Rene Benedetto Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager THE CARLYLE GROUP

Rene Benedetto a Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager responsible for business development, investor relations and strategic fundraising initiatives with institutional investors across Carlyle’s three business segments. Rene is based in Austin, Texas.

Rene has 25+ years of private equity investing, business development, fundraising, and board experience.  Prior to Carlyle, Rene was a Managing Director of Certares Management LLC, an investment firm with ~$10B of AUM across Private Equity, Credit and Real Estate, where she focused on private equity investing and fund marketing for Certares Real Estate and Private Equity platforms. Prior to Certares, Rene was a Managing Director of Trivergance LLC, a mid-market private equity firm, where she led investments, debt and equity capital raising, business development and strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 brands.

Prior to Trivergance, Rene was a Principal at Halyard Capital, a middle-market private equity fund focused on media and tech-enabled business services investments.  Prior to Halyard, Ms. Benedetto was a General Partner at Impact Venture Partners, a technology-focused venture capital fund. Rene also held positions as a Director at CIBC’s merchant banking group and a Senior Analyst at Bank of America’s growth equity and investment banking groups.

Rene has served on the boards of multiple companies and currently serves as on the Deans Advisory Council of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and on the Executive Council of New York for McCombs. She is also a Member of Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN).

Rene received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and a B.B.A. in Finance with Highest Honors, from The University of Texas at Austin.

Tiffany Kosch Managing Partner CENTERGATE CAPITAL

Tiffany Kosch is a Managing Partner at CenterGate Capital. Tiffany has over 25 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.

John May Founder and Managing Partner CORE INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS

Mr. May is the Founder and Managing Partner of CORE and is responsible for overseeing all activities of the firm including investment sourcing and valuation, transaction structuring, the securing of acquisition financing, and fundraising.

Before founding CORE, he spent 18 years working on transactions with several private equity sponsors principally with The Blackstone Group and H.I.G. Capital. He currently serves on the boards of the following CORE portfolio companies:

Fathom, Saylite, Cohere, Kelvix, Cadrex, 3DXTech, GEM, Century Box, and Aviation Concepts.

Mr. May graduated with Honors from East Carolina University with a business degree. He currently serves on the ECU Foundation Board of Directors including its Executive Committee and is Chair of the Investment Committee. He is also Co-Founder and

Former Chairman of the Board for Imerman Angels, a 501 (c)(3) Chicago based cancer support organization. He is also an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, and obtained his Level I Sommelier accreditation from The International Sommelier Guild.

Francesca Friday Senior Private Equity Reporter MERGERMARKET

Bio: Francesca Friday covers private equity for Mergermarket. Before that, she spent nearly seven years at The Financial Times, covering PE, M&A, and corporate finance. She also wrote and produced the FT's award-winning newsletter, Due Diligence. She currently lives in Brooklyn and is a Pittsburgh native.