“An investment in education gives the best returns” Benjamin Franklin
Tony Miller is managing director of Excolere Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on the education space. He holds a number of board roles including Apollo Education group, ACT, Criteria Corp and Go Guardian. He was co-founder of the Vistria Group, a Chicago based private equity firm and prior to that was Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in the US Department of Education
Penny Green finally retired from the investment industry in June following an over 30-year career. She started her career in pensions with TPAS, where she was Deputy Chief Executive when she left, then became Chief Executive of SAUL, where, over the past four years I have had the privilege of working with her on the investment committee. Upon retiring from the Chief Executive role in 2014, she became an Independent Trustee with BESTrustees, and her portfolio included a Trustee role at SAUL and Chair of an organization focused on raising standards of pension administration. She was President of the Pensions Management Institute for two years.
Ghiané Jones, is Deputy CIO at the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, where she is based in their Chicago office. She previously was Managing Principal at Meketa Investment Group, a role she held for over 6 years, and prior to that worked in a range of financial services roles including in institutional ETF Sales at Invesco and Northern Trust, and as a Regional Consultant at Goldman Sach
As we enter high summer here we come with some summer bounty here at Fiftyfaces Podcast as we launch Series 4 that is bursting with wisdom and insights. Because life is not linear, these stories are not linear either – and they stress the power of the individual. Hear from an introvert who found her calling in connecting with people in private wealth, a pensions expert whose entire career has been driven my members first, a legendary business builder and a private credit expert forging her own path.
Debbie Fielder is deputy head of Clwyd Pension Fund at Flintshire County Council, where she has spent over 27 years. She is a leading voice on the LGPS investment circuit having been an early adopter of broad diversification and a founding member of the Welsh Pensions Partnership.
Aaron Joseph is Senior Vice President of Investor Solutions at Blue Vista Capital Management, a Chicago-based real estate investment manager focused in particular on middle market equity, student housing and real estate credit. He previously worked as Deputy Sustainability Officer in the Office of the Mayor in the city of Chicago, and as a Strategy Manager at Urban Partnership Bank focused on providing banking services for impact capital and urban real estate investors.
Olga Hancock is Deputy Head of Responsible Investment at The Church Commissioners for England. She also holds a position of chair of the policy committee at the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, and is co chair of the Indonesia workstream of the Investors Policy Dialogue on Deforestation. She previously worked as a solicitor and started her career in Australia.
In our summer Series 4 of the 2022 Fiftyfaces Podcast we invite you to see our industry through fresh eyes through hearing the stories of 10 extraordinary professionals. We hear of the training and perspective obtained through playing tennis at a professional level, challenging ice-skating routines and practicing the ancient Japanese martial art of Kendo. We hear about formative life experiences, such as mission-work in a violence-rocked Latin America as well as the challenges of becoming legally blind early in one’s career.
We are delighted to bring you our 2022 Inspiring People in Law series in which we feature eight inspiring lawyers from around the globe. We examine what it is to be an effective lawyer, the importance of networks, of empathy, and sometimes the lack of importance of a standard path or trajectory. We listen to guests who have taken a path less travelled, sometimes overcoming bias, prejudice and disability to do so. We explore areas as diverse as digital justice, the intersection of environmental law and human rights, the advances in international arbitration and moving from a legal to a corporate role.
Sharmila Kassam is the founder of Aligned Capital Investing, as well as holding a portfolio of Board roles. She was previously Deputy Chief Investment Officer of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, a public defined benefit plan with around $30 bn in AUM, where she held a series of roles for almost 12 years. She previously worked as an attorney and a venture industry professional. She is a Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute.
A deep dive into what it takes to be an effective director and Board member and the power of our heritage to shape us and translate traditional values into career guides.