Brent Ashton - Board Chair
Brent Ashton has been a partner at Ernst & Young LLP (EY) since 2006 and has been at EY since 1994. In his partner role, Brent has served both publicly-owned and privately-held companies with regional, national and global presence. His client base is comprised of companies from a variety of industries including but not limited to technology, diversified industrial products, manufacturing and distribution. He previously ran the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program in New Jersey from 2011 to 2016.
In addition to his professional role as a CPA and partner at Ernst & Young, Brent is an active participant in a variety of non-profit organizations. Brent is a current member of Strategic Planning Committee for the New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJCPAS). He also currently serves as a Board Member for Junior Achievement of Central New Jersey.
Brent has been a volunteer with Minds Matter since 2010 and National Board member since 2015. Brent earned a BS in Business Administration from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in ST. Louis.
Peter W. Agnes III
Peter Agnes is an Operating Partner at B-Flexion, a global investment firm, where he focuses on working with the firm's portfolio companies on financial, capital markets and M&A. Prior to B-Flexion, Peter was a Consultant in the Boston office of the global Leadership Consulting firm Egon Zehnder where he advised clients on talent and leadership in the firm’s Financial Services, Private Equity and Sports practices. Before Egon Zehnder, Peter was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Caxton Associates, a global macro hedge fund headquartered in New York City. Prior to joining Caxton, Peter was a Managing Director at Barclays Capital where he was the Global Head of the Credit Opportunities Group, a proprietary investing unit. Earlier in his career Peter worked at the UBS Investment Bank in Stamford, CT and Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, NC. He is a CFA charter holder. Peter earned his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BA from Dartmouth College where he also played varsity football.
Bob Alig
Bob Alig is the Vice President of Alumni Affairs for St. George’s University. Formerly, he was the executive vice president, School Products Group, of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and vice president of the College Board’s middle states regional office, where he and his team promoted college and career readiness for all K-12 and higher education students. He also held numerous positions at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, including Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at the Wharton School and Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations.
Lora Dennis
Lora Dennis serves as Executive Vice President of Multiplatform for NBCUniversal Local. In the role, she oversees an extensive portfolio of mobile web and desktop sites, OTT and mobile apps, and social media platforms for the division’s 42 NBC and Telemundo stations, four regional sports networks and other national, regional and local media properties.
In addition to leading digital content, product and audience development for NBCU Local, Dennis is a mentor/advisor for the Comcast Sports Tech Accelerator and serves on NBCUniversal’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board. She is also a member of the NAB PILOT, the National Association of Broadcasters' innovation arm dedicated to advancing broadcast and new media technologies. Overall, Dennis has more than 25 years of experience as an executive at the intersection of news, digital media and technology. She has led all aspects of NBCU Local’s digital media since 2010 and guided the portfolio to rapid expansion – which included the launch of the division’s mobile and OTT products – and driven significant and sustained audience and revenue growth for more than a dozen years.
Prior to joining NBCU Local, Dennis spent nearly 13 years with NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ), an NBC owned station, most recently as director of integrated media. Previously in her WMAQ tenure, she served as executive producer of digital and special projects, senior producer and investigative producer. She began her career as a researcher and investigative producer for WCCO in Minneapolis.
Dennis has been recognized with several professional awards and accolades. In 2023, she was the recipient of the NAB’s 2023 Digital Leadership Award, which was awarded at the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame Ceremony. She has also earned the Alfred I. du Pont Silver Baton Award and the American Women in Radio and Television’s Gracie Award. In 2015, she was named a Cynopsis Media “Top Women in Digital” and in 2013, she participated in the Columbia Journalism School’s year-long Punch Sulzberger Program.
Dennis graduated from the Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She resides in South Carolina with her husband and daughter.
Avi Fernandes
Avi Fernandes is a Founding Partner at Mindoro Capital Partners, an independent, privately held investment firm serving a community of prominent individuals, families, and institutions.
Prior to Mindoro, Avi was a Senior Vice President & Founding Member at ICONIQ Capital, a privately-held investment firm that serves some of the world’s most influential families and organizations. At ICONIQ, Avi was a senior client advisor to a group of technology entrepreneurs & executives advising on their investment strategy, estate structuring and family office services. Avi also served on the Leadership Committee for ICONIQ's Investment Management and Impact Divisions.
Avi began his career at Goldman Sachs in their Investment Management and Investment Banking Divisions. In Investment Management, Avi was part of the Investment Strategy Group in New York where he advised ultra high-net-worth families on their portfolio strategy and served as the product specialist for the West Coast Region. In Investment Banking, Avi worked in the Industrials and Natural Resources Group in San Francisco where he advised companies on their M&A and financing strategies. After business school, Avi worked in Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management Division before he and his team spun out to form ICONIQ Capital.
Avi earned his MBA at INSEAD and Bachelor of Arts in Economics-Philosophy at Columbia University.
Melanie Girton
Melanie Girton is a founding partner of Odell Girton Siegel, LLC advising startups and growth stage companies. She focuses her practice exclusively on the entrepreneur's journey. Ms. Girton is a graduate of the University of Southern California and a magna cum laude graduate of the New York Law School, where she was an Articles Editor of the Law Review. She comes from a family dedicated to the mission of education and shares their passion for the unique role it can play in unlocking opportunities through the realization of individual potential, and the aggregated power of a society equipped with learned citizens.
Jean Huang
Jean Huang is a Principal and Financial Advisor in Bernstein’s Los Angeles office. She provides investment planning and management for high-net-worth individuals, families, foundations and endowments, and business owners. Prior to joining the firm in 2011, Jean was with media and distribution consultant Pride of Cleveland, Inc., where she was responsible for business development and strategy for clients that included the National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE). Previously, she was a VP of programming and development for 20th Century Fox Television and, before that, a VP with responsibility for the Los Angeles office of Distraction Formats, a distribution and production company based in Montreal and London. Earlier, Jean was a VP of international sales and distribution at Lions Gate Entertainment. She holds a BA, cum laude, in East Asian history from Harvard University. Jean was formerly a principal and chairman of the board of the Westside Chinese School in Los Angeles; board member and treasurer at Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law; and is a graduate of Team Beverly Hills. She also supports female entrepreneurs and chairs Women in LAVA for the LA Venture Association.
Deborah McGinn - Treasurer
Deborah McGinn retired in 2017 from the William T. Grant Foundation, where she held the position of vice president for finance and administration and assistant treasurer. Deborah has a strong track record in nonprofit finance and administration working in education and environmental organizations. She held the position of Vice President of Finance and Administration at the ExpandED Schools, the Fund for Public Schools, EDF and E+Co. The first 25 years of her career were spent in the public sector at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where she started her career as an accountant and rose through the organization to hold the position of Deputy Treasurer. Deborah earned a BA in Economics from Douglass College of Rutgers University.
Shari Noonan
Shari Noonan is Rialto Markets CEO and has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Rialto is a Finra registered broker dealer and SEC registered Alternative Trading System (ATS) focused on private market digital securities. Shari has extensive experience in building and scaling operations and products with Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Instinet and was directly involved in the electronification of the Equities market. She worked to develop many of the initial products in equities electronic trading, including the first ATS’s, advanced algorithms, and electronic negotiations. She received a BS in Accounting from Marquette University and MBA from Columbia University and holds Series 3,7,24,55,63 registrations.
Adaku Nwachukwu - Board Secretary
Adaku Nwachukwu is an IP, Technology Transactions and Privacy Attorney, with over 17 years of experience. She is the founder and managing partner at AN Law Firm, P.C. where she provides IP, Technology Transactions/Commercial Contracts, and Data Privacy & Cybersecurity services to start-up and established companies in various industries, including fintech, biotech/pharma, social media, telecommunications, and other technology spaces. Prior to starting her own firm, Adaku was an associate at Cooley LLP in the Technology Transactions and the Data Privacy & Cybersecurity practice groups. She is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the US (CIPP/US). Adaku holds a B.S. in Cell Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Maryland, College Park, an M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law.
Francisco Paret - Vice Chair
Francisco is a Partner at Egon Zehnder, one of the leading executive search and leadership consultancies globally. A member of the Board and CEO Practices, Francisco led the Firm’s Financial Services Practice in the Americas for over five years. He is part of the Firm’s Global Financial Services Leadership Team and of the U.S. Diversity Advisory Board. He has worked on a broad range of CEO, C-suite and Board director search, succession planning and consulting assignments for clients across the financial services ecosystem globally. Francisco has also been involved in diverse civic and community endeavors. He served on the U.S. President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, and has served on several non-profit and community-based organization boards. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Francisco earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the proud father of two young women.
Minhaj Patel
Minhaj Patel is the Former Head of Global Equities at LFG, the investment business of the Lowy Family Group, where he is focused on investing in publicly listed equities. Prior to LFG, Minhaj was a Director at Citi Principal Strategies, a hedge fund affiliate of Citigroup, and has also served in Senior Investment Analyst roles at Magnetar Capital and Highline Capital Management. He started his career at Wasserstein Perella Merchant Banking where he focused on private equity and venture capital investments. Minhaj graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with a double major in Economics and Psychology and a minor in Applied Mathematics. He spent 3 years as a mentor with Minds Matter, prior to joining the Board and has served on the NYC board since 2012 including a decade as the Treasurer and head of the Finance Committee. He was also previously involved with the Association for Development of Pakistan, a US-based non-profit focused on engaged philanthropy in Pakistan. Minhaj is originally from Karachi, Pakistan.
Michael Recht
Michael Recht has been actively involved with Minds Matter since 2005, when he began the process of co-founding the Chicago Chapter. Over the last 12 years, he co-founded the Chicago Chapter, served as its Director of Mentees and sat on both the Chicago and National Governance Boards.
Professionally, Mr. Recht is a Managing Director at TowerBrook Capital Partners. Previously, Mr. Recht was a Senior Associate with the Retail & Consumer team at Apax Partners. Before joining Apax he worked for Thoma Cressey Bravo, focusing on investments in the consumer products and services sector. Prior to Thoma Cressey, Mr. Recht was a member of the Technology & Defense teams at CIBC World Markets. Mr. Recht earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.A. from Williams College.
Elvis Rodriguez
Elvis Rodriguez, is a Senior Director with CBRE Investment Management’s Client Solutions team. He began his career at Morgan Stanley, where he interned while completing his undergraduate studies. Mr. Rodriguez has worked in market data sales roles at Bloomberg and Tradeweb, as well as equity and fixed income research and trading roles at Adelante Capital Management, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Mr. Rodriguez received his B.S. in Engineering from Columbia University and his M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. Mr. Rodriguez has been an active Minds Matter alumnus and Advisory Board member, having served in a variety of roles. He is especially proud of having been a mentor to four students.
Ashish Shah
Ashish Shah is co-head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (GSAM) Global Fixed Income and Liquidity Solutions business. He also serves as global head of GSAM's Cross-Sector Strategy and is a member of the Fixed Income Strategy Group. Ashish joined Goldman Sachs as a partner in 2018.
Prior to joining the firm, Ashish was chief investment officer for Global Credit and head of Fixed Income for Alliance Bernstein, where he oversaw all credit-related strategies. He joined Alliance Bernstein in 2010 as the firm’s head of Global Credit. Prior to that, Ashish was a managing director and head of Global Credit Strategy at Barclays Capital from 2008 to 2010, responsible for the High Grade, High Yield, Structured Credit and Municipal Strategy groups and the Special Situations Research team. From 2003 to 2008, Ashish was head of Credit Strategy at Lehman Brothers.
Ashish has been a volunteer with Minds Matter since 1994 and National board member since 2015.
Ashish earned a BS in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ram Vittal
Ram Vittal currently serves as the CEO with Marex North America, where he provides leadership and strategic direction, building a successful and strong business. Previously, Mr. Vittal worked as a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Vittal is a huge advocate for higher learning, as it is a passion of his. He earned his MBA from The Wharton School in 2002, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University in 1996, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1994.