Damian T. Burke has served as a Managing Director on our lower middle market team since September 2019 and currently also serves as a Managing Director of MSC Income. Prior to joining Main Street, from 2016 to 2019, Mr. Burke served as Chief Financial Officer of Melior Innovations, Inc., a Houston, Texas based company focused on commercializing new technologies in the semiconductor, coatings and oil field service sectors. Prior to joining Melior, from 2011 to 2016, Mr. Burke served as VP Corporate Development for Kraton Corporation (NYSE: KRA), a leading global specialty chemicals company, where he created and built out the corporate development group and led the execution of an acquisition program that doubled the size of the company. Prior to joining Kraton, from 2006 to 2011, Mr. Burke served as an SVP Development and Strategy with Oldcastle, Inc. (now known as CRH Americas), the North American division of CRH plc (NYSE: CRH), a leading global building materials business, where he led the acquisition of numerous privately held businesses in the building materials and products sectors. Mr. Burke began his career as an engineer with ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and served in roles of increasing responsibility in the United Kingdom and the United States. Mr. Burke holds an M. Eng. in Chemical Engineering from University College, London and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dodie Butler brings a wealth of experience to her clients having served on executive boards and in C-suite roles in the food and beverage, financial services, and technology sectors. She has successfully handled business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and partnerships for various companies.

Highly regarded for her industry knowledge and business savvy, Dodie has accomplished seven multimillion-dollar transactions and been a key participant in 30 potential deals during the past five years. Throughout her career, she has transformed struggling organizations either through restructuring, capital raising, or divestiture.

Currently, Dodie serves as the board chair for Thomas Crown, Inc. and is a management consultant at Point B. Prior to that she was responsible for corporate development, mergers and acquisitions for Farmer Brothers Coffee, where her last transaction was a carve-out divestiture. During her time at Ally Financial, Inc. she led strategic business and product development efforts to generate new, incremental, and non-core revenue streams in the emerging digital auto dealer and fintech arenas.

Jay is a partner of Kainos Capital and has almost 20 years of principal investing, investment banking and strategy experience in the food and consumer products sector. He focuses on evaluating, executing and managing investments and leads the Firm’s business development efforts.

Prior to joining Kainos Capital, Jay was most recently the senior vice president of strategy at CROSSMARK, a leading sales and marketing services company focused on the consumer industry. Prior to joining CROSSMARK, Jay was a director in the Mergers & Acquisitions department at Deutsche Bank Securities where he concentrated on consumer opportunities. He also managed the acquisition function for Global Brands Acquisition Corporation, a consumer/retail-focused SPAC. Jay began his career at Merrill Lynch before joining Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst, the predecessor to Kainos Capital, as an investment associate from 2005 to 2008.

Jay received his B.S. in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University with minors in Biology and Classical Studies.

Brigid is a forward-thinking and results driven executive with experience leading merchandising, product development, global sourcing and product integrity for Fortune 500 Chain stores and wholesale companies. Brigid worked with The Michaels Companies for over 19 years leading both domestic and internationally based teams. She currently serves as Chair of the finance committee for the AFCI Board of Directors and formerly served as Chairman of the Board for Darice Holdings Company. Accountable for providing strategic direction for the sourcing and manufacturing of private brands, she leveraged strong interpersonal skills to lead teams of Vice Presidents and Directors as well as developing business solutions to dramatically reduce merchandise costs while maintaining or improving product quality. Finally, she served as the executive sponsor for The Michaels Companies diversity and inclusion resource groups.

Brigid is currently serving as a Manager of the Board of Directors for Chalk Couture, LLC, which is newly acquired by the private equity firm, Firelight Capital, based in New York. As such, she is serving as a Senior Advisor to this portfolio company.

Ross Gatlin is CEO & Managing Partner of Prophet Equity, a private equity firm that makes control equity investments in strategically viable, asset intensive, middle market companies where there are significant
value creation opportunities. His track record includes over $2.4B of value created with the same distinct investment strategy over the last twenty plus years. These investments have generated both absolute and internal rates of return at the top of the private equity industry standard. Prior to this, Ross worked on strategic and operational turnarounds at Bain & Co. and financial restructurings at Houlihan Lokey. Ross holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University where he received both the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award and Beta Gamma Sigma honors. He earned his BBA from the University of Texas at Austin with a concentration in finance.

Jorge A. Gonzalez focuses his practice on cross-border M&A and joint venture transactions, global corporate reorganizations and restructuring projects, as well as cross-border commercial agreements. He advises clients on complex cross-border transactions and post-merger/acquisition integrations, helping clients through the full deal cycle from inception to successful integration. Mr. Gonzalez also counsels companies across a variety of industries on carve outs, spin offs, legal entity rationalizations and the expansion and management of their overseas operations.

Tom Harris has been advising middle-market clients for more than 30 years, helping them successfully close hundreds of acquisitions, divestitures, and other corporate transactions. He has represented both buyers and sellers in public and private sale-of-business transactions. He also has represented independent committees of boards of directors. Tom has been recognized by clients, peers and organizations for his high level of service in corporate and M&A-related work, including: Chambers USA, Chambers & Partners (2015-2018), The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc, (2013-2021), Standout Lawyer, Acritas Stars (2018-2020), and as a Best Business Lawyer in Dallas, D Magazine, D Magazine Partners (2009 and 2015-2021).

Tom leads the Firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice, guiding associates and newer partners through their careers, making sure they are equipped with the knowledge and experience to ensure clients’ needs are met, and coordinating Firm subject-matter experts in their collaboration on M&A matters. In addition to his practice leadership, Tom is also the administrative partner of the Dallas office of Haynes and Boone.

Ms. Tiffany Kosch is a Managing Director at CenterGate Capital a $350 million lower middle market private equity fund. Tiffany has over 20 years of investment experience creating value in lower middle market companies. She was a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, where she invested in underperforming lower middle market companies for eight years. Her experience covers a broad range of investment structures and types, among them corporate spin-outs and orphans, turnaround equity and distressed debt. Sectors covered are also broad, including business services, consumer products and manufacturing. Tiffany received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S., cum laude, from Georgetown University.

Thomas Laughlin is one of the founding partners of the Dallas office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Thomas regularly represents clients in mergers and acquisitions, SPAC transactions, investments (controlling and minority), divestitures, joint ventures, financings, restructurings and other corporate matters.

Thomas has broad experience across many industries, but in particular, he has focused his practice representing clients in the energy, infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing and transportation sectors.

The private equity firms and asset managers that Thomas has represented include Apollo, Ares, Blackstone, Chambers Energy Capital, Clearlake Capital Group, CPPIB, Cresta, Energy Spectrum, Owl Rock, Quantum, Oaktree, Pine Brook Partners, RedBird Capital Partners, Riverstone Holdings, TPG Capital, Trive Capital and Vortus Investments, as well as many public and private companies and family businesses.

Scott has deep experience leading large scale, successful transformations and a strong track record of driving superior shareholder returns. He served as a CEO, CFO, President, and board director of public and private equity companies. Most recently he was CEO of GenOn Mid-Atlantic and CFO / CRO at GenOn Energy Inc. Previously, he was SVP, Commercial Operations at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Deputy Executive Director at TxDOT, and SVP, Finance at TXU. Scott began his career as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey and as an investment banker at DLJ. Scott earned a B.S. with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech, and an M.B.A. with Distinction from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Barrett Lidji is a partner at Northaven Capital Partners and recently led the acquisition of Sunbelt Waterproofing and Airway Services. Prior to founding Northaven Capital, Barrett focused on sourcing & underwriting both equity and mezzanine debt opportunities at Congruent Investment Partners between 2015 and 2018. From 2011 to 2015, Barrett served in various roles at Lone Star Funds where he worked on traditional control buyout transactions, distressed investments, and alternative assets.

Mr. Lidji began his career as a restructuring consultant throughout the financial crisis at FTI Consulting where he worked on interim management and financial advisory engagements for companies in distress. Mr. Lidji earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Georgia and earned his JD/MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Brian Reed, CPA, ABV, has more than 20 years of diversified transaction advisory experience including acquisition due diligence and valuation services. He has worked with both private equity and corporate clients in a number of industries such as manufacturing, retail, distribution, technology, and energy for transactions with revenues ranging from $1 million to over $500 million.

Brian is an active member of several professional organizations. He is a frequent author of articles for professional and business publications, providing valuable industry and technical insights. Brian earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree from Tulane University.

Jack Sadden is a Partner and co-founder of Valesco Industries and is primarily focused on various initiatives around strategic leadership of the firm, portfolio company performance, and investment origination. When Bud Moore asked Jack to leave his perfectly good paying job to join him in launching Valesco, it came as no surprise. The two had talked about owning and operating their own business for years. And, that discussion lead to their first investment, one of the largest US independent fabricators of rebar where Jack had been CFO.

Over 25 years later, Valesco is still having fun and doing good. The partnership with company management where we put capital to work, has access to Valesco team experience like Jack’s, in support of their corporate growth and development objectives. Working with Arthur Young (Ernst & Young), Club Corp, turnaround consulting and private equity provided Jack a broad-based background in hands-on operating management, professional consultancy, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate finance. Added to these experiences is the perspective of owner, executive and board member in many industries, across a range of economic climates, under differing times of enterprise life cycle – from transitional to renewal to growth platform.

Gina Sandon, Director, M&A Synergy, leads a team of global experts responsible for the successful integration of acquisitions go-to-market and offering/development functions into IBM. Her current role involves working with Corporate Development / Business Development leadership from concept approval, due diligence, integration strategy and design, through execution and transfer of business to operations. She has a passion for the acquired employee experience, culture and organizational change management, and leveraging enterprise design thinking for co-creation of new approaches to drive growth.

Adam Shulman is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Business Strategy and Development at Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Adam is also the general counsel of its global $4B acetyls chemicals division. Adam has been at Celanese since 2011 and has taken on various roles at the company including chief competition and procurement counsel. Before joining Celanese, Adam was in-house counsel at Globe Specialty Metals, a leading producer of silicon metals based in New York City, and worked at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he specialized in venture capital transactions, mergers & acquisitions, and securities matters. Adam is a graduate of Duke University Law School and holds a B.A. from Haverford College in history.

Prior to joining RedBird, Dan spent 22 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Partner of the firm and led the Corporate Finance practice and co-led the Technology, Media & Telecom group of Goldman in Asia. He was a founding member of Goldman’s Beijing office, and lived in Hong Kong and Singapore, spending 17 years in Asia.

During his tenure, Dan advised Goldman’s largest clients in Asia and led deal teams across Greater China, Korea, India and Southeast Asia. He and his teams were instrumental in Goldman’s long-tenured #1 Asia IPO league-table ranking, and he was a key adviser to Goldman’s global corporate and investing clients around the Asian markets. He was a member of the firm’s Capital Committee and Commitments Committee, supervising all aspects of Corporate Finance and M&A execution. Dan also served on the Listing Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, guiding key policy reforms for the Hong Kong capital markets.

Dan currently sits on several boards across the RedBird investment portfolio, including (i) Compass Datacenters, a developer and owner of wholesale build-to-suit data centers for hyperscale cloud, software, and enterprise customers; (ii) Constellation Affiliated Partners, a platform buy-and-build of managing general agents in the insurance distribution space; (iii) Main Event, Differentiated family-entertainment center platform based in Texas; and (iv) Next Tier Connect, a platform to acquire and optimize underappreciated real estate properties with enhanced telecom and mission-critical characteristics.

Gabriela brings a unique perspective gained from her life-long career with leading CPG, Retail Electronics, Direct Selling, and Foodservice companies, both in international and domestic roles, living and working in geographies with distinctive business environments. This personal and career history has cultivated a deep and sophisticated understanding of transforming, acquiring, developing, and successfully executing tailored strategies for product and service categories, channels, and business models.

She has served as the SVP of National Accounts, Corporate Business Strategy and M&A, for Farmer Brothers in Dallas, a Nasdaq traded coffee roaster, wholesaler, and distributor of coffee, tea, and culinary products. Also, as COO & CFO for Latin American Markets at Amway, a leading nutrition, beauty, and home care direct selling company, based in DFW and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Prior, Gabriela served as EVP of Sales and Operations at CompUSA, a nationwide leading retailer and reseller of technology products and services, based in DFW. Earlier she was progressively promoted to several senior leadership roles with Philip Morris International and Kraft Foods (former Altria Corporation Subsidiaries); some of those roles included Managing Director in Spain, Director of Sales Development based in NYC.