Speaker

Rachel Jonas

Director, Portfolio Operations Team, Shore Capital Partners

Rachel is a Director on the Portfolio Operations team at Shore Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on the Healthcare, Business Services, and Food and Beverage industries. Rachel works with management teams to improve performance, implement strategic initiatives, and prepare for add-on acquisitions and de novo growth.

Rachel joined Shore from KPMG’s Deal Advisory & Strategy Analytics group. While at KPMG, Rachel used a data-driven approach to help clients unlock their growth potential. In addition to growth strategy, Rachel advised clients on performance improvement and supported financial and operational due diligence engagements.

Speaker

J.P. Gownder

Vice President & Principal Analyst, Forrester

J. P. Gownder is a vice president and principal analyst on Forrester’s Future of Work team. He leads Forrester’s research into the impact that automation technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics have on the future of work, the future of jobs, and the economy. His research also covers the role that anywhere-work and the technologies that enable it have on the future of how and where we work. His work on emerging technologies like augmented and virtual reality helps equip employees with new tools to drive employee experience and productivity.

A prolific writer and speaker, J. P. has written articles for publications such as Mashable, Information Week, ComputerWorld, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. He has also been quoted in The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Wired, and many other publications, and he has appeared on NBC television, Bloomberg television, Voice of America, National Public Radio, and other media outlets.

J. P. graduated from Harvard University with a BA (magna cum laude) and an MA in political science. He also conducted research at the Harvard Business School.

Speaker

Jon Lemelman

Senior Advisor, Riverside Partners

Jon brings 22 years of experience in private equity, software, and financial services and has worked closely with numerous middle market companies prior to joining the Riverside team in 2004. Prior to his role as Senior Advisor, Jon managed the firm’s intermediary relationships and new investment evaluation. Jon is the Co-founder of Classify, a SAAS application creating a smarter, stress-free digital workspace for the world’s knowledge workers.

Prior to joining Riverside, Jon was an investment professional at Fidelity Strategic Investments, the private equity investment division of Fidelity Investments, where he worked on investments in the software, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Previously, he was the Director of Business Development at Reciprocal, Inc., an enterprise software company that was acquired by Microsoft in 2001. From 1995 to 1999, Jon was a Vice President in Fidelity Investments’ Institutional Services Company. He currently serves as a director for the Boston chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.

Jon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with distinction, from Emory University, and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Moderator

Ben Brandes

Director of Private Equity, CrossCountry Consulting

Ben is known as a three-tier executive with experience in private equity investment, financial advisory, and transactions. Leveraging an established network of relationships with capital providers, investment bankers, and business owners/founders, Ben has invested, managed and advised on more than $2B for mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures.

Ben joined CrossCountry’s Private Equity practice in their Boston office to help lead a dedicated team focusing on the needs of private equity firms throughout the country. In this role, Ben utilizes his deep industry knowledge and expertise in improving the finance function of companies to provide an integrated approach to working with private equity firms and their portfolio companies throughout the fund and transaction life cycle.

Prior to joining CrossCountry, Ben was a Managing Director for Accordion Partners, focusing on financial consulting to private equity and VC firms. As a National Director with Grant Thornton, he spearheaded their entry into the private equity space. In 2012, Ben founded Hyde Investment Group to invest in and grow franchised businesses in beauty, health, and wellness. Earlier in his career, Ben launched a $100M+ private equity firm that invested $500M in total capital for mid-tier deals.

Ben earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and his Bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School.