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Social Forward Capital | Focus Impact Acquisition Corp.
Social Forward Capital | Focus Impact Acquisition Corp.
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Our People

Executive Team
Experienced Leaders and Mission-Driven Investors
Carl Stanton

Carl Stanton

Chief Executive Officer

  • Former Head of PE for Invesco; Managing Partner of Wellspring Capital
  • 27 years of PE Investing and Board Member to >15 portfolio companies
  • Former firm closed funds totaling $3.1bn during tenure
Wray Thorn

Wray Thorn

Chief Investment Officer

  • Former MD & CIO for Private Investments at Two Sigma; led & architected PE/VC efforts
  • Established Two Sigma impact investment business; leader in proactive ESG, application of data / tech in private investing
  • 28-years private investing, $2.8bn+ invested capital, approved / part of investments in >120 companies, served on ~40 boards / committees
Ernest Lyles

Ernest Lyles

Chief Financial Officer

  • Founder of PE firm, The HiGro Group
  • Former Head of Technology and Business Services, UBS Investment Bank
  • 10 years of Investment Banking experience; Board observer and Lead Director, respectively, for two portfolio companies
Chadd Hunt

Chadd Hunt

Director

  • Managing Director, The HiGro Group
  • Former Managing Director, Dryden & Co
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Wes Moore

CHAIRMAN (Former)

  • 63rd Governor of the State of Maryland
  • Former CEO of RobinHood Foundation
  • Founder and CEO of BridgeEdU, White House Fellow to Condoleeza Rice, Rhodes Scholar
  • Former US Army Officer
  • New York Times best-selling author

Wes was elected Governor of the State of Maryland in November 2022 and subsequently resigned as our Chairman.

Howard Sanders

Lead Director

  • Founder and Managing Member of Auldbrass Partners
  • Former MD at Citi Holdings
  • Board member of the Partnership for New York City Foundation

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNER

Auldbrass
  • Leading Secondary firm with top quartile performance for recent fund
  • Founded in 2011, spin-out of Citi Holdings, 15 professionals
  • Career totals of >$5 billion in secondaries transactions (500 fund transactions) completed

Board of Directors & Advisory Board

Alongside the management team, FOCUS has assembled a best-in-class and diverse team, highly equipped and incentivized to add value to the FOCUS process.

Derek Ferguson

ADVISORY BOARD CHAIR

  • Chief Administrative Officer, TIAA
  • Former COO, Robin Hood Foundation
  • Former President, Combs Enterprises

ESG & Mission

Morgan DeBaun

  • CEO, Blavity
  • Millennial media executive

Shawn Escoffery

  • ED Roy & Patricia Disney Family Foundation
  • Former Program Officer, Surdna Foundation

Tom Perrotti

  • Former COO, ADP Corporation

Investing

Erik Anderson

  • Leader in global innovation and proactive ESG
  • Founder & CEO of WestRiver Group; CEO of Decarbonization Plus family of ESG SPACs
  • Executive Chairman: Singularity University, SVB Capital Credit Platform, Topgolf (former)

Josh Kaufman

  • Principal, Kaufman Holdings
  • Former Founder, Brenner West and Investor MSD Capital

Tom Kichler

  • Senior Advisor, CVC
  • Operating Partner, SJL (S Korea)
  • Board Member: Dussur (Saudi Arabia)

Leadership

Troy Carter*

  • CEO of Q&A and notable Angel Investor
  • Former Global Head of Creator Services, Spotify
  • Board Member: Aspen Institute, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Dawanna Williams*

  • Dabar Development Partners, Managing Principal
  • Former Attorney, Sidley Austin
  • Board Member: Apollo Theater

Rusty O’Kelley

  • Co-Head, Board and CEO Advisory Practice, Russell Reynolds
  • Board Member: Lincoln Theater

Operations

Dia Simms*

  • CEO, Lobos 1707
  • Former President, Combs Enterprises
  • Board Member: TILT Holdings, Thread, Inc.

Ron Pasek

  • Former CFO, NetApp
  • Board Member: Spectra Microsystems

Corey Harrison

  • Executive VP, NFL
  • Former White House Fellow, KKR, UBS

Note: (*) indicates an Independent Director on our Board of Directors. Otherwise, individuals appearing on this page are advisory board members.

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