Annual Private Equity Boston Forum Boston | November 1, 2023 Request Agenda

Scott Dahnke, Global Chief Executive Officer, L Catterton

Mr. Dahnke is the Global Co-CEO of L Catterton. Mr. Dahnke has a broad range of business experience in private equity, consulting, management, and finance. Prior to joining L Catterton over 15 years ago, he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Capital Partners and at AEA Investors, Chief Executive Officer of infoUSA (now privately-held infogroup), and Partner at McKinsey & Company. His early career also includes experience in the Merger Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and with General Motors. Mr. Dahnke received a Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He also received academic honors while earning a MBA from the Harvard Business School.   

John Toomey, Managing Director, Executive Committee, HarbourVest Partners

Mr. Toomey is one of two members of the Firm’s Executive Management Committee, which serves as HarbourVest’s CEO; and is also a member of the Portfolio Construction Committee. He first joined the Firm in 1997, as a member of the direct investment team. He rejoined HarbourVest in 2001 after business school, and has focused on secondary investments since 2003. John was involved with the 2007 initial public offering of HarbourVest Private Equity Limited (HVPE) on Euronext Amsterdam and served as Chief Financial Officer from the IPO through September 2008. John received a BA (cum laude) in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University in 1995 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2001, where he was awarded the Loeb Fellowship for outstanding achievement in finance.

Richard Kramlich, Co-founder & Chairman Emeritus, New Enterprise Associates

Mr. Kramlich is formerly the Co-founder and current Chairman Emeritus of New Enterprise Associates (NEA). During the 20 years Dick was the Managing General Partner of NEA, the partnership achieved top quartile returns for its Limited Partners. Dick began his venture career in 1969 as a General Partner with Arthur Rock and Co. after nine years in general management as Manager of Financial Planning at the Kroger Co. and in investment management as Executive Vice President at Gardner & Preston Moss Company in Boston. Since co-founding NEA in 1978, he has been involved in ten companies that have grown from start-up or near start-up stage to companies with market value in excess of $1 billion.

Mitch Truwit, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Apax Partners

Mr. Truwit is Co-CEO of Apax and an Equity Partner. He is co-chair of the Apax Executive Committee and a member of the Apax Buyout Fund Investment Committee, AMI Investment Committee, Credit Investment Committee, Impact Investment Committee, and AGA Investment Committee. He is also Chair of the Apax Digital strategy, member of the Apax Allocation Committee and Fair Market Value Committee, and a Trustee of the Apax Foundation. Mitch is based in New York. Prior to joining Apax in 2006, Mitch was the President and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide between 2005 and 2006 and was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of priceline.com between 2001 and 2005. Mitch is a graduate of Vassar College where he received a BA in Political Science. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Dick Cashin, President, One Equity Partners

Mr. Cashin has over 40 years of private equity investing experience. He has been closely involved in all of OEP’s investments during its 14 years within JPMorgan and for the past 7 years as an independent firm. Prior to founding OEP, Mr. Cashin was with Citigroup Venture Capital from 1980-2000, serving as President from 1994-2000. In 1976 and 1980, Dick was a member of the U.S. Olympic Rowing Teams and was a world champion in 1974. He attended Harvard University and graduated in 1975 with a degree in East Asian Studies. Following a one-year fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1976, he worked at Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong and completed his MBA at Harvard Business School in 1980. 

David Leuschen, Co-founder and Senior Managing Director, Riverstone Holdings

Mr. Leuschen sits on the Investment Committees of all the various Riverstone investment vehicles. Prior to founding Riverstone, Mr. Leuschen was a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and founder and head of the Goldman Sachs Global Energy and Power Group. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Centennial Resource Development, Inc., Enviva Holdings GP, LLC, Enviva Partners GP, LLC, Pattern Energy Group LP, Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation II (DCRN), Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation III (DCRC), Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation IV (DCRDU), Talen Energy Corporation, and various private Riverstone portfolio companies. Mr. Leuschen received his A.B. from Dartmouth and his M.B.A. from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business. 

Jason Ment, President and Co-COO, StepStone Group

Mr. Ment is the President and Co‐COO of StepStone Group where he focuses on operational and firm management activities. Prior to joining StepStone in 2010, Mr. Ment was general counsel of Citi Private Equity, a US$10 billion equity co‐investment, mezzanine, and fund of private equity funds business. While at Citigroup, he was also the general counsel of Metalmark Capital, a middle‐market private equity business, and Citi Sustainable Development Investments, a clean technology and renewable energy focused venture investment business. Before that Mr. Ment was a member of O’Melveny & Myers LLP’s Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity Group and of McDermott Will & Emery LLP’s Mergers &Acquisitions Group. Mr. Ment received his BS from Cornell University and his JD from the New York University School of Law.

David Lobel, Founder & Managing Partner, Sentinel Capital Partners

Mr. Lobel is the founder and Managing Partner of Sentinel Capital Partners. Since establishing Sentinel nearly three decades ago, he has established a successful, long term midmarket private equity record. He previously spent 15 years at Smith Barney's private equity affiliate where he served as a general partner of its funds and a Managing Director of Smith Barney. Mr. Lobel started his career as a consultant at Bain & Company. He received an MBA and an MS with distinction from Stanford University and currently serves on the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. Mr. Lobel, who was born in South Africa, received a B.Sc. (Hons), with highest honors, from the University of the Witwatersrand. He served with distinction in the South African Navy, where he graduated first in his class.

Ben Dell, Managing Partner and Founder, Kimmeridge

Mr. Dell is a managing partner and founder of Kimmeridge, an energy private equity firm focused on investing in low-cost unconventional oil and gas assets in the US upstream energy sector. He is closely involved in the screening of new geological opportunities and in the negotiation and execution of investment strategies. Mr. Dell also serves as the Chairman and interim CEO of Civitas Resources, a Colorado energy leader formed through the merger of Bonanza Creek Energy and Extraction Oil & Gas. After closing in November, Civitas is now Colorado's first net-zero oil and gas producer on a scope 1 and 2 basis. Mr. Dell is a leading voice for change in the E&P sector, advocating for reform through direct investment & advisory, focused research, and thought leadership. Prior to founding Kimmeridge, Mr. Dell served as Co-Head of Energy Investments at AllianceBernstein and prior to that he was a Senior Equity Research Analyst for Oil and Gas E&P at Sanford Bernstein, where he was ranked first three times in the Institutional Investor Research Survey for coverage of E&Ps. Mr. Dell was also ranked for Natural Gas and for Oil Services and Equipment coverage. He was previously a member of British Petroleum's M&A and finance group. Mr. Dell received an undergraduate degree in Earth Sciences from St. Peter's College, Oxford.