Watch On Demand
We invite you to join us for our Private Equity Fireside Chat on November 7th at 1pm ET. If you are interested in exploring potential board seat opportunities with private equity firms, this is a fireside chat you don’t want to miss!
Jeri Harman, Cindy L. Forbes, ICD.D, Gayle Crowell,
November 7, 2023
1:00 PM ET
Individual & Corporate Members, please use your promo code to register complimentary. Cost for non-members to register is $200. To become a member, click here. Registrants will receive sign-on information one day prior to the webinar via email. The recorded version of the webinar is automatically sent to all registrants afterward whether you attend the live version or not.
Founder & Chairman, Avante Capital Partners
Jeri Harman is a seasoned executive, investor and entrepreneur who has built teams and
markets for major institutional investors, and founded and run a highly successful private asset management business. Over the course of her career she has held (as an active board member or observer) Board roles in over 20 private middle market companies across the U.S. in a variety of industries, including healthcare, business services, consumer products, and industrial. She currently serves as Chairman of NN, Inc. (Nasdaq NNBR) and as a director of Engineered Performance Technologies.
As part of her investment and board roles, Ms. Harman has consistently provided advice on strategy, growth, management and organizational development, acquisitions and financial matters. Moreover, she is an expert in finance, M&A and capital markets issues and is a frequent speaker on these topics at conferences and symposiums across the country.
Ms. Harman is Founder & Chairman, and former CEO, of Avante Capital Partners. With over $900 million of capital under management, Avante makes debt and equity investments to finance buyouts, minority recaps, acquisitions and growth. In 2020, Avante was named One of the Most Innovative Firms in Commercial Finance by ABF Journal. In 2018, Avante was named Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) of the Year by the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The firm was also named Women-Owned Firm of the Year 2018 by Private Equity Women Investor Network.
Ms. Harman has over 35 years of financing and M&A experience, involving well over $1.5 billion in aggregate investments. Prior to founding Avante, Ms. Harman started-up and led the Los Angeles offices for two multi-billion dollar publicly traded private equity and mezzanine investment funds – American Capital and more recently Allied Capital, where she was also a member of Allied’s Investment Committee. Earlier career highlights include various senior level positions with Prudential Capital. She has served as a Steering Committee Member of PEWIN since its inception and was recently asked to join the PEWIN board.
She has received numerous recognitions over the years including most recently being named an Exceptional Women Awardee. Ms. Harman was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA 500 Most Influential People in Los Angeles in 2018 through 2022. In 2021 and 2022, the LA Times named her a Banking and Finance Visionary. In January 2016, Ms. Harman was on the cover of Mergers & Acquisitions magazine and named one of the Most Influential Women in Mid-
Market M&A, a recognition she again received in 2017 through 2022. In March 2017, she was recognized as one of 15 Trailblazers by Buyouts Magazine. In 2013, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Los Angeles inducted Ms. Harman into their Hall of Fame.
She received a MBA from the University of California – Berkeley.
Corporate Director
Cindy Forbes has been a Corporate Director since 2020. Prior to that time, she served as Global Chief Marketing and Chief Analytics Officer of Manulife Financial after serving as Global Chief Actuary for six years and Chief Financial Officer, Asia for the prior five years.
Cindy Forbes serves on the board of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and is Chair of the Enterprise Risk Committee. She also serves as a board member of Prosperity Group Holdings and its Bermuda affiliate, Prosperity Life Assurance Limited (PLAL) and is chair of PLAL’s Risk Committee. She recently completed a six year term as Chair of the University of Waterloo Board of Governors.
Ms. Forbes is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries and holds an Honours B.Math from the University of Waterloo.
Ms. Forbes was named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network in 2011 and again in 2015.
Board Director, CEO, C Suite Executive, Strategic Business Advisor, Speaker and Executive Coach
Very experienced high growth CEO and technology executive with large tech company experience and as well as multiple venture backed co’s with successful exits
Former Strategic Go To Market Advisor for Warburg Pincus, leading global private equity firm. Advised portfolio CEO’s and their GTM teams over my 15 year tenure.
Board Director – have served on 26 public and private Boards. Technology, FinTech, Supply Chain, Hospitality, Automotive, Logistics, Transportation and Biotech
Currently serving on 6 Boards – 3 public/3 PE backed private boards: Envestnet (ENV), Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC) and Pliant Therapeutics (PLRX), Instinct Science, Centerbase and Fexa
Strategic Advisor and Executive Coach for multiple high tech CEOs and C-level executives in the SaaS, Logistics, FinTech and Technology sector
Chair and serve on all board committees including currently chairing Info Security and Regulatory Compliance, Comp Comm and Nom/Gov.
