. Prior to that, Mr. Hobbs was with Chemical Securities, Inc. in New York, where he served in various roles including investment banking, leveraged finance and loan syndications.

Rebecca A. John is a senior executive with more than 25 years of global financial services experience. Ms. John established Kintore Partners in 2019 to provide early funding for technology and healthcare companies. Previously, she worked in New York for Lexington Partners, a global private equity firm with $55 billion in committed capital, for over 17 years. At Lexington, Ms. John was a partner, an investment committee observer, and the head of investor relations. Prior to Lexington, Ms.

Jennifer Prosek is the Founder and Managing Partner of Prosek Partners, a leading integrated marketing and communications firm with offices in New York, London, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Palm Beach, Fairfield and Cape Town. The firm ranks among the top financial communications consultancies in the U.S. and the UK.

Jeff Rojek is a 20+ year partner at KPMG and is the Global Lead Partner on a number of the Firm’s most significant Private Equity client relationships.  Jeff’s experience at KPMG includes Lead Partner roles on the Firm’s Global Banking clients, four years living Asia leading our large financial services relationships, and two years in KPMG’s National Office.  In 2008 Jeff joined GLG Partners Inc., a NYSE listed alternative asset manager with $26B of AUM, as their Chief Financial officer.  After successfully selling GLG to the Man Group in 2011, Jeff rejoined KPMG in 201

Steve Winograd is currently Partner, Head of Risk Management at PennantPark Investment Advisers, a leader in providing middle-market companies with creative and flexible debt and equity financing. At PennantPark, Mr. Winograd is responsible for originating, structuring, executing and managing investments in clients based primarily on the East Coast of the United States.

Alisa A. Wood (New York) joined KKR in 2003 and is a member of the Client and Partner Group. She has been actively involved in the Firm’s global capital raising activities along with the creation of KKR Private Equity Investors. Currently, she heads the product specialist area globally for all private market activities, including private equity, energy & infrastructure and real estate. She also leads the Firm’s capital raising efforts in Latin America. Prior to joining KKR, Ms.