Advisory Boards

Founder, SEO Scholars, San Francisco
Chair, Advisory Board
Head of Orbis US, Orbis Investments

Adam is head of Orbis US and a Director of its parent company, Orbis Investment Management Limited. Prior to joining Orbis in 2002, Adam was a partner at Palladium Equity Partners, a private equity firm in New York. He started his career as a financial analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (“DLJ”).

Adam graduated with honors from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Economics and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. In 1992, Adam was recruited by SEO and placed in a summer internship at DLJ. In 2005, he was elected to the SEO Board of Directors Adam has been an essential supporter, both individually and through Orbis Investment Management, of The Campaign for SEO and SEO Scholars. Currently, Orbis Investment Management underwrote the launch of SEO Scholars Program San Francisco.

Adam and his wife, Tonia, have created and endowed several scholarships focused on providing support to students of color interested in teaching at inner-city schools. In 2010, Adam was elected a Trustee of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees. He also serves as a director of Allan Gray Limited in South Africa as well as a trustee of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Endowment.

Adam lives in California with his wife and their three children.

Managing Director,
Owl Ventures

Chairman & Managing Director,
Genstar Capital

Jean-Pierre L. Conte is the Chairman and Managing Director of San Francisco-based Genstar Capital LLC, responsible for acquisitions, divestitures, and oversight of portfolio companies in a number of industries including healthcare, software, and industrial technologies. He is a Director of Boyd Corporation, ConnectiveRx and Bracket Global. Prior to leading Genstar Capital, J-P was a principal at The NTC Group, Inc., a private-equity firm focused on industrial technology companies. He grew up in the New York area and began his career at Chase Manhattan Bank. J-P earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Colgate University.

J-P serves on the board of several philanthropic organizations. He is a trustee of the Pepperwood Preserve, an ecological institute dedicated to educating, engaging, and inspiring our community through environmental preservation, education, and research. J-P is also on the Board of Trustees of the California Pacific Medical Center and serves on the CPMC Research Education and Leadership Council. He also founded the Conte Task Force on Comprehensive Immigration Reform at the Hoover Institution in 2011.

CEO, Aura (formerly Insikt),
Founder, Oportun

James is a leading social entrepreneur and innovator in lending and financial technology. Prior to Aura (formerly Insikt), James founded and was CEO of Oportun (formerly Progreso Financiero), the leading provider of responsible, unsecured loans to Hispanics in the US that recently surpassed $1.5 billion in loans and over half a million borrowers since its founding. As CEO from 2005-2012, James led Oportun from its development as a nascent start-up to a market leader in the lending industry and raised over $250 million of debt and equity to fund its growth. Under James’s leadership, the company scaled its loan originations to over 200,000 per year with revenues of $65 million, 85 retail stores in California and Texas, and 600 employees.

James has served on Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council and the Centennial Advisory Committee and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on financial services innovation. James also co-authored and helped pass two federal and state laws to help increase the availability of safe and affordable, small-dollar loans. In 2010, BusinessWeek selected James as one of America’s most promising social entrepreneurs and in 2012, Goldman Sachs named James one of America’s top-100 most intriguing entrepreneurs.

In addition to Insikt, James also serves on the boards of Talent Inc., Listo!, SEO Scholars San Francisco, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. James is a founding partner of Aura (formerly Insikt Ventures), an early-stage fund with investments in OnDeck Capital, Listo!, and Blend Labs. James was also an early investor in many leading technology companies including Trulia, OkCupid, StubHub, and Symphony Commerce. James graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Chief Executive Officer,
K1 Investment Management, LLC

In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of K1, Neil is an active board member for the firm’s portfolio companies and advisor to its management teams.

Previously Neil worked for Kayne Anderson, Brentwood Associates, Olympus Partners and J.P. Morgan Securities. He has served as a director of numerous companies and also serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Southern California.

Neil is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he received an M.B.A., and of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a BS in Finance from the Wharton School and a B.A.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the school of Engineering and Applied Sciences, magna cum laude.

Managing Director and Co-Founder,
Carrick Capital Partners

Marc is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Carrick Capital Partners, a growth equity firm based in San Francisco. Prior to Carrick Capital Partners, Marc was a Managing Director at General Atlantic, a $15 billion global private equity firm, where he led investments in enterprise services and software and was head of the Palo Alto office. Prior, Marc was a Vice President in the high-tech mergers and acquisitions group of Goldman Sachs, Inc. and was an Associate at Morgan Stanley, where he worked in the telecom/media M&A group.

Marc is a trustee at the University of Pennsylvania and a board member of Classroom, Inc., an NYC-based nonprofit dedicated to improving language arts and math skills in elementary and middle school children from economically disadvantaged areas.

Marc has a B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.

Marc lives in Marin with his wife, Marjorie, and their two sons.

VP Corporate Development and Investor Relations,
Lyft

Kristina is Vice President of Development & Investor Relations at Lyft, where she brings over 20 years of experience in corporate development, investment banking, and strategy. Most recently, Kristina was Vice President of Corporate Development at Fitbit, and prior to that, led M&A for Adobe Systems Inc., where she focused on inorganic growth strategy, equity investments, M&A execution, and post-merger integration. Prior to Adobe, Kristina held positions with Lehman Brothers in Technology Investment Banking and with Hewlett Packard in Strategy & Corporate Development.

Kristina holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Member & Head of TMT Growth,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Dave Welsh is a Member and Head of TMT Growth Equity within KKR’s Private Equity platform, where he serves on the TMT growth equity investment committee. Prior to joining KKR’s Menlo Park office, Dave was a Partner with Adams Street Partners, where he focused on technology growth equity investments. Earlier in his career, he was an Executive Vice President of corporate development and strategy at McAfee, Inc., a General Partner at Partech Ventures, and a Vice President of corporate development at Portal Software.

Dave currently serves on the Board of Directors of Atlantis Computing and Five9 and is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Athenian School. He holds a B.A., cum laude, from UCLA and a JD, Order of the coif, from UC Berkeley and Harvard Law Schools.

Managing Director,
GI Partners

Philip Yau is a Managing Director with GI Partners, private equity and real estate investment firm based in San Francisco, which has raised over $16 billion. Prior to joining GI Partners in 2017, Philip helped lead the Private Funds Group for 12 years at UBS Investment Bank and has over 25 years of investment banking and private equity experience.  Philip is a graduate of Princeton University and has an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Senior Associate,
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Persado

Managing Director,
The Blackstone Group

Olivia John is a Managing Director in the Real Estate Group focused on new investment opportunities in the apartment sector. Since joining Blackstone in 2007, Olivia has been involved in analyzing real estate investments in several property sectors. From 2010-2012, Olivia was based in Blackstone’s London office. More recently, Olivia has played a key role in the creation and expansion of LivCor, Blackstone’s apartment portfolio company.

Olivia graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a BS in Economics and was a Joseph Wharton Scholar.

Litigation Associate,
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Ashley Lhérisson is a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York. Ashley graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in 2012 and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2017. Prior to graduating law school, Ashley passed the New York Bar Exam in February 2017, and spent her final semester of law school dedicating over 560 hours to pro bono service, as a Pro Bono Scholar. Ashley also passed the California Bar Exam in July 2017 before beginning her clerkship for the Honorable Jane A. Restani at the Court of International Trade. Ashley is a member of the New York County Lawyers Association, Young Lawyers Section, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association, where she serves on the Women in the Legal Profession Committee and the Minorities in the Courts Committee. After graduating law school, Ashley founded a business called Ivy Grad Services, to assist college students and recent graduates interested in applying to and excelling in graduate school. Through Ivy Grad Services, Ashley is able to continue her commitment to mentorship by demystifying the admissions process for students in need of extra guidance and support in meeting their career goals.

Recruiter,
Marcys

Investment Analyst,
Capital Group

Andrea Montero is a fixed income investment analyst at Capital Group with research responsibility for the oil & gas and aerospace & defense industries. She has seven years of investment industry experience. Prior to joining Capital, Andrea worked as a senior account associate at PIMCO, overseeing investment strategies for U.S. public pension plans. Before that, she was a financial analyst at Citigroup working in debt capital markets covering Latin America. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a master’s in finance from the University of Florida’s Hough Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida. She is also a member of the CFA Institute and a 2010 SEO Career Alumna. Andrea is based in New York.

Director,
UBS, SEO Class ’08

Ephraim Musokwa is a Director in the Global Industrials Group at UBS. Ephraim started his career at UBS in the Equity Capital Markets Group where he spent over two years covering sectors such as energy, power / utilities and financials, before moving to the coverage side in the Global Natural Resources Group, and then to the Global Industrials Group. He has over nine years of experience in investment banking working in capital markets and strategic advisory roles.

Vice President,
Goldman Sachs

Michael Ratpojanakul is a Vice President in the Investment Management Division in New York, advising ultra-high net worth families, endowments and foundations. Michael began his career at Goldman Sachs in 2006 in Prime Brokerage, covering hedge funds and institutional investors.

In 2009, Michael moved to Goldman Sachs Bank, where he worked in commercial banking and private lending. Michael graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in 2006 with a BA in International Politics & Economics. He earned an MBA from New York University in 2014.

Michael has been involved with SEO since 2010 when he began volunteering as a mentor with the SEO Scholars program. He lives in the Upper East Side with his wife, Caryn LoCastro, and their daughter Hailey.

Vice President, Public Finance,
MUFG

Nicole Riggs is a Vice President in the Public Finance Group at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), responsible for managing relationships with government and not-for-profit clients and prospects. The team’s municipal clients include the largest U.S. cities, states, transportation agencies, and utility providers. MUFG provides a comprehensive suite of corporate banking services, such as credit, treasury management, trust and custody, and credit cards. Prior to joining MUFG in 2014, Nicole spent 7 years with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. As the Manager of Aviation Capital Financial Services, she oversaw the financial aspects of the Aviation Department’s multi-billion dollar capital plan and Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program. Nicole also managed the annual strategic business planning process, analyzed and consolidated unit and facility operating budgets, and supported procurement and Board approval processes. While at the Port Authority, Nicole also held positions at JFK and Newark International Airports, and participated in an accelerated, rotational management training program. Before attending graduate school, she was a Bilingual Case Manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters in Phoenix, Arizona. Nicole earned Masters Degrees in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a B.A. in Communications, with minors in Political Science and Spanish, from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She holds Series 52, 63, and 79 securities licenses. In addition to her involvement with SEO, Nicole actively participates in the Municipal Forum’s Urban Leadership Fellows internship program, Northeast Women in Public Finance, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in New York City. She enjoys traveling, trying new foods, and playing soccer.