The 2026 Dallas Family Office Conference

Marcia is Executive Director, Family Office Coverage – IB, Sales & Trading at Texas Capital. She is primarily focused on family office coverage and regularly produces invite-only conferences for family offices to facilitate networking, relationships and dealmaking in the private dealmaker community.

Marcia joined Texas Capital in December 2025. Prior, she was a Managing Director and Head of the Family Office Division with Freedom Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank. Marcia has also previously served as a Managing Director and Head of Business Development for ShareNett, a members-only global network of professional investors, and at Alberleen Family Office Solutions, an independent investment advisory firm backed by family offices. Over the past 20 years, Marcia has developed a strong network of private families, institutional investors and advisers who are increasingly seeking access to quality direct deal flow from trusted, experienced partners.

Marcia earned a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Utah State College and a Master of Business Administration from the Gabelli School at Fordham University. She holds Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Marcia serves on the global board of the Association of Corporate Growth and the board of ACG’s New York chapter, where she co-chairs the Family Office Committee. She is past chairman of the board of Kinect Capital and serves on the board of University Impact. She is a member of The DealmakeHers and 100 Women in Finance. Marcia received an honorary mention as one of the 2021 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine and was named one of the 2020 Most Influential Women in middle-market dealmaking. She was honored with the 2017 ACG-NY Women of Leadership Award.

Denny Chared began his career as one of the first online journalists, covering Wall Street for Globes Business Daily. In 2003 he later founded DC Finance, a global family office community that has grown into one of the world’s largest networks of high net worth and ultra-high net worth families, with conferences, private gatherings, and curated experiences in over 20 cities worldwide.

In 2023, Mr. Chared launched the Family Office Circle Club, an ultra-high net worth private members club chaired by Lisa Silverstein, CEO of Silverstein Properties. The club hosts highly confidential private events, often held at the homes of some of the world’s most prominent families, in destinations aligned with DC Finance conference locations around the globe.

In 2026, Mr. Chared was selected by iHeartRadio, the world’s largest podcast platform, to host its first dedicated family office show. Through this program, he interviews leading global families. The first episodes are with family members of Spielberg, Crown, Silverstein, Thompson of 7-Eleven, Purdue of Purdue Chicken and Sheraton Hotels among many others. The show is distributed to millions of listeners worldwide.

Over the past year alone, speakers and participants across DC Finance stages and affiliated events have included members of families such as Spielberg, Wrigley, Pritzker, Crown, Zuckerberg, Firestone, Musk, Bush, Lauren (Ralph), Mars, Arison and others.

Mr. Chared lives in Rye, New York, with his wife Linga and their five children. Outside of his professional activities, he is a musician who plays guitar and piano, and a dedicated vintage Star Wars toy collector.

Rebecca Stehle is an accomplished energy executive with deep experience across the technical, operational, and financial dimensions of the oil and gas industry. She is the Founder and CEO of a new energy venture called Aquaerial, focused on non-operated oil and gas investments that leverage technology and data-driven insights to enhance capital efficiency and decision-making.

Previously, Rebecca served as Director of Business Development at Arc57, a Houston-based family office investing in upstream and oil field service opportunities. In that role, she led deal origination, valuation, and negotiation efforts, identifying strategic partnerships and acquisitions that advanced the firm’s portfolio in the Permian Basin and beyond.

Before joining Arc57, Rebecca spent nearly a decade at ExxonMobil, where she held progressive leadership roles in reservoir engineering and simulation. As a Technical Team Lead and later Reservoir Engineering Supervisor for the Permian asset, she directed multidisciplinary teams focused on maximizing production and reserves through advanced modeling and analytics.

In addition to her corporate experience, Rebecca served eight years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, where she was a Direct Commission Engineering Duty Officer. Her time in uniform strengthened her resilience, discipline, and ability to lead under pressure—qualities that continue to define her leadership approach today.

Rebecca holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. She is also a graduate of St. John’s School in Houston.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Rebecca is deeply engaged in her community. She serves on the Vestry at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church and the Board of The Briar Club, and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

A native Houstonian, Rebecca is passionate about innovation in energy, empowering women in STEM, and integrating technology into traditional upstream investing. She enjoys flying, traveling, and spending time with her husband and three daughters.

Mr. Kris joined Diversified Energy in July 2022. He is a trusted strategic advisor and corporate spokesman with over 30 years of capital markets, investor relations, ESG, corporate communications, financial analysis, and industry experience, and a deep knowledge base in oil & gas operations.  Previously, he served as Head of Investor Relations at Compass Minerals and as Vice President of Investor Relations at Montage Resources (f/k/a Eclipse Resources) for over 5 years. Before his roles in IR and Communications, he served as a Managing Director at the boutique energy firm KLR Group and as a Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets, where he spent 16+ years.  Mr. Kris has been awarded the prestigious Investor Relations Charter (IRC) designation and graduated from Saint Bonaventure University with a B.B.A degree in Finance.

John Roby is the Managing Partner of Mountainside Energy Partners, a private oil and gas investment manager he launched in May 2025. Mountainside manages multiple investment vehicles focused on acquiring and operating oil and gas assets, with current holdings in Western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, and South Texas.

Prior to forming Mountainside, John served as CEO of CPX Energy, a family office–backed operating company focused in the Permian Basin. He was also a founding member of private equity–backed companies Teal Natural Resources, Verde Royalty Partners, and Titanium Exploration Partners, and previously worked as an investment professional at Congruent Investment Partners and Highland Capital Management.

John began his career at Occidental Petroleum, where he held multiple engineering roles focused on the Wilmington Field in Long Beach, California.

He currently serves as an Advisory Member of Origin Minerals, LLC, a metals mining start-up, and as Treasurer of the Dallas Producers Club. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the non-profit ChandlerSpeaks and has received multiple industry recognitions, including Oil & Gas Investor’s Forty Under 40 and EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, Southwest Region.

John holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, with honors, from the University of Texas, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Schmidt is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Juniper and serves as a member of the Investment Committee.  Mr. Schmidt has over 20 years of experience in the Energy Industry and has been involved in the formation and management of over ten private energy companies over his career.  Mr. Schmidt currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for PEDEVCO Corp (NYSE:  PED), a publicly-traded exploration and production company focused in the Rocky Mountains.  Mr. Schmidt also serves on the board of directors of several of Juniper’s other portfolio companies.  Mr. Schmidt formerly served on the board of directors of Ranger Oil Corporation, a formerly publicly-traded oil and gas company, where he was also chair of the compensation committee. Prior to joining Juniper, Mr. Schmidt served as a portfolio manager and fundamental analyst for Whiteside Energy (“Whiteside”), a Houston-based hedge fund.  At Whiteside, Mr. Schmidt was responsible for managing portfolios in natural gas and electricity markets across all regions of the United States, as well as playing an instrumental role in the firm’s analytical efforts of the natural gas and electricity markets. Prior to Whiteside, Mr. Schmidt worked at Citigroup Energy in Houston as a natural gas and electricity trader. Mr. Schmidt received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Rudolfo Beltran serves as Vice President and Head of Capital Acquisition, Marketing & CRM for InNova Global Fund. Since joining in 2022, he has raised over $75 million in capital to support high-impact microfinance initiatives in Kenya through InNova’s partnership with AFRESA SACCO, a licensed credit union institution in Kenya.

Under Rudolfo’s leadership, InNova Global Fund has grown to over 1,200 active investors and developed dual investment pathways for both accredited investors (506c) and retail investors. His expertise in capital acquisition and investor relations has been instrumental in scaling the fund while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Prior to InNova, Rudolfo spent over 30 years in senior marketing roles, including Senior Director of Marketing at Anheuser-Busch, where he developed strategies for iconic brands including Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob Ultra. His approach to capital acquisition emphasizes building authentic investor relationships while communicating the dual benefits of competitive returns and measurable social impact in emerging markets.

Gary W. García serves as Vice President of Philanthropic Partnerships at The Dallas Foundation, the first community foundation in Texas. In this role, he helps lead the Foundation’s development efforts by collaborating with family offices, professional advisors, prospective donors, and philanthropic partners to cultivate both planned and outright gifts.

Gary has a genuine passion for working with families. No matter where individuals are on their charitable journey, he is dedicated to helping them identify what they care about most and shape the impact they want to create—today, and for generations to come. With more than 25 years of experience at The Dallas Foundation, Gary has developed a particular strength in partnering with advisors and family-support teams to streamline complex giving, clarify philanthropic priorities, support next-generation engagement, and help families preserve the legacy they envision.

Gary earned his Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) designation in 2011 from The American College, equipping him to integrate charitable giving into estate, business, and wealth-management strategies for both advisors and donors.

Before stepping into his current role, Gary served as Controller for The Dallas Foundation from 2001 to 2010. He holds an undergraduate degree in accounting and began his career with the State of Texas and PricewaterhouseCoopers before transitioning into the nonprofit sector.

Andreas Bremer joined International Capital LLC as Chief Financial Officer in October 2002. Since then, he has assumed extensive leadership roles and ultimately acquired full ownership of the company. He brings more than 30 years of financial and general management experience with extensive knowledge of corporate finance and commercial lending. He holds a designation as a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). As a former banker, German-educated lawyer, and corporate finance consultant, Andreas provides immense depth and breadth to International Capital’s management team. A native of Germany, he is now an American Citizen and conducts business in both German and English. Since 2007, Andreas has served as independent director and chair of the Special Committee on the board of Lightstone Value REIT Plus V. In 2014, he was awarded the “Outstanding Directors Award” of the Dallas Business Journal for North Texas public companies for his work on this board. Andreas served as the Honorary Consul of Germany in Dallas until 2025, a position he held for eight years. He is also a member of the Investment Committee for the Endowment of Wartburg Lutheran Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Andreas is a licensed broker in the state of Texas.

Josh Tolley is celebrating his 31st year as an entrepreneur. He has been featured on Fox Business, Kiplinger, and over thirty other media outlets. His show, The Logical Podcast, His down-to-earth approach has led to his books on business to be utilized by universities and he has personally started to enjoy advising governments on economic growth. When not running his finance and commerce company, Sceptyr, he loves taking his wife and four kids on adventures and the occasional Astros game.

Mr. Kris joined Diversified Energy in July 2022. He is a trusted strategic advisor and corporate spokesman with over 30 years of capital markets, investor relations, ESG, corporate communications, financial analysis, and industry experience, and a deep knowledge base in oil & gas operations.  Previously, he served as Head of Investor Relations at Compass Minerals and as Vice President of Investor Relations at Montage Resources (f/k/a Eclipse Resources) for over 5 years. Before his roles in IR and Communications, he served as a Managing Director at the boutique energy firm KLR Group and as a Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets, where he spent 16+ years.  Mr. Kris has been awarded the prestigious Investor Relations Charter (IRC) designation and graduated from Saint Bonaventure University with a B.B.A degree in Finance.

Marcia is Executive Director, Family Office Coverage – IB, Sales & Trading at Texas Capital. She is primarily focused on family office coverage and regularly produces invite-only conferences for family offices to facilitate networking, relationships and dealmaking in the private dealmaker community.

Marcia joined Texas Capital in December 2025. Prior, she was a Managing Director and Head of the Family Office Division with Freedom Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank. Marcia has also previously served as a Managing Director and Head of Business Development for ShareNett, a members-only global network of professional investors, and at Alberleen Family Office Solutions, an independent investment advisory firm backed by family offices. Over the past 20 years, Marcia has developed a strong network of private families, institutional investors and advisers who are increasingly seeking access to quality direct deal flow from trusted, experienced partners.

Marcia earned a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Utah State College and a Master of Business Administration from the Gabelli School at Fordham University. She holds Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Marcia serves on the global board of the Association of Corporate Growth and the board of ACG’s New York chapter, where she co-chairs the Family Office Committee. She is past chairman of the board of Kinect Capital and serves on the board of University Impact. She is a member of The DealmakeHers and 100 Women in Finance. Marcia received an honorary mention as one of the 2021 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine and was named one of the 2020 Most Influential Women in middle-market dealmaking. She was honored with the 2017 ACG-NY Women of Leadership Award.

With 30+ years of experience in ultra-high net worth wealth management, Rob co-founded and led Eton Advisors, the highly successful multi-family office that initially developed the AtlasFive platform. Rob’s passion for systems development and client service led him to establish Eton Solutions as a technology and services provider to the ultra-high net worth office.

Prior to Eton, Rob held key roles at the UBS Multi-Family Office Group, the Private Asset Management Group at NC Trust Company, Arthur Andersen, and Price Waterhouse.

Mr. Schmidt is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Juniper and serves as a member of the Investment Committee.  Mr. Schmidt has over 20 years of experience in the Energy Industry and has been involved in the formation and management of over ten private energy companies over his career.  Mr. Schmidt currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for PEDEVCO Corp (NYSE:  PED), a publicly-traded exploration and production company focused in the Rocky Mountains.  Mr. Schmidt also serves on the board of directors of several of Juniper’s other portfolio companies.  Mr. Schmidt formerly served on the board of directors of Ranger Oil Corporation, a formerly publicly-traded oil and gas company, where he was also chair of the compensation committee. Prior to joining Juniper, Mr. Schmidt served as a portfolio manager and fundamental analyst for Whiteside Energy (“Whiteside”), a Houston-based hedge fund.  At Whiteside, Mr. Schmidt was responsible for managing portfolios in natural gas and electricity markets across all regions of the United States, as well as playing an instrumental role in the firm’s analytical efforts of the natural gas and electricity markets. Prior to Whiteside, Mr. Schmidt worked at Citigroup Energy in Houston as a natural gas and electricity trader. Mr. Schmidt received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Marcia is Executive Director, Family Office Coverage – IB, Sales & Trading at Texas Capital. She is primarily focused on family office coverage and regularly produces invite-only conferences for family offices to facilitate networking, relationships and dealmaking in the private dealmaker community.

Marcia joined Texas Capital in December 2025. Prior, she was a Managing Director and Head of the Family Office Division with Freedom Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank. Marcia has also previously served as a Managing Director and Head of Business Development for ShareNett, a members-only global network of professional investors, and at Alberleen Family Office Solutions, an independent investment advisory firm backed by family offices. Over the past 20 years, Marcia has developed a strong network of private families, institutional investors and advisers who are increasingly seeking access to quality direct deal flow from trusted, experienced partners.

Marcia earned a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Utah State College and a Master of Business Administration from the Gabelli School at Fordham University. She holds Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Marcia serves on the global board of the Association of Corporate Growth and the board of ACG’s New York chapter, where she co-chairs the Family Office Committee. She is past chairman of the board of Kinect Capital and serves on the board of University Impact. She is a member of The DealmakeHers and 100 Women in Finance. Marcia received an honorary mention as one of the 2021 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine and was named one of the 2020 Most Influential Women in middle-market dealmaking. She was honored with the 2017 ACG-NY Women of Leadership Award.

Rory has over 25 years’ experience in private equity, banking and operational management. Prior to Columna, he was a Partner at ESO Capital, an Executive Director at D.B. Zwirn and the CFO/co-founder of Surplex. He started his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

Rory holds a BA (Hons) from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Management from ESCP Europe (Paris, Oxford, Berlin). He is fluent in English, French, German and Spanish.

Rebecca Stehle is an accomplished energy executive with deep experience across the technical, operational, and financial dimensions of the oil and gas industry. She is the Founder and CEO of a new energy venture called Aquaerial, focused on non-operated oil and gas investments that leverage technology and data-driven insights to enhance capital efficiency and decision-making.

Previously, Rebecca served as Director of Business Development at Arc57, a Houston-based family office investing in upstream and oil field service opportunities. In that role, she led deal origination, valuation, and negotiation efforts, identifying strategic partnerships and acquisitions that advanced the firm’s portfolio in the Permian Basin and beyond.

Before joining Arc57, Rebecca spent nearly a decade at ExxonMobil, where she held progressive leadership roles in reservoir engineering and simulation. As a Technical Team Lead and later Reservoir Engineering Supervisor for the Permian asset, she directed multidisciplinary teams focused on maximizing production and reserves through advanced modeling and analytics.

In addition to her corporate experience, Rebecca served eight years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, where she was a Direct Commission Engineering Duty Officer. Her time in uniform strengthened her resilience, discipline, and ability to lead under pressure—qualities that continue to define her leadership approach today.

Rebecca holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. She is also a graduate of St. John’s School in Houston.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Rebecca is deeply engaged in her community. She serves on the Vestry at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church and the Board of The Briar Club, and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

A native Houstonian, Rebecca is passionate about innovation in energy, empowering women in STEM, and integrating technology into traditional upstream investing. She enjoys flying, traveling, and spending time with her husband and three daughters.

With 30+ years of experience in ultra-high net worth wealth management, Rob co-founded and led Eton Advisors, the highly successful multi-family office that initially developed the AtlasFive platform. Rob’s passion for systems development and client service led him to establish Eton Solutions as a technology and services provider to the ultra-high net worth office.

Prior to Eton, Rob held key roles at the UBS Multi-Family Office Group, the Private Asset Management Group at NC Trust Company, Arthur Andersen, and Price Waterhouse.

Alex Voss serves as the Chief Financial Officer of NX Atomics. Alex has extensive background in finance and economics, having worked on corporate restructurings and mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare industry. He has been a successful financial executive in multiple startups including one exit via trade sale. Previously, he also worked in asset management with Ariel investments, where he invested in deep-value stocks.

He graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Notre Dame and with Honors from the Uni-versity of Chicago. He also maintains numerous profession certifications such as Chartered Fi-nancial Analyst (CFA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Financial Risk Management (FRM), and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

A serial founder and managing partner in his own right, Joe brings his entrepreneurial drive to his role as CISO at TekConcierge. His background highlights both executive leadership and deep technical mastery around IT/Cybersecurity and the financial arena – serving the firm’s 120+ clients across Family Offices, PE, and VC firms. Joe specializes in protecting generational wealth, reputation, and private data against sophisticated digital, AI, and human threats, operating with both offensive IT strategy and defensive security precision. Because he possesses this rare combination of a founder’s mentality, elite certifications, and extensive expertise, clients gain more than just an IT consultant with TekConcierge, they gain clarity on the exact moves required to secure their legacy in an adversarial landscape.

John McDonough is a Senior Managing Director at National Brokerage Atlantic and a nationally recognized authority in life insurance consulting for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, global families, and cross-border estates. With more than two decades of experience, he leads a practice focused on the intersection of estate planning, tax mitigation, and wealth preservation, working in close collaboration with elite financial advisors, CPAs, estate attorneys, and private banks to design and implement structures that most producers never encounter. His clientele includes US citizens and affluent global residents with estates typically exceeding $10 million.

John’s technical fluency spans the full architecture of sophisticated insurance deployment, including premium-financed life insurance, irrevocable trust structures, SLATs, international planning components, and policy rescue and restructuring. He is frequently retained by families and their advisors precisely for cases requiring discretion, deep technical knowledge, and creative problem-solving at the highest levels of complexity. At National Brokerage Atlantic, he oversees all point-of-sale operations including premium finance, foreign national planning, and concierge services, bringing institutional rigor to every engagement.

Cory Crowley serves as the Executive Vice President of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. In his current role, Cory oversees all internal and external messaging, public affairs, community relations, government relations, corporate governance, branding, and development, as well as the approval and site selection for the National Medal of Honor Monument in Washington, DC. Cory’s professional career began as part of George W. Bush’s successful presidential campaign in 2000 and eventually to a 10-year career on Capitol Hill as a senior aide to United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. After leaving public service, he founded a Washington, DC based public relations firm in which capacity he has served as a trusted advisor and strategist to many prominent companies, brands, and individuals including Microsoft, UPS, Reed Elsevier, the Aids Healthcare Foundation, Governor John Kasich, Governor John Huntsman, Senator Chuck Grassley, and many others. He has also founded and consulted for several successful start-ups. Additionally, Cory helped the effort which led to the successful recovery and restoration of the historic USS Iowa Battleship turning it into a prominent maritime museum anchored in San Pedro, California. Cory continues to appear regularly as a public policy and political annalist on many global news programs including CTV Canada, Asharq Dubai, Al-Ghad London, and the BBC.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Jacobs (then 1st Lt.), Infantry, distinguished himself while serving as assistant battalion adviser, 2d Battalion, 16th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The 2d Battalion was advancing to contact when it came under intense heavy machine-gun and mortar fire from a Viet Cong battalion positioned in well-fortified bunkers. As the 2d Battalion deployed into attack formation, its advance was halted by devastating fire. Capt. Jacobs, with the command element of the lead company, called for and directed air strikes on the enemy positions to facilitate a renewed attack. Due to the intensity of the enemy fire and heavy casualties to the command group, including the company commander, the attack stopped and the friendly troops became disorganized. Although wounded by mortar fragments, Capt. Jacobs assumed command of the allied company, ordered a withdrawal from the exposed position, and established a defensive perimeter. Despite profuse bleeding from head wounds which impaired his vision, Capt. Jacobs, with complete disregard for his safety, returned under intense fire to evacuate a seriously wounded adviser to the safety of a wooded area where he administered lifesaving first aid. He then returned through heavy automatic-weapons fire to evacuate the wounded company commander. Capt. Jacobs made repeated trips across the fire-swept, open rice paddies, evacuating wounded and their weapons. On three separate occasions, Capt. Jacobs contacted and drove off Viet Cong squads who were searching for allied wounded and weapons, single-handedly killing three and wounding several others. His gallant actions and extraordinary heroism saved the lives of one U.S. adviser and 13 allied soldiers. Through his effort the allied company was restored to an effective fighting unit and prevented defeat of the friendly forces by a strong and determined enemy. Capt. Jacobs, by his gallantry and bravery in action in the highest traditions of the military service, has reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION: DESPITE SUSTAINING A SERIOUS HEAD WOUND FROM ENEMY SHRAPNEL, THEN 1ST LIEUTENANT JACOBS TOOK COMMAND OF HIS COMPANY AFTER HIS COMMANDER HAD BEEN SERIOUSLY WOUNDED HIMSELF. HE REORGANIZED HIS COMPANY AND ESTABLISHED A DEFENSIVE PERIMETER TO PREPARE FOR A COUNTERATTACK. AFTERWARD, 1ST LT. JACOBS DASHED ACROSS AN OPEN RICE PADDY, BRAVING WITHERING ENEMY FIRE TO RESCUE AND TREAT HIS WOUNDED SOLDIERS. ON THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS, CAPT. JACOBS DROVE OFF VIET CONG SQUADS WHO WERE SEARCHING FOR ALLIED WOUNDED AND WEAPONS, SINGLE-HANDEDLY KILLING THREE AND WOUNDING SEVERAL OTHERS. HIS GALLANT ACTIONS AND EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM SAVED THE LIVES OF ONE U.S. ADVISER AND 13 ALLIED SOLDIERS.

Andy Pape is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of CrossCurrent Equity Partners and has over two decades of experience spanning real estate, capital markets, finance, and investor relations.​

Before launching CrossCurrent, Andy Pape and Alex Pujol held leadership positions at Allen Harrison Company, a Houston-based multifamily development and acquisition firm focused on the Texas market. Over their 13-year combined tenure, they were responsible for the capitalization of more than $1.1 billion in multifamily development projects, including approximately $450 million in equity and $650 million in debt across more than 5,700 units. They also structured, raised, and managed multiple discretionary fund vehicles totaling over $120 million in committed capital, and Andy led the management and disposition of approximately 4,700 units, representing  over $825 million in previously acquired or developed multifamily assets.

Prior to Allen Harrison Company, Andy built 12 years of comprehensive financial expertise in both public and private sectors, including roles in investor relations, finance, and treasury at a publicly traded global oilfield service company; director-level FP&A and treasury at a private equity-backed firm; and early-career positions in M&A transaction services and audit at KPMG LLP. ​

Andy earned both a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master’s in Accounting from Baylor University (2002 – 2007).   He was a four-year letter winner on the Baylor men’s Baseball team, including a Big XII championship and College World Series berth in 2005. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with wife and three sons.

Denny Chared began his career as one of the first online journalists, covering Wall Street for Globes Business Daily. In 2003 he later founded DC Finance, a global family office community that has grown into one of the world’s largest networks of high net worth and ultra-high net worth families, with conferences, private gatherings, and curated experiences in over 20 cities worldwide.

In 2023, Mr. Chared launched the Family Office Circle Club, an ultra-high net worth private members club chaired by Lisa Silverstein, CEO of Silverstein Properties. The club hosts highly confidential private events, often held at the homes of some of the world’s most prominent families, in destinations aligned with DC Finance conference locations around the globe.

In 2026, Mr. Chared was selected by iHeartRadio, the world’s largest podcast platform, to host its first dedicated family office show. Through this program, he interviews leading global families. The first episodes are with family members of Spielberg, Crown, Silverstein, Thompson of 7-Eleven, Purdue of Purdue Chicken and Sheraton Hotels among many others. The show is distributed to millions of listeners worldwide.

Over the past year alone, speakers and participants across DC Finance stages and affiliated events have included members of families such as Spielberg, Wrigley, Pritzker, Crown, Zuckerberg, Firestone, Musk, Bush, Lauren (Ralph), Mars, Arison and others.

Mr. Chared lives in Rye, New York, with his wife Linga and their five children. Outside of his professional activities, he is a musician who plays guitar and piano, and a dedicated vintage Star Wars toy collector.

Evan Chrapko is a serial tech entrepreneur best known for the $568 million exit of his company, DocSpace, in just 30 months.

Now, as the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Trust Science, Evan is harnessing AI to transform creditworthiness assessment, ensuring that deserving individuals gain access to fair financial opportunities.

His leadership is distinguished by a rare combination of technical expertise, financial acumen (CPA), and legal insight (JD from Columbia University). A lifetime member of the Henry Crown Fellowship in the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a member of YPO, Evan has been recognized alongside global visionaries like Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson, and Elon Musk.

Committed to ethical business practices and long-term impact, Evan offers a unique proposition for family offices seeking both financial returns and responsible investing. With a proven ability to navigate complex challenges with speed and precision, he stands out as a compelling direct investee—deliberately keeping institutional funding off his cap table.

Harry brings over 13 years of experience in cross-border policy and regulatory strategy, with deep expertise in U.S. frameworks including CFIUS. He specializes in navigating complex regulatory environments across the U.S., Europe, and China, enabling the firm to structure and execute investments in highly regulated and strategically sensitive markets. Harry plays a critical role in de-risking transactions and ensuring alignment with government priorities across jurisdictions.

Garrick Jones is a former NFL/CFL professional athlete turned private equity executive, multi-platform developer, and architect of large-scale sports and entertainment ecosystems. With over 30 years of combined experience across professional sports, sports-anchored real estate development, capital structuring, athlete empowerment, private equity, and decentralized ownership models, Garrick has become one of the most uniquely positioned strategic operators in the industry.

As CEO and Founder of 73 Holdings LLC, he leads a vertically integrated sports investment and development firm that sits at the intersection of sports, real estate, finance, technology, and community transformation. His professional reach spans from large-scale district development (District 73/66) to innovative athlete-driven wealth ecosystems (Professional Athlete Accelerator), Web3 engagement engines (FanCentric DAO), and complex capital stack engineering involving private equity, bond facilities, trade programs, and alternative funding vehicles.

Garrick’s rare combination of high-level sports experience, investment intelligence, deal-flow access, and integrator capabilities positions him as the ideal Family Architect to build and manage a generational legacy platform for elite athletes transitioning into long-term wealth.

India Roberts is a tax strategist, NIL financial architect, and entrepreneurial leader specializing in tax optimization, compliance strategy, and integrated NIL financial structures for athletes and business owners.
As Founder of Bee’s Tax Services, she has built a results-driven advisory platform focused on proactive tax planning, entity structuring, and long-term wealth protection.

Roberts brings a highly specialized skill set to the evolving Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) ecosystem, where athletes face complex income streams, multi-state taxation, endorsement structures, and business formation decisions. Recognizing the lack of tax clarity within NIL, she positions herself at the intersection of tax strategy and athlete monetization, ensuring athletes retain, protect, and strategically deploy the wealth they generate. As Director of Tax Strategy for the FanCentric NIL Collective, Roberts plays a pivotal leadership role in designing the financial backbone of athlete NIL operations.

Her work ensures NIL athletes are not only monetizing opportunities — but doing so with financial discipline, legal compliance, and long-term wealth strategy in mind.

Eric Zarate is the Founder and NIL Specialist of Steadfast Athlete Collective, a boutique, faith-forward NIL representation and athlete development agency headquartered in Prosper, Texas. Established in 2025, Steadfast was created to serve student-athletes through a mentorship-driven, education-first model focused on integrity, family alignment, and long-term success.

Steadfast operates with a clear mission: to protect, develop, and empower athletes to succeed with integrity—not just in sport, but in life. In a rapidly expanding NIL marketplace where many families lack trusted guidance and structured strategy, Steadfast positions itself as a relational, values-based alternative to volume-driven representation firms.

Steadfast’s core differentiator is its holistic representation framework. Beyond NIL deal negotiation, the agency provides structured education in financial literacy, compliance awareness, brand stewardship, and leadership development. Rather than prioritizing short-term transactional gains, Steadfast emphasizes long-term brand equity, character formation, and professional readiness.

Before founding Steadfast, Zarate served with distinction for 10 years (2015–2025) as Executive Vice President of the States Developmental Football League (S.D.F.L.), a national athletic organization founded by Garrick Jones focused on expanding developmental football opportunities and athlete pathways.

Amir Ansari is a serial entrepreneur and inventor with over 70 US and foreign patents in multimedia distribution, data privacy, edge computing, and Voice Over IP. He has co-founded companies in telecommunications, edge computing, personalized healthcare, and multimedia services, with exits over $1.2B. He has shaped these industries by fostering collaboration between regulatory entities, public-private partnerships, universities, and non-profit organizations in applying technologies to complex business, environmental, and social problems. Amir has served on the XPPRIZE Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2004 and is a member of its Vision Circle.  He was a title sponsor for the first XPRIZE, the Ansari XPRIZE, with his family, a $10 million cash award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.

Abe Minkara is the Founding Partner at Legacy Knight, an independent family office serving multiple high-net-worth families.  Prior to Legacy Knight, Abe was the Managing Director at Mark Cuban Companies. Abe is actively engaged as an advisor and board member with a number of companies leveraging his expertise in strategy, operations, and capital allocation to help accelerate their growth.

Abe is also a board member at Springboard, a global platform focused on accelerating the growth of women-led businesses. Additionally, Abe is a Member of the YPO Dallas Gold Chapter.

Dr. Christyl C. Johnson is Co-Founder and General Partner of Andromeda Ventures. She recently retired from NASA as a distinguished senior executive and systems engineer with 35 years of experience leading large-scale technology portfolios, mission-critical innovation, and complex organizational transformation at the highest levels of government. At Andromeda Ventures, Dr. Johnson applies this systems-level judgment to evaluating frontier technologies, governance risk, and long-cycle innovation as they transition from public-sector missions into venture-backed companies.

Most recently, Dr. Johnson served as Associate Administrator and Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In this role, she provided executive leadership, strategic vision, and operational oversight for the Agency’s space technology enterprise—directing the planning, coordination, and execution of a broad portfolio of programs spanning early-stage research through flight-ready systems. Her responsibilities included full budget formulation and execution, cross-agency coordination, and representation of NASA’s technology strategy to senior officials within the Agency and across Capitol Hill.

Previously, Dr. Johnson supported the Office of the NASA Administrator as Executive Architect, where she spearheaded a transformative agency-wide technology initiative focused on digital modernization in preparation for our journey to the Moon and Mars. Her work was critical for integrating artificial intelligence, strengthening cybersecurity posture, and modernizing enterprise data management systems to improve decision-making, resilience, and operational efficiency. She also led the Agency Front Door initiative, creating a streamlined platform to expand and accelerate NASA’s public-private partnerships and external engagement.

Earlier, as Deputy Director for Technology and Research Investments at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Johnson oversaw a $5 billion annual budget, a workforce of approximately 10,000, and a diverse portfolio of more than 130 advanced technology initiatives spanning Earth science, space science, and applied research.

Dr. Johnson has also served at the intersection of science, technology, and national policy. As Executive Director of the National Science and Technology Council at the White House, she helped shape federal R&D priorities across the executive branch, including basic science, energy, environment, natural resources, and national and homeland security. In prior roles at NASA Headquarters, including Assistant Associate Administrator and Deputy Chief Engineer, she oversaw agency-wide programmatic operations and shaped the restructuring of NASA’s engineering organization following the Columbia accident. Earlier in her career, she served as a strategic architect for NASA Earth Science missions and built enduring international partnerships.

Dr. Johnson holds a Ph.D. in systems engineering from George Washington University, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Penn State University, and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Lincoln University. Her honors include the Presidential Rank Award, induction into GWU’s Engineering Hall of Fame, and a nomination for the Presidential National Medal for Technology and Innovation

Paul has 25+ years of institutional Wall Street experience in equity research at leading investment banks such as Bank of America and PaineWebber (now UBS), and on the buyside as an analyst and portfolio manager at prominent hedge funds such as SAC Capital (now Point 72) and Omega Advisors, specializing in the global technology, media, and telecom sector. He currently is a General Partner in several venture capital, private equity, and public equity investment funds that invest/donate the majority of partners’ profits in social impact and entrepreneurship initiatives. Paul is an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Food Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and at CUNY Startups, the university-wide center for entrepreneurship across the 25 colleges at The City University of New York (CUNY). He was formerly a senior fellow and adjunct lecturer at The City College of New York (CCNY) where he taught courses in investment analysis and entrepreneurship, and he was the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching award by the Business & Economics Alumni Society at CCNY. Paul has also served on various nonprofits as a chairperson, board member, and executive director. He earned a BS in marketing and management, and an MBA in finance and international business both from New York University, Stern School of Business, where he was co-captain of the NYU men’s varsity tennis team. He also is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Marcia is Executive Director, Family Office Coverage – IB, Sales & Trading at Texas Capital. She is primarily focused on family office coverage and regularly produces invite-only conferences for family offices to facilitate networking, relationships and dealmaking in the private dealmaker community.

Marcia joined Texas Capital in December 2025. Prior, she was a Managing Director and Head of the Family Office Division with Freedom Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank. Marcia has also previously served as a Managing Director and Head of Business Development for ShareNett, a members-only global network of professional investors, and at Alberleen Family Office Solutions, an independent investment advisory firm backed by family offices. Over the past 20 years, Marcia has developed a strong network of private families, institutional investors and advisers who are increasingly seeking access to quality direct deal flow from trusted, experienced partners.

Marcia earned a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Utah State College and a Master of Business Administration from the Gabelli School at Fordham University. She holds Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Marcia serves on the global board of the Association of Corporate Growth and the board of ACG’s New York chapter, where she co-chairs the Family Office Committee. She is past chairman of the board of Kinect Capital and serves on the board of University Impact. She is a member of The DealmakeHers and 100 Women in Finance. Marcia received an honorary mention as one of the 2021 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine and was named one of the 2020 Most Influential Women in middle-market dealmaking. She was honored with the 2017 ACG-NY Women of Leadership Award.

Caleb is a Founding Partner of Three Bay Capital. Three Bay is a Private Equity Firm based in Dallas-Fort Worth that invests in operating businesses, alternative credit and commercial real estate. Prior to Three Bay Capital, he worked with Weild & Co., a boutique investment bank, focused on client mandates spanning sourcing capital, M&A advisory, and sell-side transactions. Engagements spanned across FinTech, Tech, Family Entertainment, B2B SaaS, Media enterprises and real estate. Caleb was previously Chairman of his family’s Family Council and served over a decade as a next gen 5th generation member. He still actively serves the family advising on topics such as education, family systems, and governance. Caleb received his MBA from Texas Christian University. 

J. Bradley Hilton, a proud member of the Hilton family, began his career with Hilton Hotels Corporation at age 17. Over the span of 14 years, he developed his expertise within the family business, making significant strides in corporate growth. One of his notable achievements includes increasing corporate solicitations from $700 million to $1.2 billion in a single year, an accomplishment that underscores his ability to drive engagement and elevate business outcomes within a global enterprise. Today, Brad channels his vision and expertise into The J. Bradley Experience, a company dedicated to empowering individuals, families, and businesses around the world. With a commitment to the legacy of his grandfather, Conrad N. Hilton, his mission is to redefine luxury through curated experiences that create everlasting memories. By anticipating emerging trends and embracing new opportunities, he aims to fill the world with warmth, light, unparalleled hospitality, and advanced technologies.

Allison (“Allie”) Hilton is an emerging healthcare leader and Master of Healthcare Administration candidate with a passion for operational strategy, adolescent health, and nonprofit healthcare innovation. She brings a systems-oriented mindset and a people-centered philosophy to every role she undertakes. Currently serving with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Allie contributes to strategic governance and program work that bridges mission with measurable outcomes. As Advisory Council Chair for the Foundation’s Generations in Giving (GIG) program, she has led high-trust working sessions that fuse heart, strategy, and execution—mobilizing
next-generation legacy family members around shared purpose and disciplined follow-through. In this role, she has helped shape and present major grant proposals and program initiatives to the Foundation’s board, strengthening her ability to translate vision into operational clarity, stakeholder alignment, and impact-ready
plans. Her academic and professional focus centers on quality improvement, healthcare finance, and policy development aimed at strengthening patient experience and community health.

Allie is now directing that same rigor and energy toward healthcare administration. She believes every person deserves more than care, they deserve vision. Systems do not change on their own; the right people change them, with the right mission in the right room. Post-graduation, Allie plans to join an established healthcare organization to deepen her operational leadership capabilities before advancing into executive-level strategy or nonprofit healthcare development. She is driven by a desire to create lasting impact, improve healthcare access for adolescents, and contribute to mission-aligned organizational excellence.

“Whether it’s a large grant proposal, a healthcare system that actually serves people, or a council that gives voice to the next generation of change makers, I’m not here to maintain the status quo. I’m here to reimagine it.”

Dr. Steven Kaufman is an accomplished investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the current Chair of TIGER 21 Houston.

Steven manages his family assets with a focus on thesis-driven opportunistic investments in three asset classes which include real estate financing, real estate investment, and private equity in small growth-companies.

Steven has held C-Level positions in various real estate enterprises for 20 years and has been investing in real estate for over 20 years. During that time, he coordinated over $1 billion in real estate financing for companies like American Express, Hewlett Packard, and Exxon Mobil and founded ZeusLending.com which is the leading online provider of real estate financing in the United States. He also founded ZeusEquityGroup.com which is a commercial real estate investment firm that acquires and develops trophy assets that revitalize communities, and he currently manages a portfolio of approximately $200 million in multifamily, office, retail, and healthcare assets.

At Zeus, Steven manages a team that is responsible for more than $4 billion of retail mortgage loan originations. According to Inc. Magazine, Zeus is the 37th fastest growing private financial service firm in the United States. Steven founded New York Mutual which provides bespoke lending, servicing, and financial management services to institutional and private clients throughout the United States and abroad. Steven’s financing enterprises have spanned 3 economic cycles, and his disciplined focus on capital preservation has resulted in a best-in-class total default rate below 1% and no annual losses.

Steven has been interviewed by local and national news organizations like FOX, ABC, CBS, CNN, and Bloomberg on the financial markets, and he is a contributing author at Entrepreneur.com. Steven sat as an Honorary Chairman of the Business Advisory Council of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He was an Ernst and Young Global Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. For more than a decade, he served on the board of directors for the oldest and largest real estate investment association in the United States (The RICH Club). He served on the board of directors for the Houston Mortgage Association and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Steven currently sits on the Overseas Appropriations Committee for the Jewish Federation of Houston, and he currently sits on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University of Houston School of Business. National Mortgage Professional Magazine has repeatedly ranked Steven as one of the “Top 40 Most Influential Mortgage Professionals in the United States”, and the Houston Business Journal ranked him as one of the “Top CEO’s in Houston”.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1977, Steven grew up in Baytown, TX. Steven graduated with high honors from the University of Houston with a B.S. in accounting and holds a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation. He has a Master’s Degree in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship from the University of Houston. Steven completed the Strategic Marketing Management Program at Harvard Business School, and earned his PhD in psychology, with a thesis on performance psychology, organizational leadership, and group trust, from The Chicago School.

Steven is the founder of The Fanatical Change Foundation. His philanthropic recognition includes the Houston Astros “Hometown Hero”, the City of Houston “Humanitarian Award”, the Lululemon “Modern Day Man”, and the United States Presidential “Life-Time Achievement Award”.

Steven is a four time world champion power-lifter and 2015 world record holder. He has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, summited Mt. Fuji, trekked to Everest Base Camp, completed the Houston Marathon, run with the bulls in Spain, and finished second in the Southwest Regional Amateur Arm-wrestling Championship.

Evan Chrapko is a serial tech entrepreneur best known for the $568 million exit of his company, DocSpace, in just 30 months.

Now, as the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Trust Science, Evan is harnessing AI to transform creditworthiness assessment, ensuring that deserving individuals gain access to fair financial opportunities.

His leadership is distinguished by a rare combination of technical expertise, financial acumen (CPA), and legal insight (JD from Columbia University). A lifetime member of the Henry Crown Fellowship in the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a member of YPO, Evan has been recognized alongside global visionaries like Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson, and Elon Musk.

Committed to ethical business practices and long-term impact, Evan offers a unique proposition for family offices seeking both financial returns and responsible investing. With a proven ability to navigate complex challenges with speed and precision, he stands out as a compelling direct investee—deliberately keeping institutional funding off his cap table.

Frank Liu is the Managing Director of Infinite Grid Capital, a cross-border energy investment and advisory platform focused on battery energy storage systems (BESS), hybrid energy hubs, and next-generation infrastructure supporting AI data centers and high-demand industries. With a background spanning technology, finance, and international operations, Frank has led and structured projects across North America and Europe, working closely with family offices, institutional investors, and strategic partners. He is passionate about building long-term, resilient assets and believes in collaborative capital as a driver of sustainable value creation.

Under Adil’s leadership, WorldLink has grown from 1 employee to over 1,200 in offices throughout the world. Due to this growth, WorldLink received recognition from Inc., Deloitte, and others as it partnered with some of the world’s largest corporations around Cloud & Data/Analytics Consulting, Talent Solutions, and Managed Services. As CEO, has driven WorldLink’s vision and direction, including the formation of a unique investing model that guarantees that clients are benefitting from the latest wave of technology. Through this process, Adi and the WorldLink team have developed use cases and expertise around Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, and Blockchain applications. As recognition for his WorldLink vision, Adil was a 2016 Finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Southwest region.

Adi has also placed a large bet on extending quality of life through the use of technology. Through his gained experience as a technology operator and investor, Adi established a Family Office to identify promising research, technologies, and entrepreneurs that will usher in a new wave of discoveries around Life Sciences.

When not uncovering mysteries around Life Sciences, you can find him on the golf course or spending time with family and friends.

Mary Ann is the recipient of the 2018 Civic Pioneer Award, considered one of the highest recognitions given by Congress to a USA female citizen. She is a co-founder of The Memnosyne Institute with her husband, Joshua Raymond Frenk, which includes programs, FoodSourceDFW one of the leading initiatives fighting food waste in the nation (feeding 5,000 families a week in Dallas alone, GreenSourceDFW, three international chapters including Japan, Israel/Palestine and Mexico where it supports two cultural centers serving the Maya and Tolteca people. She is also a published writer, internationally award-winning sculptor, human rights/environmental activist, social-responsible investor/conscious-capitalist and international speaker. She led The Memnosyne Institute team in negotiating the first treaty/alliance in 300 years between Hopi and Navajo nations.

She is an advocate of social responsible investing and conscious capitalism including working with Dr. Phillip Shinoda via the Memnosyne Institute in the creation of Dallas’ first SRI conference cohosted with Texas Capital Bank, she has served as a panelist for NEXUS at the United Nations on the topic and she was the first major investor in Dallas based Women That Soar, Dakia – an impact investment management holding company, with an overall focus on investing and curating purpose-driven entities, and she has recently co-founded UTF Holdings with Kalu Ugwuomo Jr. which aims to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as creating SRI funds aimed at empowering minorities including African Americans, Native Americans/Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, women, LGBT entrepreneurs, environmental solutions and a special “Recovery Fund” aimed at supporting communities struggling to recover from climate change related disasters.

Due to COVID-19, she redirected her focus to lead The Memnosyne Institute’s “Masks For Life” initiative in providing $246,400 worth of KN95 reusable masks for indigenous communities in Alaska, New York, Nevada, Texas, California, Montana, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and more and is continuing to seek to address urgent requests from across the Americas from the USA to the Brazilian Amazon with expected requests to continue. She also worked to negotiate the donation of water to the Comecrudo Carrizo Tribe of Texas from 7-Eleven during the harsh Texas freeze in early 2021. In 2021 Texas Representatives Victoria Neave and Rhetta Bowers drafted Bill HR1472 to recognize Mary Ann’s statewide, national and local humanitarian work.

Her personal goals include launching a to-be announced show with Ashely Berges, turning her public speaking into a profitable venture to help support her humanitarian endeavors, beginning seminary studies towards ordination as an interfaith minister as well as embracing her long term goals including collaborating with architect Tania Arrayales Rodriguez, in establishing Eco-Eco, aimed at creating economically feasible ecologically responsible homes for the lower tax bracket and meeting the challenge set by local developer Mike Hoque of Hoque Global who has donated land for The Memnosyne Center for Outreach located behind City Hall which will house the interactive Vital Signs Monitor. She is a current writer for Miami based Embrace Magazine highlighting achievements of those in the LGBT community as well as straight advocates for them. She is honored to have been selected to be the 2021 recipient of the “ICON Award” from the “You Can Live Again Awards Gala” in September and will also be a visiting lecturer for Texas A&M’s Business School on the topics of navigating human rights, environment and more in an age of globalization. On February 22nd she will receiving an honorary doctorate from Grace International Seminary.

Nina Vaca is an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO, board member, and philanthropist who is on a mission to connect people with opportunity. In 1996, she founded Pinnacle Group, which has grown into the largest Hispanic-owned workforce solutions company in North America serving 20 percent of the Fortune 100. In 2024, Pinnacle Group was ranked among the top 20 largest
Managed Service Providers (MSP) globally by Staffing Industry Analysts. Under Vaca’s leadership, Pinnacle Group has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years including the coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the Goldman Sachs Most Intriguing Entrepreneur. She was inducted into the Minority Business Hall of Fame and named a Trailblazing Woman in Labor and Business by the Women’s History Project. Pinnacle itself was named to the Inc. Magazine 500/5000 list of fastest-growing companies 13 times and the Women Presidents’ Organization named it the fastest-growing woman-owned/led company
in the country twice. Most recently, Newsweek named Pinnacle Group one of America’s Greatest Workplaces in four separate categories, including overall, as well as for diversity and for women.
Vaca is also a committed civic leader and philanthropist. In 2014, she was appointed by the White House as one of the inaugural Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE), traveling to 5 continents uplifting individuals, families, and communities. She is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, where she now serves on the Aspen Latinos in Society Advisory Board, contributing her expertise to elevate Latino leadership on a global scale. Today, she is the entrepreneur in residence of the City of Dallas appointed by Mayor Eric Johnson. She is a distinguished alumna of Texas State University and recently established the Nina Vaca Innovation & Entrepreneurship Endowment. A lifelong learner, she completed the Corporate Governance Executive Program at Harvard University. She’s received honorary doctorates from Northwood University, Mount Mary University, and Berkeley College.