Alyssa Rapp is the Chief Executive Officer Empower Aesthetics, a portfolio company of Shore Capital Partners, a platform for which she has served on the board of directors since inception. Previous to her current role, she served as the:

• Chief Executive Officer and Director of Healthwell Acquisition Corp. I, a $250MM special purpose acquisition corporation that IPO’d on the NASDAQ in August 2021.

• Chief Executive Officer of Surgical Solutions from 2018-2021, a B2B healthcare services business providing non-clinical surgical services to hospitals, owned by Chicago-based private equity firm, Sterling Partners. There, Alyssa led a successful turnaround of the enterprise, driving 21% sales growth with 90% customer retention.

• Independent director of Together Women’s Health, a portfolio company of Shore Capital Partners, since October 2020, and Health Data Movers, a healthcare technology company.

• Founder & CEO of Bottlenotes, Inc., a leading interactive media company.

• Managing Partner of A JR Ventures, a strategic advisory firm for family offices and private equity firms on digital, e-commerce and go to market strategies.

Alyssa served as a lecturer-in-management at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business from 2014-2022 and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School since 2019. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and the History of Art from Yale University in 2000 and an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2005. She is the author of Amazon Bestseller, Leadership and Life Hacks: Insights from a Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur & Executive (ForbesBooks, October 2019).

Brad Morehead is a Partner and the Head of the Business Services Fund with Shore Capital Partners, the most active private equity firm in the country over the last four years. Prior to that, Brad was CEO of private equity-backed RCM company Assembly Health, CEO of LiveWatch Security which successfully sold to Brinks, CFO of Feldco and a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Leadership at the Kellogg School of Management.

Brad graduated from Indiana University and the Kellogg school of Management and also sits on the board of more than 10 PE-backed and entrepreneurial companies.

Brian Wohlberg represents public and private companies (including financial sponsors) on the full spectrum of corporate and securities matters, including M&A, capital markets and public company reporting and corporate governance.

Brian’s transactional practice includes representing strategic and financial buyers and sellers in domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and securities offerings. He advises clients on all aspects of these transactions, including the drafting and negotiation of transaction documents, overseeing due diligence investigations, advising on legal and business issues and coordinating deal teams. Brian also advises clients on general corporate matters, including corporate governance issues, corporate structuring and entity formation, fiduciary duties, preparation of SEC filings and securities law compliance.

Ignacio Mendez is a Tax Principal and heads the Firm’s tax practice. His career of more than 20 years includes middle market-focused CPA firms and the “Big 4.” This unique blend has provided the technical skills and experience to serve many industries, including companies in the technology sector, plus service organizations, retail, manufacturing, real estate, distribution, publishing and financial services. Ignacio has developed a concentration in servicing venture capital and privately held businesses and has experience with the full business cycle from due diligence and start up to exit strategies and mergers. His experience includes mergers and acquisitions, state and local taxation, federal consulting and compliance, financial planning and tax provision reviews.

Jay Leonard is the Managing Director in Bernstein Private Wealth Management’s Chicago office where he oversees Bernstein’s strategy and growth in Chicago and the Midwest markets. As a Senior Principal of the firm & co-leader of the business owner and entrepreneur task force, he also advises clients and their professional advisors regarding asset allocation, investment strategy, tax & estate planning, cash management, business transactions and charitable giving plans. In advising the complex needs of business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate executives, Jay and his team are fully supported by the breadth and expertise of Bernstein’s wealth strategies group and family engagement team.

Prior to joining Bernstein in 2009, Jay was a private wealth advisor at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, advising the firm’s largest private clients. Earlier, he was a strategy consultant with Marsh & McLennan, and before that, a research & trading analyst with the global equity derivatives group at Credit Suisse. Jay earned an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in finance and economics from Bucknell University, where he also competed as a Division I swimmer.

Jay serves on the board of directors for YPO Chicago-Windy City Chapter and on the membership engagement committee for the Economic Club of Chicago. Additionally, he serves on the board of Entrepreneurial Youth Experience (E.Y.E) at Chicago Hope Academy and is chairman emeritus for the Boy Scouts of America, National Eagle Scout Association (NESA)-Chicago.

He lives in Wilmette, IL, with his wife, Tyra, and their two children. Jay is an avid triathlete, cyclist and loves to surf the oceans whenever offered the opportunity outside of the Midwest. Despite his Chicago ties, Jay can often be found rooting for Philadelphia sprots teams, his hometown.

Mark has more than 30 years experience starting, buying, building, operating and selling businesses in numerous sectors. His businesses have employed as few as 5 people and as many as 1500. To Pursant, he brings both experiential knowledge as well as an academic background that provides a foundation for the often business-critical strategic initiatives with which clients entrust the firm.

Mark is a Certified M&A Advisor through the AM&AA and a Harvard Business School alumni. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), serving in numerous governance roles including Central US Region Chairman, Chair of the YPO Deal Global Business network and Chapter Chair for the Chicago Windy City and Heartland Chapters.

Mark is an active public speaker, presenting on a variety of M&A and Strategic Transaction related topics. He serves on many private company and charitable boards. When not steering the direction of the firm, Mark enjoys spending time with his wife and four children. He is a competitive CrossFit athlete and also enjoys auto racing, mountain climbing and high adrenaline adventures.

Nour Kteily is a Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University, where he co-directs both the Center for Enlightened Disagreement and the Dispute Resolution Research Center. He specializes in negotiation, conflict resolution, and inter-group relations. His research investigates how and why conflict emerges between groups in society, and how to productively resolve it. His work spans conflict between racial and ethnic groups, conflict between political parties and ideological opponents, and international conflicts such as the conflict in the Middle East.

Professor Kteily's research has been published in leading academic journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and been featured in popular press outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review. In recognition of his research, Kteily has awards including the SAGE Young Scholar Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology and the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science.

In recognition of his teaching, Kteily was voted as Faculty Member of the Year by the Kellogg Masters in Management Studies graduating classes in two consecutive years. In 2018, Kteily was named as one of the best 40 business school professors under 40 years of age by Poets & Quants.

Richard Weaver is a Senior National Director of Executive Services at the Institute for Business Owners and Corporate Executives. Richard counsels private business owners, public corporate executives and holders of concentrated equity positions. He provides wealth planning solutions that address the complexities of business sales, stock and option compensation, and equity risk management. Previously, he was a senior portfolio manager, responsible for communicating the firm’s capital markets outlook, investment strategy and rationale for current positioning in global equity, fixed income and alternative asset portfolios.

Richard joined Bernstein in January 2004 from Prudential Securities, where he headed the Private Wealth Management effort and managed the firm’s Executive Services and Strategies Group. His extensive career in capital markets includes roles in investment banking, risk arbitrage, equity derivatives and structured products.

Richard earned a BS in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University.

Scott is a Managing Director with Pursant, responsible for guiding business owners through strategic transaction events, including acquisitions and exits/divestitures.

He is a seasoned financial executive and M&A advisor, spending the first decade of his career at Ernst & Young, the second decade working within private equity organizations including American Capital (NASDAQ: ACAS), Sterling Partners and Access Holdings and the last decade with Pursant.

Both prior to and while with Pursant, Scott has built and led teams focusing on; executing strategic transactions, pre-acquisition diligence, performing enterprise/equity valuations, enhancing portfolio company governance, processes, human capital and financial reporting and preparing for financing, liquidity and exit events.

Scott also held Board of Director positions and operating positions as part of executive management teams. In these roles, Scott designed and executed strategic operating and value creation plans, managed all aspects of the financial, accounting, and treasury functions as well as drove all financing and M&A processes.

Scott serves as a thought-partner to his clients, focusing on their objectives. His advice and support are designed to provide entrepreneurs, investors and company owners with legal and business insights to help them make the best possible decisions – this approach allows him to be an effective partner to a diverse group of companies at all stages and to all types of investors. Scott has grown with corporate clients from inception to sale and with investors from their first deal to multiple funds. Though experienced with representing public companies, Scott is particularly focused on advising entrepreneurs and the entities that support them: family offices, venture investors and private equity funds. His approach to what happens at the intersection of law and business, and his understanding that there is a person behind every business decision, is particularly effective in his work with family operating enterprises and family offices.

Scott provides strategic advice across the life-cycle of a business: formation, operating activities, capital structure, transactions, litigation strategy, governance, and strategic planning. With the global resources of the firm behind him, Scott is able to provide his clients comprehensive capabilities in a personalized way. Over his more than 20 years of practice, Scott has developed a special understanding in a number of industries, including food and beverage, consumer products, manufacturing, sports and entertainment, financial services, aerospace, healthcare, professional services, marketplace businesses, and real estate. Scott’s real estate work includes the acquisition, disposition, management, construction, development and leasing of office, industrial, multi-family and retail properties.

Scott Robinson is a high-energy, results-oriented talent leader with a reputation for successfully coaching the nation’s leading C-suite executives to peak performance. With 35+ years of experience in the human capital industry and a background in psychology, he is expertly qualified to develop and implement custom programs that drive measurable personal and professional growth. Worldwide, he is one of fewer than 1,000 talent leaders certified as a Registered Corporate Coach™, and believes that the meaningful long-term relationships he establishes with his clients are a direct reflection of the care he puts into each partnership, as well as the positive impact he is able to make on their careers and lives.

In addition to serving as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives, he is an active member of several Boards and many business organizations including The Executives’ Club of Chicago (ECC) and the Young President’s Organization (YPO Gold), where he previously served as Chapter Chairman and Chapter Education Chairman.