Speakers

Ellie doesn't just walk the walk; she skis, fishes, hikes, and hunts it, too. Her interest in nutrition and health, combined with her passion for philanthropy, shaped her professional interests that have now blossomed into the Manna Tree investment firm.

Ellie's education directly reflects how her interests support the work she does with whole-body wellness. She acquired her MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. She completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, where she received a BA in Sociology with an honors thesis on Philanthropy and was a Varsity ski racer. She also earned a graduate certificate in Mind-Body-Wellness from UCLA's Center for East-West Medicine and the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

Since college, Ellie has been an active philanthropist who donates her time, money, energy, effort, and ideas to promote positive health outcomes and wellbeing through movement and nutrition. Ellie's Donor Advised Fund, Mission: Ingredients, partners with organizations to help create programs that support military medical wellness. She also actively supports the military population to expand the Red Cross SAF mission and supports Federal Nutrition Funding efforts led by the Tufts School of Nutrition.

As CEO of Manna Tree, Ellie now drives an influential culture toward its billion-dollar vision to revolutionize the food supply chain. She leads the firm's fundraising efforts and is a member of the investment committee. Her expertise in global food systems and international networks helps increase value to Manna Tree's investors.

Ellie is an avid hunter and angler and spends much of her free time on the shores or in the woods pursuing protein sources and a chance to recharge in nature. As a self-described "foodie," she enjoys sharing the nutritious food she has harvested with family and friends.

John D’Agostino is the Managing Director and Global Lead Investor Engagement for DMS’ Governance, where he provides guidance and independent oversight as a board member to ensure adherence to governance, regulatory and compliance requirements. John has served as a director in a wide range of industries, with notable expertise is in technology driven companies and investment vehicles characterized by complex strategies and asset classes including finance (derivatives, structured credit, direct lending, high frequency/quant and similar strategies), consumer (credit scoring, transportation) and general technology enabled companies. John manages the firm’s institutional LP and regulatory relationships and works with large global pension funds and global regulators to share information and determine industry best practices for governance.

John began his career as Vice President and Head of Strategy of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where he helped transition the floor to electronic trading and was part of the leadership team building out the core systems to accommodate co-location, quant and HFT volumes. He also led the effort to develop the first Middle East energy derivatives exchange in partnership with the Dubai Government and became the subject of two NY Times bestselling books on the effort (Rigged by Ben Mezrich and the Start Up Of You by Reid Hoffman).

A cum laude graduate of Williams College, John received a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, and he also studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. He has lectured at INSEAD University and guests lectures at MIT Sloan Business School and develops research notes with the MIT Media Lab around Fintech. In 2019 he was named Chairman of the UK Government’s Asset Management Working Group at request of the UK Consul General in NY.

Jim McCann is a successful entrepreneur, business leader, author and philanthropist whose passion is helping people deliver smiles. Jim’s belief in the universal need for social connections and interaction led to his founding of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., which he has grown into one of the world’s leading floral and gourmet gifting companies.

Jim’s willingness to embrace new technologies that enhance customer engagement, such as 800 phone numbers and e-commerce, often long before other retailers, has consistently kept 1-800-FLOWERS.COM ahead of the curve and positioned it as a leading innovator in the marketplace. These innovations have played a vital role in strengthening customer engagement, something that has always been a key element of Jim’s business philosophy.

Jim’s strategy for growth has included an effective combination of birthing and acquiring new businesses and brands that resonate with customers for their gifting and celebratory occasions. The company’s gift offerings include iconic brands such as Harry & David®, Wolferman’s®, Cheryl’s® Cookies and The Popcorn Factory®, as well as Simply Chocolate®, Personalization Universe® and 1-800-Baskets.com®, among others.  

Jim is also deeply involved in philanthropy and is especially devoted to helping individuals with developmental disabilities. This includes his continued work as Founder and Chairman of Smile Farms, a 501(c)3 organization established in 2015. Smile Farms provides meaningful jobs in agricultural settings to young adults and adults with developmental disabilities, allowing them to master new skills, experience teamwork, contribute to their community and, importantly, take home a paycheck..

In 2018, Jim established Clarim Holdings, a private holding company that expands market opportunities for clients by providing capital along with an extensive network of high-tier support partners. Jim also serves as a director for Amyris and International Game Technology PLC, as well as a variety of private and not-for-profit boards.

Michael D. Schwamm represents public and private entities in all aspects of their business affairs. He practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities and technology law and provides general corporate counseling. Mr. Schwamm formerly was general counsel and chief operating officer of FiberCity Networks, Inc., a telecommunications service provider and uses his experience to provide his clients with proofed, business-centered advice.

Mr. Schwamm represents companies of all sizes, including startups and venture-backed companies, privately held family businesses and both large and small public companies in all aspects of their business affairs. He also provides services to venture capital and private equity funds, angel and other institutional investors. An increasing focus of his practice is assisting single family offices in structuring their direct business acquisitions; Mr. Schwamm co-leads the firm’s initiative in this area. 

Mr. Schwamm has worked on a wide variety of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, public offerings, private placements, joint ventures and licensing arrangements involving a number of industries, such as big data, business services, consumer/retail, technology including FinTech, entertainment, healthcare services, manufacturing, sports and telecommunication. He calls upon his partners across the country and around the world in other practice areas to ensure his clients receive seamless, efficient and effective service for all their legal needs.

Mr. Schwamm is a magna cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, where he was editor of the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business and a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Aptman is the Chief Investment Officer for Belfer Management LLC, a family investment firm that emphasizes energy, real estate, financial services and certain consumer-facing businesses.  Prior to joining Belfer Management LLC, Ms. Aptman managed the small and midcap value investment strategy in the Asset Management Division of Goldman Sachs.  Ms. Aptman started her investment career as an Equity Analyst for Scott Black at Delphi Management.  Ms. Aptman has served on the Boards of Directors of public and private companies including Presidential Financial and American Midstream Partners. Ms. Aptman is currently a Director of Del Taco Restaurants and is Chair of the Compensation Committee.   Ms. Aptman is a Member of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation Investment Committee as well as the Arts & Sciences Board of Advisors and the Investment Committee of Tufts University.  She is also a Member of the Board of CodeNation and on The Brookings Council.  Ms. Aptman received a BA from Tufts University in Political Science and Asian Studies and is a CFA^® charter holder.

Jennifer Garrison is the Chief Operating Officer at Verdis Investment Management and a founding member of the family office. She runs firm operations, investor relations, and asset management of directly-owned real estate.

She brings 20 years of expertise that spans corporate strategy, real estate investing, operations, marketing, and investor relations. Prior to the creation of Verdis, she held marketing and communications roles at Orcom Solutions (acquired by Alliance Data Systems), Hewlett Packard, Bluestone Software (acquired by Hewlett Packard) and Momentum Systems. Jennifer began her career at the Cendant Corporation.

Jennifer earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky.

Since early 2005, Rosemary has managed the investments of the Kingdon Foundation and charitable trusts for Mark Kingdon, founder and principal of Kingdon Capital Management LLC, a hedge fund established in 1983.  She invests in hedge funds, PE funds, late stage VC funds, secondary funds, other non-traditional strategies, as well as private direct deals and co-investments. She sits on numerous LP Advisory Committees of PE structured funds and is a member of the NY Committee of Human Rights Watch.   

As part of the family legacy established by her late father Dr. Vidya Sagar, Rosemary is a member of the Executive Committee of the IP law firm Remfry & Sagar (www.remfry.com) founded in 1827, leading in India and among the oldest worldwide. She is also Chair of The Sagar School (www.thesagarschool.org), a co-educational boarding school in Rajasthan, India.

Rosemary was Managing Director and Head of Global Investments at US Trust from 1996 to 2004, where she and her team managed $1.6bn in mutual funds, common trust funds, and separate accounts.  She chaired the Global Investment Committee and was a member of the Excelsior Venture Partners III, LLC Investment Committee. 

From 1990 to 1996, Rosemary was SVP, International Equities at GE Investments in Stamford, CT, and was responsible for managing $1.8bn for GE pension fund, NYCERS, NYC Teachers and NYC Police.  She was also Chair of GE (UK) Common Investment Fund (GE’s largest pension fund outside of North America) and a board member of the GE Netherlands Pension Fund.  Previously, Rosemary was Associate Director of European Research at Baring Securities, VP International Research at Drexel Burnham Lambert and the first international analyst hired at Morgan Stanley, reporting to Barton Biggs.  

Rosemary was a Trustee and Co-Chair of the Investment Committee of Rumsey Hall School in Washington Depot, CT from 2015 to 2019.  She was a member of the International Advisory Board of NYSE Euronext and its predecessor the Paris Bourse for 15 years from 1995 to 2010, and also served on the Advisory Boards of Comex and the Polish Private Equity Fund.  She received her MBA from Columbia University, where she was a student of Jim Rogers in Securities Analysis.  She obtained a BS from Boston University (summa cum laude, Beta Gamma Sigma) and a ‘degré superieur’, (mention “bien”) from the Sorbonne.  

Ms. Hill Ritchie has worked internally for five single family offices and she has been an advisor and consultant to several prominent family offices and companies through her consulting firm, Private Capital Investments. Her previous work history includes advising Simon Group Holdings, Eden Capital, and PEX Global, an investment platform for family offices. She conducted investment research with Palladio Alternative Research SA in Switzerland and was a Senior Analyst and a member of the Investment Committee for the family office Saad Financial Services in Geneva, where she conducted due diligence and manager selection for their $3.5 billion investment portfolio. Before working in Geneva, Ms. Hill Ritchie was in New York City, where she worked as a Director for Wedge Alternatives, a family office backed fund marketing firm and also Hedgefund.net. Katherine received her MBA from the Fordham Graduate School of Business and her BS in Psychology from the University of Maryland. Her Board member activities include being Chair of the NYC ACG Family Office Committee, Global Co-Chair of Advisory Board of the Guild, the Family Office Advisory Board of TriState Capital Private Bank, the Philanthropy and Education Committees of 100 Women in Finance, Fordham Graduate School of Business Overseers Board, ASK (All Special Kids), Lighthouse Organization and Cancer101 and she has been a mentor to three MBA students.

Alex is a Partner of RCP Advisors, a member of the Investment Committee, and is active as an Advisory Board member of various underlying funds. Alex is responsible for the identification and analysis of potential fund investments within RCP’s core strategy and serves as the portfolio manager for the Firm’s SBIC fund-of-funds.  In addition, Alex helps manage the Firm’s research efforts as well as its customized investment solutions and advisory services.  He has been involved in the private equity industry since 2001.  Prior to joining RCP, Alex founded Atlas Diligence, acquired by RCP,  where he developed a unique research and advisory platform focused on advanced analytics and systematic due diligence.  Prior to founding Atlas, Alex worked for BlackRock Private Equity Partners. At BlackRock PEP, he helped lead manager identification and due diligence on private capital fund opportunities as well as diligence on co-investment and secondary transactions. He previously worked at Quellos’s Private Capital Strategies Group, Hewlett Packard’s pension fund investment group, and Cagan McAfee Capital Partners.  Alex holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA, magna cum laude, in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

R. Whit Matthews is a Senior Investment Director focused on Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Private Equity strategies and a member of its US investment committee.   He is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including portfolio construction and the due diligence and ongoing monitoring of existing and prospective fund commitments, co-investments and secondaries.  Whit joined Aberdeen Standard Investments (SL Capital Partners) in 2009.  Previously, he was an Investment Analyst at the University of Pennsylvania endowment allocating to private equity, venture capital, and hedge fund opportunities. 

Whit has spent the bulk of  his career investing in the North American middle and lower-middle market.  He holds (and/or has held) numerous limited partner advisory board seats for various fund commitments and is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events.

Whit earned a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Villanova University School of Business, and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.  Whit also holds Series 7 and 63 licenses with FINRA.

Bruce is a Managing Partner of GroveStreet and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. He is active in a number of our client relationships and leads fund and direct investments across all segments of private equity and venture capital in the US and China with both proven and emerging teams. He works closely with clients managing the development of new portfolios as well as the wind-down of mature portfolios.

Prior to joining GroveStreet, Bruce was with the Monitor Group, a leading strategy consulting firm, where he focused on M&A, due diligence, corporate finance and strategy engagements for both corporate and private equity clients in carve-outs, investment diligence, growth initiatives, balance sheet optimization and strategic turnarounds. His engagements spanned the US/Canada, China, London, and Israel.

BA, Economics and Asian Studies, Williams College (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude)
MBA, The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (Tuck Scholar with High Distinction)
Native speaker and writer in Chinese

Abilash Jaikumar is the Co-Founder & Managing Director at TresVista, a 650+ person firm that is the leading provider of high-end outsourced support for asset managers, investment banks, research firms, and corporates. Supported functions include investor relations, deal sourcing & execution, data analytics, valuation, research, financial modeling, portfolio management, marketing, design, fund administration, and bookkeeping. Collectively, TresVista works with over 1,000 clients, who collectively manage over $10 trillion in AUM, across geographies, asset classes, and economic cycles.

Prior to co-founding TresVista, Abilash has been a Private Equity investor and Investment banker, having completed over $20 billion in M&A and financing transactions. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Corporate Growth, New York. He also serves on the board for Beyond Capital Fund, a charitable impact investment firm focusing on India and East African nations. Abilash graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a degree in Finance & Accounting, minoring in Philosophy & Economics.

Greg Bohlen is a Managing General Partner of Union Grove Ventures, a leading Fund of Fund in the venture world. The fund has invested in 26 partnerships, most of whom are access limited.

Bohlen has also done dozens of direct deals, including Beyond Meat, where he served on the board, and  12 other now public companies.

Jeremy Knox covers Schroder Adveq's US buyout and turnaround investment activities across primary funds, secondaries, and co-investments.

Prior to joining Schroder Adveq in 2016, Jeremy spent 7 years as a Director in the investment arm of PartnerRe Ltd., where he was responsible for private equity investments in primary funds and co-investments. Prior to PartnerRe, Jeremy worked in the Investment Banking group of Fox-Pitt Kelton where he focused on transactions within the financial services industry.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Franklin & Marshall College, US.

Joshua Segel is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Allianz Capital Partners, where he covers the US private equity market across primary funds, co-investments and secondaries. Allianz Capital Partners is the internal private equity group of Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer, with private equity investments totaling over $16bn of AUM. 

Prior to joining Allianz Capital Partners, Joshua spent several years at the Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group, which became Grosvenor Capital Management, where he was responsible for private equity investments in primary funds, co-investments and secondaries. Previously, he was an investment banking professional at RBC Capital Markets, where he focused on transactions within the industrials sector. 

Joshua received his BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Brett Haslam has over 23 years of experience in Retail, Supply Chain Strategy, and Consulting.  With his strong skills and experience in creating and implementing Supply Chain strategies and Lean-focused improvement practices, he has developed solutions across multiple industry verticals (Manufacturing, Retail, eCommerce, and Wholesale).  He is a recognized by his peers as a leader with a passion for efficiency and collaboration.

Brett has a unique perspective as he has experience as a solution practitioner, implementer, and a strategic designer of supply chain solutions.

On a personal note, Brett and his wife of 26 years, Alyson, an epidemiologist with a PhD from the University of Georgia, are the parents of an amazing 22-year old son and a wonderful daughter in law, both of whom are currently in school working on their business degrees.  When he is isn’t remodeling homes, he loves to swim, bike, run, and enjoy outdoor activities.

Dylan Cox is the Lead Private Equity Analyst at PitchBook and heads up the firm’s coverage of private equity. Cox oversees a team of private equity analysts producing quarterly industry reports and thematic analysts notes, as well as additional IP such as performance indices and fund valuation models. Cox’s expertise has been cited in numerous top tier publications including Fortune, Institutional Investor and PE Hub. Prior to joining PitchBook, Cox was an analyst at real estate investment fund Core Capital.

Cox received a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from Chapman University. He is based in PitchBook’s Seattle office.