Infralogic US P3 Forum 2023
Getting creative: how P3s can be part of the solution to deliver America’s essential infrastructure
Conrad New York Downtown, 102 North End Avenue, New York, NY 10282
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Amanda leads development and operations in Virginia for end-to-end customer operations―including network enhancements, road operations, maintenance and dynamic pricing―across the Express Lanes.
Amanda has over two decades of experience in both public and private sectors leading, developing, and managing complex transportation and infrastructure projects working directly for the owner agency and as owner’s representative. Proven leader in strategic development, negotiation, commercial/financial close and delivery of Public Private Partnerships (P3) within transportation. Amanda has expertise in policy, planning, design, permitting, implementation, construction and operations of major multimodal surface transportation initiatives.
Amanda is a graduate of George Mason University and currently a EMBA Candidate, Class of 2023, at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia.
David Blaisdell is Senior Development Director at Bechtel Enterprises responsible for leading development of BEn’s transportation initiatives. In this role, he leads and manages partnering, bidding, development, investment, financing, and asset management of BEn’s transportation developments globally. These opportunities are a mix of public-private partnerships (P3s) and development projects. David has experience on a number of transportation developments and financings with a particular focus on passenger rail and airports and the next generation of infrastructure emerging in the transportation sector.
David is a graduate of Middlebury College and holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Bonini is the Director of the Office of Public-Private Transportation Partnerships for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). In this role, Michael is responsible for the evaluation, structuring and implementation of partnership delivery solutions that are consistent with PennDOT’s transportation goals. Michael has been with PennDOT for over 25 years and has been in this role since May 2015. Michael received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Baltimore.
In January 2018, Stephen C. Brich was appointed commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the third largest highway agency in the country. Commissioner Brich oversees a $7.0 billion annual budget and a team of 7,700 people who are responsible for designing, building, maintaining and operating the state's nearly 58,000 miles of roadway, 21,000 structures and bridges, six tunnels and three ferry systems.
Brich possesses 26 years of extensive experience specializing in the areas of traffic engineering, safety, operations, transportation planning and research.
Prior to his appointment to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Brich served as a vice president with a major consultant’s operation, focusing on transportation in Virginia. He was responsible for leading strategic planning and pursuits relating to surface transportation.
Brich previously served in several senior roles with VDOT, including senior research scientist, assistant state traffic engineer for design and safety, and director of operations.
He successfully led and managed a wide array of projects and research studies during his tenure with VDOT and as a consultant. He was instrumental in developing various policy directives for VDOT’s traffic engineering and transportation system management and operations.
Brich holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Old Dominion University and a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia. He is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia and Maryland.
Jay Brown specializes in strategic, transactional, and public/private infrastructure and real estate advisory services to federal, state, and municipal entities and educational institutions. With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Brown has performed and overseen numerous public-private transactions, with a focus on social infrastructure — in particular, where social infrastructure intersects with commercial real estate development — to help universities and public sector clients generate revenue, reduce costs, eliminate deferred maintenance, and fund needed capital improvements. Mr. Brown is currently advising Howard University, Vanderbilt University, Shaw University, and Johnson C. Smith University, as well as Austin Independent School District, Austin Economic Development Corporation, and the City of Pflugerville, TX on a variety of social infrastructure P3 transactions.
Manish Chaturvedi is senior vice president at Hannon Armstrong (NYSE: HASI), a leading investor in climate solutions. He joined Hannon Armstrong in 2022 and is responsible for utility scale portfolio optimization and investment underwriting. Additionally, Mr. Chaturvedi focuses on regulatory affairs by working with investment partners and trade associations.
Mr. Chaturvedi is a power market expert with more than 25 years of accomplishments in energy investing, market forecasts and transmission. Prior to joining Hannon Armstrong, he was at Transmission Analytics, where he supported clients with congestion analysis for renewable project financings, GE Energy Financial Services, where he led market and transmission underwriting to support Renewable and Thermal investments, and Reliant Energy where he managed the portfolio’s basis risk in PJM & CAISO. He began his career at Entergy, where he held several roles in Transmission and Finance. He holds an MBA in Finance from Tulane University, a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering from JMI (India) & RPI respectively.
Pierce Coffee has been an integral part of Transurban since 2009. She oversees Transurban’s business in the United States and Canada, where she is responsible for the development, financing, construction, and operations of major toll road infrastructure. Prior to her Executive Committee appointment, she served as Vice President of Customer Experience and Operations where she was responsible for end-to-end customer experience and operations across the growing network of Express Lanes in the U.S. —including road operations, maintenance, dynamic pricing, account management, and product development. She has held public affairs, communications, and marketing leadership roles in the U.S. and Australia during which she established the first customer marketing function in both markets. She currently serves on the Eno Transportation Board of Advisors and has been recognized as one of Virginia Business’ most influential transportation leaders.
Michael Crabb is Vice President of Finance at Last Energy, leading project structuring and capital markets activity. Throughout his career, Michael has been heavily involved in M&A, strategy, and financing activity in the energy industry across various fossil and renewable technologies. In previous roles, Michael was the Vice President of M&A and Corporate Strategy for Tenaska, Inc., a privately-held North American energy company with over $10Bn in revenue. Before that, Michael was an investment associate for Tenaska Capital Management, an energy-focused private equity firm with a peak AUM over $7Bn. He has been intimately involved in M&A transactions of over $3.8Bn in aggregate enterprise value and in Term Loan B project financings of over $2.7Bn. Michael also currently serves as a Board Member for American National Bank, a regional bank serving Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. Michael received his B.S. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Nebraska with minors in Mathematics and Economics.
Mike Crase serves as vice president for Gilbane Building Company responsible for developing relationships and opportunities to support the company’s expanding focus on social infrastructure and public-private partnerships (P3) throughout the U.S. He’s a veteran A/E/C professional with more than 30 years of experience helping public and private clients navigate the complex P3 space to achieve their project’s financial and programmatic goals. Mike served as one of the key principals supporting Prince George's County Public Schools multi-school P3 program. He brings valuable industry insights and resources to public institutions and industry partners interested in customizing a P3 solution to meet their particular needs. Mike has been with Gilbane for over 22 years and attended the University of Delaware where he received a degree in Economics.
Shylene De Jesus currently serves as General Counsel of the Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Authority (P3A), the agency in charge of promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors with the goal of promoting sustainable economic impact, improve public services, and establishing Puerto Rico as a global competitor in infrastructure development. The P3A was recently presented with the Organization of the Year-Public Sector award at the P3 Awards 2021 international awards ceremony.
Through her role in the P3A, Ms. De Jesus is in charge of overseeing all legal processes within the organization, which has a track record in leading large-scale projects in the public-private partnerships (PPP) industry, including the recent transfer into private hands of the operation and maintenance of Puerto Rico’s electric transmission and distribution system, one of the largest remaining public utilities in the United States, in what is considered one of the biggest PPPs in the history of the country.
Prior to joining the P3A in 2021, Ms. De Jesus worked as a litigation attorney in complex commercial litigation, specializing in secured transactions, debt restructuring, creditors rights, and intellectual property. Ms. De Jesus was a partner at Adsuar, Muniz Goyco Seda & Perez-Ochoa, P.S.C. from 2012 to 2021. She also worked at O’Neill & Borges, LLC from 2003 to 2011, where she became partner in 2007. Ms. De Jesus career began in 2001, when she served as clerk for Hon. Baltasar Corrada del Rio, former judge at the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
Ms. De Jesus graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law in 2001.
Profile to follow shortly.
Steven DeWitt has enjoyed a long career in transportation having retired from the NCDOT in 2012 after having served in many senior roles including State Construction Engineer, Director of Construction, and Chief Engineer of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority. He led the development of NCDOT’s design-build program, NCDOT’s first P3 procurement, and North Carolina’s first modern toll road. Upon retirement, he joined WSP (Parsons Brinckerhoff) where he led P3 advisory efforts for state transportation departments as well as participating in regional and national pursuits of P3 and design-build projects and related efforts. Since 2015, Mr. DeWitt has served as the Senior Vice President of Business Development for ACS Infrastructure Development, Inc. In this role, he leads and/or assists ACS pursuits and implementation of major infrastructure Public Private Partnership projects across the US. He also serves as the CEO of the project company overseeing the historic Angels Flight funicular in downtown Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer. He has been very active in numerous national transportation organizations with key leadership roles over his career including AASHTO, TRB, ARTBA, AIAI and others.
Ray co-heads a team of bankers at SMBC responsible for originating, arranging financing and providing advisory services for a wide range of infrastructure projects in North America.
Ray has over 30 years of experience include project lending, investment banking and financial advisory for transportation, social infrastructure, environmental, energy generation, and telecommunication facilities. Highlighted financings include sole buy- side advisor on the acquisition of the A25 toll bridge concession (Montreal), coordinating lead arranger for the Vista Ridge (TX) Water Supply Project, and mandated leader arranger (MLA) for the LAX Automatic People Mover, the Long Beach (CA) Civic Center, the State Street (IN) Redevelopment Project, the Champlain Bridge in Montreal, the Regina By-Pass, Edmonton Light Rail, Ottawa Light Rail and Ohio State University’s CampusParc financing.
Prior to joining SMBC, Ray served as financial advisor to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIFIA Program Office on seven TIFIA financings; successfully closed project financings for the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Ray was previously a Managing Director & Head of Project Finance at CIFG; Managing Director at Scully Capital; and held project finance roles at Ambac and Credit Suisse.
Ray serves as a Member of Advisory Board of Cornell University’s Program on Infrastructure Policy (CPIP), the Editorial Board of the Journal of Structured Finance and the Committee on Revenue and Finance of the Transportation Research Board. Raymond holds an MBA from the Columbia Business School a BA in History, with Honors, from the University of Michigan
As Chief Financial Officer for Transurban North America, Mike has responsibility for the accounting, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), corporate finance and treasury functions of Transurban’s North American operations. He also plays key roles in structuring, negotiating and financing new project developments and bid submissions, and has managerial and Board responsibilities for Transurban’s North American assets. Mike joined Transurban in 2016 as Treasurer, North America and led the financing of the I-395 Express Lanes, including the use of innovative financing tools like Private Activity Bonds and Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank debt. He was also instrumental in developing the valuation and financing strategy on the acquisition of the A25 toll road and bridge which expanded Transurban’s portfolio into Canada.
Mike brings more than 25 years of experience in developing and leading finance teams, raising debt and equity, and negotiating project finance transactions to fund critical infrastructure. Prior to joining Transurban, he served as CFO of several innovative companies in the international lending (U.S. Export-Import Bank), alternative energy (H2Gen Innovations) and power (GeoGlobal Energy) industries. Mike has led the development and execution of strategic plans and budgets, portfolio and risk management, workouts and restructurings, buy and sell-side M&A transactions, and communication with investors and stakeholders.
Earlier in his career, Mike held numerous financial analyst positions, including with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), MBIA and Citibank
Mr. Ebie is the CEO and founder of the Phoenix Infrastructure Group, an infrastructure investor based in Washington, DC. He has over fifteen years in infrastructure, municipal finance, and public-private partnerships investment banking and advisory experience. Phoenix, founded in 2015, is one of the few minority-owned infrastructure investor/developers in the United States, and is an investor in the Washington, DC Smart Streetlights System, Charlotte Gateway Train Station, among other regional-defining infrastructure projects.
Prior to founding Phoenix, Mr. Ebie has served as an investment banker and financial advisor on both innovative public-private partnerships (P3s) for transportation, energy social and infrastructure projects across the United States, in projects totaling over $8 billion. Mr. Ebie has also advised commercial, federal, state, and local agencies on developing programs designed towards the analysis and procurement of P3s.
Mr. Ebie holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and an JD from Tulane Law School.
Edward is Managing Director for National Bank Financial and Co-Head of US Investment Banking Power, Utilities & Infrastructure. Edward has more than 25 years of infrastructure investment banking and advisory experience in sectors that include water, wastewater, transportation, power/energy, and social infrastructure. Edward’s water-related experience includes: the concession/divestiture of Lower Colorado River Authority’s water assets; Carlsbad Desalination; Rialto Water/Wastewater P3; Enertech Rialto Biosolids Project; San Juan Capistrano Desalination Project; and New Haven WPCA restructuring. Edward held similar leadership positions at Deloitte, BMO Capital Markets, Lehman Brothers, and Barclays. Prior to investment banking, Edward worked for a multi-national consulting firm specializing in large water, wastewater and other environmental-related projects.
Edward has degrees from The Cooper Union (BE), Manhattan College (ME), NYU’s Stern School of Business (MBA). Edward is a CFA charter holder and a licensed professional engineer.
Dr. Morteza Farajian has served as a senior executive leading the Build America Bureau at USDOT (the Bureau) since April 2019. He is responsible for credit programs and loan guarantees (approximately $100 billion in lending capacity and $25 billion in existing portfolio) that support development of large-scale and multimodal transportation infrastructure. The Bureau also promotes innovative project financing solutions and helps state and local governments develop and finance Public-Private Partnership (P3) transactions for transportation facilities.
Prior to this position, Dr. Farajian was serving as acting Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Office in Virginia. Over a period of 7 years, he led procurement, financing and contract negotiation of multiple multi-modal transportation projects totaling $10 billion in value. Under his leadership, the P3 program in Virginia was reformed to promote competition, engage stakeholders and increases accountability. He established the first strategic program to manage a portfolio of P3 contracts post-procurement totaling $14 billion in project value.
Dr. Farajian is also an entrepreneur who has co-founded a crowd-financing platform that provides local and small investors the opportunity to invest in infrastructure projects as equity or subordinate debt. He has proven experience in successfully leading multi-disciplinary teams and diverse expertise in P3 transaction structuring and negotiation, organizational transformation, business development, public policy, stakeholder management and project planning/finance.
Dr. Farajian has received his Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees in Project Management from University of Maryland. He also has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. He currently serves as a board member on ARTBA’s P3 Division and TRB’s Revenue and Finance committee.
Matthew Fedors is a Managing Director on the Infrastructure Investment Team at Manulife Investment Management. Mr. Fedors is responsible for origination, execution, and ongoing oversight of investments in the sector. He has over twenty years of experience in the transportation, power & renewables, and utility sectors in both principal and advisory roles.
Prior to joining the Infrastructure Investment Team, Mr. Fedors was a senior investment professional at a mid-market private equity firm and an investment banker with JPMorgan’s Energy group and Leveraged Finance group. Mr. Fedors holds an MBA from the University of Virginia and a Master’s degree in Environmental Policy from Cambridge University. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Bio to follow shortly.
Jed Freedlander is a Managing Partner of Phoenix Infrastructure Group, a diverse-owned infrastructure developer and investor. Jed is responsible for identification, pursuit, development and delivery of infrastructure projects, with a focus on U.S. P3.
Jed has been active in infrastructure investment, development and advisory since 2005, initially as a legal advisor for DLA Piper, where he advised on the first availability payment based social infrastructure P3 in the U.S. and the first monoline wrapped power plant refinancing, among others. Jed has served as project executive, bid director, finance manager and commercial director on multiple P3 projects for Balfour Beatty Investments, Amber Infrastructure/Hunt Companies and, since 2020, Phoenix Infrastructure. Jed has also been active in the structuring, negotiation and execution of multiple private equity transactions in the infrastructure space, including secondary market transactions.
Jed serves on the ESG committee for the Association of American Infrastructure and is a frequent speaker and contributor on sustainability, resilience, social equity and community-based infrastructure matters.
Doug Fried is Norton Rose Fulbright's US Head of Infrastructure. His practice focuses on the representation of sponsors, equity investors, lenders, contractors and government entities in connection with infrastructure, transportation and energy projects.
Doug has been involved in projects in the United States, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. His practice includes the representation of such entities in connection with the development and financing of new projects, public-private partnerships, the privatization of existing assets, the workout and restructuring of troubled projects, companies and transactions, and sales and acquisitions.
Emily Goergen Azer is a Principal of GI Partners. She currently serves on the boards of DRFortress and Rise Broadband. Prior to joining GI Partners, Mrs. Azer was a Vice President at Stonepeak Partners in New York where she focused on infrastructure investments in the Communications sector. Earlier in her carrier, Emily worked in the North America Private Equity and Global Infrastructure groups at KKR in New York and was an investment banking analyst with the Blackstone Group in New York. Mrs. Azer received her B.S. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Rob Gramlich is Founder and President of Grid Strategies LLC where he provides economic policy analysis for clients on electric transmission and power markets in pursuit of low-cost de-carbonization. He is co-founder of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, the WATT Coalition, and the Future Power Markets Forum.
Rob oversaw transmission and power market policy for the American Wind Energy Association from 2005 through 2016 as Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs, Interim CEO, and Policy Director. He was Economic Advisor to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III from 2001 to 2005, Senior Economist at PJM Interconnection in 1999 and 2000, Senior Associate at PG&E National Energy Group in 2000-2001, and an analyst at the FERC Office of Economic Policy, ICF Resources, the World Resources Institute, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the 1990s. He testifies frequently before the US Congress, US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), US Department of Energy, and state legislatures and regulatory commissions. He has served on advisory committees for the U.S. Department of Energy and the North American Energy Standards Board, on boards of a number of regional clean energy organizations.
Profile to follow shortly.
Matthew Hobby is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WIFIA program. WIFIA is a federal loan program that has closed 89 loans totaling over $15 billion to U.S. water and wastewater infrastructure projects since 2018. Prior to joining EPA in 2019, Matt worked for the Georgia Department of Transportation’s office of Budget’s P3 program, Ernst & Young as financial advisor to public sector clients on major state infrastructure projects, and Standard & Poor’s as a senior bond rating analyst covering public finance, corporate and project finance and P3 infrastructure debt issuers in the transportation and power sectors.
Matt has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wesleyan University.
Robert “Bob” L. Johnson is senior vice president of Hannon Armstrong (NYSE: HASI), a leading investor in climate solutions. He joined Hannon Armstrong in 2013 and is responsible for growing the company’s sustainable infrastructure investments with major clients serving public sector customers in the federal, state & local, and higher-education markets. Additionally, Mr. Johnson focuses on driving investments with clients offering solutions for private sector customers in the healthcare and commercial & industrial markets.
Mr. Johnson has been at the leading edge of the energy efficiency industry where he has built businesses across a broad range of systems and services. Prior to joining Hannon Armstrong, he held executive leadership positions at Eaton, where he led global sales for one of their divisions, Trane Technologies, where he led North American Institutional Sales which included healthcare, government, and education segments, and Johnson Controls Federal Systems Division where he was the global sales leader. He began his career at Honeywell, where he held several leadership positions during his 15-year tenure.
Currently, Mr. Johnson is a member of the board of directors of the Alliance to Save Energy, the National Association of Energy Services Companies (NAESCO), and the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association (SMSA). Mr. Johnson is a frequent speaker at energy-related events, particularly on topics related to capital markets and financing trends for behind-the-meter systems, resiliency, microgrids, and energy efficiency. He has been published in Military Engineer magazine and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Maryland.
Maria Kang is a Managing Director with Keystone Global, responsible for providing the company’s clients with project finance advisory services. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the financial services industry and has spent the most recent 15 years focused specifically in the infrastructure sector providing financial advice for sell-side and buy-side opportunities or acting as a lead arranger lending to projects. Prior to joining Keystone Global, Maria was a Managing Director at global institutions including Rubicon Capital Advisors and Scotiabank where she focused on originating, structuring and executing a broad range of transactions working with infrastructure sponsors, operators and investors.
Maria received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and a Master of Business Administration from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Bio to follow shortly.
Santanu Khan leads Corporate Development activities at CenTrio. With 20+ years of experience in strategic planning, corporate development, energy infrastructure investment, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), and P3s, Santanu is an accomplished energy sector executive. He is responsible for M&A activities as well as all corporate development activities for district energy systems, microgrids, and other campus energy and utility infrastructure P3/concessions across the U.S. His recent most accomplishments include the LSU Baton Rouge campus Utility P3 that reached financial close in March 2022. He successfully completed nearly $4.5 billion in landmark, comprehensive Utility P3 concessions and M&A transactions involving critical energy infrastructure at Georgetown University, The Ohio State University, University of Iowa, Howard University, and Boston’s Longwood Medical Center, which serves 6 Harvard-affiliated hospitals. Santanu holds an MBA degree in Finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
As Group Head, Business Development and Partnering, Sia Kusha is responsible for Plenary Americas’ strategic business development, partnering and project development activities across North America. Based in Tampa, Sia coordinates Plenary's efforts to identify and assess new markets, project opportunities (buildings and civil), liaise with relevant authorities and solidify teaming.
Sia joins Plenary after more than 35 years in the engineering and construction industries, including the last five years at AECOM where most recently was the Managing Director of Integrated Delivery Services, responsible for their opportunity pipeline and partnering across their five business lines (Transportation, Water, Power, Environment, Buildings & Places) in the Americas.
Sia is fellow of the American Council of Engineering Companies and a registered professional engineer in FL, GA, NC, AZ, MN and WI.
Young is a lawyer in the Energy and Infrastructure Group who focuses on large infrastructure projects using public-private partnerships (PPP/P3).
Young is recognized as a Leading Lawyer by Chambers USA and Chambers Global (2015-2022), where clients state that she “is phenomenal – practical, thoughtful and creative,” she “provides expert representation in the development and financing of high-value and sophisticated infrastructure projects” and is “very insightful and bringing a lot of practical experience to deals.”
Young represents sponsors, lenders and investors in the development, construction, financing and operation and maintenance of complex infrastructure projects and the acquisition and sale of projects and companies in the infrastructure sector. She has been involved in many of the largest U.S. PPP transactions that have achieved financial close in the past several years.
Young has acted as lead counsel in numerous project financings, acquisitions and other strategic arrangements in the United States and abroad. These transactions have involved, among other assets, toll roads, airports, port facilities, generation assets, telecommunications infrastructure, water and waste facilities, and companies owning portfolios of infrastructure assets.
Seth Lehman is a Senior Director in Fitch’s Global Infrastructure and Project Finance Group where he serves as co-head of the North America Transportation Infrastructure ratings team. His responsibilities include leading a team of US and Canadian based analysts covering transportation assets as well as social infrastructure and sports facilities using demand-based and availability pay financing structures. Seth has been one of the lead contributing authors to Fitch’s current infrastructure and global transportation criteria and regularly publishes performance reports covering many core infrastructure sectors.
Prior to joining Fitch Ratings in 2008, Seth served as a Director and senior underwriter for Financial Guaranty Insurance Company’s (FGIC) with a focus on underwriting bond insurance and other credit enhancement products for municipal bonds with a particular emphasis on transportation, utilities, and other infrastructure revenue financings. Seth was also a Director at Standard & Poor’s Global in its Public Finance Department, where he focused on bond sectors, including transportation, utilities, project finance, and special tax financings issued in the U.S. and global capital markets.
Seth received both his Bachelors of Science in Statistics and Economics, and his M.B.A. in Finance from New York University. For the past 20 years, Seth is an active community leader, including serving for more than 20 years on the Board of Commissioners in Rockland County NY.
Shawn A. Matlock is the Director of Capital Programs for Prince George's County Public Schools, which is the second largest school district in Maryland and the 23rd largest in the country. The Department of Capital Programs manages roughly 60 school construction projects annually with a budget of approximately $200 Million. Shawn spent 24 years as a commercial transactions attorney in the private sector. In 2013, Shawn made the jump to the public sector, spearheading the legal effort related to Baltimore City Public School’s billion-dollar 21st Century Building initiative, as its Senior Transactions Counsel. At Prince George' County Public Schools, Shawn is modernizing their approach to new school construction, leveraging his more than 28 years of international transaction experience. Chaired Prince George’s County’s P3 Alternative Financing School Infrastructure Work Group, and completed the first public private partnership for the construction of six public schools using an availability payment model which received the following recognitions: The 2021 P3 Awards 2021 Social Infrastructure Project of the Year and The 2020 IJ Global Awards: Social Infrastructure (Education) Deal of the Year and Editor’s Choice as the Best Deal in North America. Secretary of the Maryland State Bar Association, Construction Law Committee. Shawn holds a BA from Dickinson College and a JD from the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law.
Rick is a Senior Vice President in Macquarie Capital’s Infrastructure and Energy Capital Team. Rick has extensive experience in project finance, P3 transactions, and design-build construction. As a registered Civil Engineer with nearly 10 years of experience in the design and construction industry, Rick serves as the D&C director for Macquarie’s North American P3 projects. Prior to joining Macquarie in 2015, Rick was a project manager for Kiewit Infrastructure West where he worked on desalination, water/wastewater treatment, transportation, and transit projects across North America.
Brandey McDonald is responsible for P3 infrastructure asset management, specializing in the K-12 market in the US. She currently oversees the development of the Prince George’s County Public Schools alternative construction financing project.
Brandey joined Fengate in March 2021. Her distinguished career includes positions in municipal investment banking, commercial real estate lending, and contracting. Prior to joining Fengate, Brandey was an owner’s representative with MGAC overseeing the development of state-of-the-art school projects for the District of Columbia Department of General Services.
Brandey holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Cincinnati and master’s degrees in finance and real estate from American University.
John is a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Team covering a diverse portfolio of project financings, publicprivate partnerships (PPPs), and municipal infrastructure issuers in the transportation, energy and social infrastructure sectors. John chairs Moody’s Global PPP Task Force and is the sector lead for US toll roads, PPPs and generic project financings. John authors research across multiple sectors and annually leads several new rating assignments for new PPPs and project financings in the US and Canada. John was selected as one of the Bond Buyer’s 2017 Rising Stars. Before joining the Infrastructure and Project Finance Team in 2010, John spent two and a half years as a lead analyst for local governments and enterprises in the Eastern Regional Local Government Ratings Team where he was the lead for municipal issuers in Pennsylvania and New York while also covering New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida. Prior to joining Moody’s, John worked as a risk management analyst, a property and casualty insurance account manager, and a health care claims auditor. John is a founding member and was the first co-chair of Moody’s NY Multicultural Employee Resource Group and is a founding steering committee member of Moody’s NY LGBTA Employee Resource Group. John earned his BA degree in Health Care Economics and Policy from Stanford University and his MPA in Health Care Public Finance from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
Rodney is a Sr. Vice President of Hunt/Amber and has led its U.S. Progressive P3 business since 2017. He has acted as both developer of municipal projects and strategic P3 advisor to state and local governments. The Hunt/Amber team has over 120 infrastructure professionals globally with 200 P3 projects in the portfolio. Rodney is a leading authority on the application progressive P3 development to complex social infrastructure projects.
Prior to joining Hunt, Rodney was a Regional Managing Director for Aon’s Construction Services Group and Regional Chief Legal Officer and national P3 lead for Balfour Beatty Construction. Prior to joining Balfour Beatty, Rodney was a partner in the construction practice group at the Bradley law firm in Birmingham, Alabama and is a licensed attorney in Texas and Alabama.
Rodney currently serves on the board of the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure (AIAI) and is the chair of the law and legislative committee.
Tom Mulvihill is a Managing Director and Group Head of KeyBanc Capital Market’s Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Business. He brings more than 25 years of U.S. Capital Markets experience from both public and project finance. Tom’s experience includes strategic and financial advisory services, transaction structuring, procurement and execution for clients in the transportation, social infrastructure and utility sectors.
Sam Nakhleh is a Director at Assured Guaranty in the Project Finance / Infrastructure group covering the Americas and is based in New York. Sam Nakhleh has a wide range of experience in the infrastructure and structured finance markets where he has been a participant for the last 20 years. Prior to joining Assured Guaranty in 2007, Sam Nakhleh was with Ambac. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University.
Amir has been with Meridiam since 2017 where he is the Deputy Director for Meridiam’s Global Business Development activities. Amir also leads origination and new sectors strategies in the Americas regions, including investments in the digital infrastructure and energy transition sectors.
Prior to joining Meridiam, Amir co-founded Discern Data, a technology company using drones to provide aerial data to industrial, infrastructure and government clients. Before launching that venture, Amir gained expertise advising governments and companies in a variety of organizations. His experience includes roles at strategic communications firm Richard Attias & Associates in New York, the Clinton Foundation's Health Access Initiative in Togo, private equity fund PHI Industrials in Madrid, and merchant bank Genoa Capital Markets in Toronto. Amir holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Raam Pandey is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and is responsible for originating, negotiating, and structuring partnerships, acquisitions, and other investment opportunities that support Enwave's strategic objectives.
During his career as a development and investment professional, Raam has led due diligence on pursuits across North America and in a variety of roles, including as a financial and development advisor and as an equity investor. Since joining Enwave in 2019, Raam has successfully executed transactions in excess of $4 billion across the US and Canadian district energy sectors.
Raam holds a Bachelor of Arts, Economics from the University of Western Ontario.
Mansi Patel is a Managing Director at MetLife Investments Management in the MetLife Private Capital group. She is the Head of the U.S. Infrastructure and Project Finance debt, responsible for transaction sourcing, origination, underwriting and portfolio management across core infrastructure sectors.
Prior to joining MetLife Investment Management in 2006, Ms. Patel held roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers in their advisory and consulting tax divisions. She holds a B.S. degree in Statistics and a B.S. degree in Finance from Rutgers College and a M.B.A. in Finance from Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Dmitri Petrikovski is a Vice President at Kiewit Development Company with 16 years of experience working in financial advisory and P3 industries. Since 2009, Dmitri has been involved in complex, diverse P3 transactions in Canada and the United States. He brings a combination of private sector and public sector knowledge that spans a variety of contract models in P3 space as well as Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance advisory experience.
Dmitri leads and supports Kiewit Development’s pursuits on projects involving equity investment or external project financings, feasibility studies, structuring, financing negotiations and financial advisory activities.
Prior to joining Kiewit, Dmitri worked at Infrastructure Ontario as a part of the Transaction Finance team and was involved in a number of DBF, DBFM and Commercial Projects transactions. Prior to Infrastructure Ontario, Dmitri worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions advisory group at Lazard.
Dmitri has a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from McGill University and Masters of Business Administration from Laurier School of Business and Economics. Dmitri is also a CPA and a CFA Charterholder.
Anthony is the Regional Managing Director for John Laing’s North American business based in Los Angeles. Building upon John Laing’s successful long-term involvement in the North American P3 and Energy markets, Anthony has responsibility for all activities in the region.
Anthony has over 16 years experience across multiple Infrastructure markets including North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Anthony joined John Laing in 2005 and during this time has worked in London, Singapore and Sydney. Anthony successfully led John Laing’s entry into the Australia and New Zealand markets prior to relocating to the United States in 2014.
Anthony leads a large team of infrastructure specialists based throughout the United States and Canada focused upon securing and delivering major Transportation, Social, Digital and Energy transition projects.
Anthony is on the board of The Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure.
Profile to follow shortly.
| Aman joined QIC’s New York office in 2018 and leads the Transport coverage in North America on both acquisitions and asset management, with particular responsibility for investment origination. Prior to joining QIC, Aman was Executive Director, Investment Banking, Infrastructure and Power at CIBC Capital Markets. Aman’s experience spans M&A, debt financing and public-private partnerships transactions across the transportation, water, energy and social infrastructure sectors. Before joining CIBC in 2014, Aman was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley based in New York. Prior to his MBA, Aman worked as a transportation planning engineer with a focus on developing travel demand models for toll road, mass transit and airport projects. Aman is currently a director of MI Longbeach LLC (the project vehicle for the Long Beach Courthouse PPP project), CampusParc LLC (Ohop State University Parking Concession), and MasParc and Mobility LLC (Northeastern University Parking Concession). Aman holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Thapar Institute (India), a Master of Science from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. |
Karl Reichelt is the Founding Principal of Turnkey Infrastructure Advisors which provides consulting services to governmental agencies, developers, investors, lenders, contractors, designers, operators, infra-tech, and buyers participating in P3 projects – from pre-development through divestment. Karl previously held senior executive positions with Equitix, Bombardier Transportation, AECOM & AECOM Capital, and Skanska.
Regarded as a national infrastructure leader, Karl’s track record includes delivering the full lifecycle (develop-bid-win-close-finance-invest-design-build-operate/asset manage-divest) of 50+ Public Private Partnership (P3) projects in 10 countries, 14 US states, across seven main infrastructure sectors including 17 different asset classes.
Karl is a former county, state and federal government executive, having served eight years as an appointee under the Administration of NY Governor George E. Pataki, including leading recovery efforts following 9/1. He was also a top appointee under the Administration of US President George W. Bush as Regional Administrator, Chief Procurement Officer and Chief of Staff for the US General Services Administration.
Karl serves as a Board Member for the Cornell University Program on Infrastructure Policy, the Himalayan Climate & Science Institute, and is a frequent lecturer a top American universities & industry events.
Profile to follow shortly.
Kent is a partner in the global Projects, Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure practice, and he splits his time between our New York and Los Angeles offices. His global experience is unique among infrastructure lawyers. Kent has been involved in major infrastructure financings in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including many first-of-their-kind transactions. He has played a leading role in the development of private finance in the transportation infrastructure sector in North America, having successfully closed many transactions now considered templates for infrastructure finance. He has been involved in the financial closing of more than 100 infrastructure and natural resources transactions worldwide.
Sarah is Head of P3 North America at Macquarie Capital, leading development and equity investment in P3 projects in North America. Sarah has extensive experience in project finance and project development and delivery globally, having worked on several major complex P3 projects across North America, Europe and Australia from their origination to their construction completion. Prior to joining Macquarie in 2019, Sarah was a Director for Plenary in Australia and a Director at KPMG advising public authorities in the development and procurement of large, complex transportation and social infrastructure projects. Before then, Sarah also worked for Meridiam, where she supported the delivery of various successful major complex P3 projects across Europe and North America.
Tim Schneider is General Counsel for Tilson, a national leader in telecom consulting, design, and build services, and advises its affiliate Tilson Infrastructure, which develops, owns, and leases telecommunications infrastructure including poles, towers, and fiber to carriers nationwide, including several innovative, long term open access fiber partnerships in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. In 2021, he was appointed to serve as the Chair of the Board of the newly created Maine Connectivity Authority, a quasi-governmental agency charged with achieving universal access of affordable high-speed broadband in Maine. Prior to joining Tilson, Tim led the Maine Office of the Public Advocate, the independent state agency that represents Maine utility customers. As Public Advocate, Tim served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Utility Consumer Advocates and played a central role in setting Maine’s energy and telecommunications policy, with particular focus on ensuring that electricity bills were affordable for low income electricity customers, expanding access to broadband, and developing forward-looking distributed generation policy. He is a graduate of Harvard University and New York University School of Law.
Dan Seltzer is a Managing Director in MUFG’s Project Finance group where he focuses on leading financing and advisory assignments, primarily for transportation and telecom assets. Before joining MUFG in 2011, Seltzer founded Stonehill Capital Advisors, LLC, a boutique advisory and banking firm in the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors. Prior to starting his own firm, Seltzer spent more than 11 years at Citigroup where in his last role he was one of the founders of the Infrastructure Investment Banking group. Seltzer also served in banking roles in Citi’s Public Sector Group, and TMT banking team. Seltzer began his career as a systems consultant with CGI, formerly American Management Systems.
Dan focuses his practice on project finance transactions. His clients include sponsors, developers, investors, lenders, and underwriters, who he represents in energy, infrastructure, and transportation transactions. He has significant experience in project and acquisition financings and public-private partnerships. Dan was recognized in the 2022 edition of The Legal 500 U.S. as a “key lawyer” for his work in project finance, and by Best Lawyers as “One to Watch” for Project Finance Law in both 2021 and 2022. He is also a former member of the Future Leaders Network Committee for the International Project Finance Association.
Mr. Taylor is in his 5th year with Carlyle Global Infrastructure after 15 years at Hastings Infrastructure [2000 to 2015].
Mr Taylor is Co-Head of Carlyle Global Infrastructure Opportunity Fund (CGI) and in addition to leading Carlyle’s relationship with Vico Infrastructure, he is currently responsible for Carlyle’s leadership of the JFK Airport Terminal One redevelopment.
As a member of Hasting’s Executive Leadership Team, Mr. Taylor was the Global Head of Global Investments and Asset Management where he focused on the sourcing new investment, divestment opportunities and portfolio company outcomes. Previously at Hastings, Mr. Taylor was based in the United States from 2006 to 2012 and established Hastings’ North American business, building strategic relationships and partnerships.
At Hastings, Mr. Taylor led or oversaw transactions including the acquisition of Transgrid (EV $10.3 billion), Porterbrook (EV $4.0 billion), Port of Newcastle (EV $1.3 billion), Phoenix Natural Gas (EV $1.0 billion), acquisition of interests in Queensland Airports Limited (equity of $250 million), Sydney Desalination Plant (EV $1.7 billion), Freeport LNG (equity $200 million), South East Water (and its subsequent merger with Mid Kent Water) and Ballarat Water. He also played a key role in the development of the partnership between Hastings and Zachry American Infrastructure.
Prior to joining Hastings, Mr. Taylor was a Manager (Structured Asset Finance) at Deutsche Bank where he was financial advisor/arranger on a number of infrastructure projects.
Mr. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from the Queensland University of Technology.
Anne is a Director in Fitch’s Global Infrastructure and Project Finance Group and heads the U.S. toll road sector. In addition to toll roads, she covers U.S. transportation credits including airports, seaports, rail transit, availability-based projects, and public-private partnership projects.
Prior to Fitch, Anne spent four years as an investment banking Associate covering the Technology and Business Services sector at Bank of Montreal. Before receiving her MBA, Anne was as a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) consultant for five years at Poten & Partners, a ship brokerage and consultancy for the energy and ocean transportation industries.
Anne received an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University.
Serdar Tufekci heads ENGIE’s major partnerships business that includes the campuses at Ohio State, University of Iowa, Georgetown University, Howard University and the Longwood Medical Center in Boston. Prior to his current role, Serdar was the CEO of Ohio State Energy Partners where he started up the first comprehensive higher education energy P3 trailblazed by The Ohio State University.
For the past 25 years Serdar has led manufacturing, operations, construction, engineering and business development activities for US, Japanese and European organizations.
Serdar holds a PE license from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is a Fellow Chartered Engineer at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, London, UK. Serdar has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University and an executive MBA from Purdue University.
Profile to follow shortly.
Prior to joining EQUANS five years ago, Nicolas worked in management consulting with KPMG.
Nicolas holds a master's degree from the École nationale d’administration (ENA) in France as well as master's and bachelor's degrees from Laval University in Quebec.
As head of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), Executive Director and CEO Robin L. Wiessmann oversees employees in 16 divisions that work to expand affordable housing across Pennsylvania. She manages the operations of the agency and directs multiple initiatives that promote affordable rental housing, support homeownership, provide no-cost housing counseling, fund local housing efforts and reduce home foreclosures.
Under her leadership, PHFA is continuing its commitment to renters, homebuyers and homeowners while employing new strategies to operate the agency efficiently, effectively, and deliver housing in the most fiscally responsible manner. To preserve and expand affordable housing in today’s challenging marketplace, Wiessmann has emphasized her commitment to partnerships that add financial and strategic value. She also is prioritizing PHFA’s efforts to leverage its funding, to attract additional investments for housing projects and multiplying the impact of the agency’s resources to achieve the most impact.
Wiessmann is serving on the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Economic and Community Advisory Council (ECAC) and the Board of National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) as Secretary/Treasurer. Prior to her position at PHFA, Wiessmann served as Chair of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) Non- Depository Supervisory Committee, and served as a member of eight other economic development, policy, and supervisory boards, including the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS). She has served as board Secretary of CSBS, and Trustee of the Investor Protection Trust.
Wiessmann’s previous public service positions included Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, Treasurer of Pennsylvania and Deputy Director of Finance for the City of Philadelphia. During her private career, Wiessmann was a founding Principal and President of Artemis Capital Group, the first women-owned investment banking firm on Wall Street, and held leadership positions at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. In addition, Wiessmann served as Chairman of the board for Vantagepoint Funds Mutual Fund, an Act 40 pension fund company, and on the board of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), a self-regulatory organization under the SEC. Wiessmann has served as a Director on a variety of Corporate Boards.
In 2021, she received the North American Securities Administrators Association Outstanding Service Award and in 2019 she received a lifetime achievement award as a Philadelphia Inquirer Influencer of Finance. She is a recipient of the Arthur E. Armitage, Sr. Distinguished Alumni Award from Rutgers Law School, from which she earned a law degree, and is a graduate of Lafayette College. Wiessmann is a Qualified Financial Expert.