Moderators & Panelists
Gaby Jenkins
Gabrielle Jenkins, co-founder of Waypoint Growth Advisors, is a Human Capital professional with over 30 years of diverse experience in Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial environments in public and privately held organizations.
Waypoint Growth Advisors helps business owners reduce turnover by making better hiring decisions through bringing "science to selection". In addition, their Organizational Assessment work builds a roadmap for effective scaling that improves productivity and leadership success. The combination of these services helps business owners improve their succession planning and bench strength so they can work on the business rather than in it.
Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson, CEO of Vertical Mechanical Group, is an entrepreneurial leader, focused on growth through the development of collaborative, results-oriented teams. Tim led his company to over $80m of organic growth and recently completed a transaction with Slate Capital. He is the largest individual shareholder and continues to lead the VMG team of over three hundred employees. Tim got his start in his family-owned HVAC business after completing his bachelor’s degree at Gettysburg College. He’s dedicated 20+ years working and learning the ins and outs of every aspect of the business, while managing to create multiple other successful business ventures.
Paul Schmid
Paul serves as outside general counsel to middle market companies and their investors. He advises his clients on legal matters across the life cycle of a business, from formation to joint ventures to mergers and acquisitions. He is an attorney and business advisor who brings a practical approach to his clients and an ability to work with a range of personalities to get the deal done.
Luis Cortes
Luis I. Cortes is a global corporate executive at open source leader Red Hat (IBM) and a serial entrepreneur; Co-founder and General Partner of Bcombinator, the leading startup accelerator and investor in Southern Europe; and mentor, angel investor and advisor to artificial intelligence companies. A sought-after international speaker and advisor, Luis is also a member of the 18,000 members Entrepreneurs’ Organization, where he leads the MyEO AI (Artificial Intelligence) group with over 900 members all over the world.
Greg Romero
Greg is the Founder and Principal of Romero Solutions Group (RSG), a management consulting firm based in the Greater Boston area. RSG helps founder-led and multi-generational family businesses plan effectively, improve operating rhythms and solve for the unexpected.
Greg grew up in a family commodities business and more recently spent 5 years successfully running a separate family manufacturing company in the consumer goods space. He built his foundation of problem solving, strategy, planning and execution at Morgan Stanley in high-impact internal consulting and operator roles. He holds his MBA from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Victoria Nessen
Victoria Nessen, Director of Marketing and Growth for CFAR, is an accomplished executive who has spent her career driving growth. A versatile and visionary leader, Victoria is known for her ability to see pathways for growth, develop simple and elegant strategies that integrate sales and marketing.
Before joining CFAR, Victoria spent over 20 years as the dynamic founder of NK&A, a boutique growth strategy and marketing firm. Known for her unbridled enthusiasm and her ability to problem-solve in the moment, Victoria turned creativity, energy, and business know-how into success stories for small and mid-sized companies across industries.
Ken Foraste
Ken is the Chief Executive Officer of the Coyle Company. He works directly with families and their advisors to create and implement wealth planning strategies that meet their specific needs and goals.
Ken has a comprehensive understanding of financial services, gained over nearly three decades of working one-on-one with ultra-high net worth clients. Ken joined The Coyle Company in 2005, after holding leadership positions at RINET Company and Fidelity Charitable Services.
Ken received a BA in Politics from Rollins College. He lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, with his wife, Joy, and their 3 children.
Josh French
Joshua French is a partner in Nutter’s Corporate and Transactions Department. He focuses his practice on advising clients in mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity finance, corporate governance, business succession planning, and formation matters. Clients in all stages of their business life cycle engage Josh to serve as their outside general counsel. He has extensive experience advising privately-held emerging and middle-market companies, as well as family-owned and generational businesses, on navigating corporate formation, succession planning, fundraising, and liquidity events.
Sarah Grossman
Sarah has 15+ years of experience working with clients facilitating one of the most important transactions of their career – selling their business. Championing small businesses, Sarah is passionate about working with owners to maximize the value of their companies during a sale. Sarah has sold 100+ companies with revenues between $1-30M in a variety of industries. Sarah holds the Certified Business Intermediary designation from International Business Brokers Association and serves on their Board of Governors. She’s the Vice President at New England Business Brokers Association and serves on the Board of Trustees for Schechter Boston School.
Kristin McKenna
Kristin McKenna is the President of Darrow Wealth Management and a nationally recognized specialist in equity compensation. She has a particular focus in sudden wealth events, helping individuals plan for an IPO, acquisition, or sale of a business. Kristin’s expertise advising business owners through transition is unique, having successfully completed a transaction with her father, the firm’s founder.
In 2023, Kristin received the InvestmentNews 40 Under 40 recognition*. She’s a Senior Contributor at Forbes and has been published by U.S. News & World Report, TheStreet, and Business Insider. Kristin holds an MBA in Finance from Northeastern University and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
Derek Mohamed
Derek Mohamed is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. Derek and his team has extensive experience working with business leaders, owners and CEOs to help navigate the complexities of illiquidity, M&A transactions, preparing for life-changing liquidity events, and other unique challenges. Derek holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor ® (CEPA), Certified Private Wealth Advisor®(CPWA®) and the Chartered Retired Planning Counselor (CRPC®) designations. He has been one of Forbes Magazine’s Best Wealth Advisors in Massachusetts for several years and his team is also one of Forbes’ top Wealth Management Teams in Massachusetts.
Stephen Jury
Stephen Jury is a Managing Director of J.P. Morgan Private Bank, a Global Investment Strategist and the Global Commodity Strategist. Based in New York, Stephen is part of a team that delivers a comprehensive vision of the firm’s macro, market and investment views to clients. Stephen is responsible for coordinating and providing advice to clients on these global themes. Prior to his current role, Stephen spent five years as a Global Portfolio Specialist with the firm’s CIO team. He enjoys dual nationality both in Britain and the United States and currently lives in New York with his family.
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