Team

Damien Dwin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lafayette Square, a private credit firm lending capital to growing middle market companies in working-class places. 

Previously, Damien served as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors from its founding in 2010 to October 2020.  

Damien began his career as a trader with Goldman Sachs, New York & London, there earning the Michael P. Mortara Award for Innovation. At Credit Suisse, he was the Co-Founder and Head of the North American Special Opportunities business until 2010. Damien also served on the Vice President Selection Committee and led the Fixed Income Division Credit Training Program.  

Damien serves on the non-profit boards of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Studio Museum in Harlem, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Boys’ Club of New York and Vera Institute of Justice. He is a Council Member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Damien received a B.S./B.A. from Georgetown University. 

Phil Daniele is the Chief Risk Officer at Lafayette Square. Phil is responsible for creating and enforcing an integrated risk framework for evaluating and monitoring all Lafayette Square fund investments.

With over 37 years of experience, Phil was the former Chief Risk Officer at Brightwood Capital and served on Brightwood's Executive and Valuation Committees. Prior to Brightwood, he was the Chief Credit Officer for the Americas at Credit Suisse. He was responsible for approving all credit extensions in the Americas portfolio including corporates, financial institutions, hedge funds and private clients. Previously, Phil served as Head of Corporate Credit Americas, which included the Credit Suisse Leveraged Finance business. He began his career at CIT Factoring in 1984.

Phil is a Board Member and has been actively involved with Flames Neighborhood Youth Association since 1979. Flames is a Brooklyn based organization primarily dedicated to the improvement of the lives of African American youth and the betterment of interracial relationships in the communities we serve. Additionally, he is a Board Member of Soul of the Peruvian Andes, a nonprofit whose mission is providing healthcare and education support to the impoverished villages of the Andes Mountains in Peru.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Phil holds a B.B.A., Accounting, and an M.B.A., Finance from Pace University.

Caitlin McLaughlin is the Chief People Officer at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette Caitlin served as Executive Vice President and Talent Strategy Executive for the PNC Financial Services Group with overall responsibility for PNC's enterprise talent strategy.

Previously, Caitlin served as Managing Director focused on global campus recruiting and program management at Citigroup and held a number of roles within the organization and its predecessor companies, Salomon Smith Barney and Salomon Brothers.

Caitlin is a member of the executive committee of Vibrant Pittsburgh, The Forte Foundation and Carlow University. She is also a member of the board of directors of Partner4Work. She chairs the Talent Attraction and Retention Committee for the Allegheny Conference for Community Development.  She holds a B.A. in Political Communications from the University of Pittsburgh.

Bobby Patnaik serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Lafayette Square leading all technology initiatives within the firm. Bobby has 20+ years of industry experience with 14 years in financial services industry. Prior to joining Lafayette,  Bobby worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) as the global head of Institutional/Fund reporting and reference data technology. Before that he spent several years developing and leading middle and back office technologies for GSAM. Bobby began his career working for several technology and telecommunication companies like AT&T and Verizon before joining Goldman Sachs in 2006. At Goldman,  Bobby was part of the recruiting team focusing on hiring from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He also spent time mentoring women in engineering at Goldman Sachs. Outside of work Bobby loves to run, hike and watching Cricket.

Originally from a small town Keonjhar in the state of Orissa in India, he holds a Bachelors in Commerce/Accounting from Utkal University, India and Master of Science in Computer Science from University of North Dakota.

Ileana Stone is Chief Administrative Officer at Lafayette Square. Ileana has over three decades of experience advising corporations, private equity and venture capital funds on portfolio company investments, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters. Prior to joining Lafayette, Ileana was the Associate General Counsel at Bank of America supporting the Global Principal Investments group for over seventeen years, which deploys capital worldwide in private equity, mezzanine and strategic transactions through equity financings, fund commitments, and acquisitions. During her tenure, assets under management were as high as $14Bn across over 1,200 investments. Ileana began her legal career at Katten Muchin Rosenman and prior to that was part of the mergers and acquisitions group of Ernst & Young.

Originally from Northbrook, IL, Ileana holds a B.B.A., Accounting and an M.P.A. with a specialty in Taxation from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Andy Phelps is Head of Capital Formation at Lafayette Square with over 25 years of experience in fixed income and structured finance markets. Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Andy served as Senior Managing Director and Head of Structured Product Business Development at Black Diamond Capital Management where he was responsible for the development, structuring, and investor base of the U.S. and European CLO businesses.

Before Black Diamond, Andy was the Global Head of Syndicate for the Structured Credit and Solutions Group at Natixis where he was involved in variety of products including middle market CLOs and lending facilities, broadly-syndicated CLOs, esoteric asset-backed and real estate securitizations.  Previously, Andy held securitization roles at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs and began his career at J.P. Morgan Investment Management.

Originally from Wisconsin, Andy holds a Bachelors of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He is also actively involved with the non-profit organization Domus Kids in Stamford, which assists young people facing diversity and empowers them to pursue their path to self-sufficiency.

Joseph Johnson is a Managing Director and Head of Liabilities at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Joseph served as a Senior Vice President in the Capital Markets Group at Goldman Sachs & Co.  Joseph has over 20 years of experience in capital markets, responsible for financial institutions coverage and ABS securitization. Joseph started his career in investment banking at the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and he has also worked for Standard & Poor's Ratings in the Structured Finance Group.

Joseph serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and serves on the Board of Directors for Columbia Children's Hospital and the Classical Theatre of Harlem in New York.

Originally from Columbus, Georgia, Joseph holds a BA in Economics and a Ph.D. (ABD) in Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Seren is Chief Financial Officer of the Credit team at Lafayette Square. He brings over fourteen years of experience in public accounting, primarily focused on the financial services industry. Prior to joining Lafayette, he was a Senior Manager in Ernst & Young LLP's Wealth and Asset Management audit practice specializing in serving both traded and non-traded BDCs, private equity funds and credit funds and a Senior Accountant with BlumShapiro.

Seren began his career at ING US Financial Services as an analyst serving managed retirement accounts. He holds a B.S., cum laude, in Accounting from the Connecticut State University and a Masters, magna cum laude, in Accounting and Taxation from the University of Hartford. Seren is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. He is a member of the AICPA and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Vishnu Amin is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. As a member of the investment team, Vishnu is responsible for sourcing, structuring, underwriting and managing principal investments in private companies. Prior to joining Lafayette, Vishnu was an investment professional at Heard Capital and Star Mountain Capital, investing across the capital structure on over a dozen completed transactions.

Originally from Princeton, NJ, Vishnu holds a B.S. in Finance/Alternative Investments from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.

Blair Badham is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Blair served as Managing Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at Butler Snow Advisory. During his time at Butler Snow Advisory, he led sell side, buyside and capital raise transactions for privately owned and closely held businesses. Prior to joining Butler Snow, Blair managed the market launch and business development activities of EBSCO Capital, the investment division of EBSCO Industries. Headquartered in Birmingham, EBSCO Industries is a privately held conglomerate comprised of over 20 businesses and more than $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Before his role at EBSCO Capital, Blair served in multiple capacities for Jemison Metals, a Birmingham-based steel service center, including strategic planning, cultivating new territories, implementing software-based supply chain management tools, and developing and managing relationships with Fortune 500 industrial conglomerates. Blair began his career in commercial banking, and spent five years with First Commercial Bank's commercial and industrial lending team, where he managed numerous middle market relationships for the bank.

Blair earned a B.S. from the University of Alabama in 2003 and an M.B.A., with honors, from Samford University's Brock School of Business in 2009. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and serves as treasurer for his church.

Cindy Helen Brea is Head of Client Engagement, Technology at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Cindy was Head of Pensions East Aladdin Client Engagement at BlackRock where she led a team responsible for driving and building client relationships for BlackRock Solutions' enterprise investment system, Aladdin.  

Cindy joined BlackRock Solutions after more than a decade as a Fixed Income macro salesperson. She began her career at Credit Suisse within FX Sales covering hedge fund clients. Thereafter, she was responsible for coverage of institutional clients in Central America and the Caribbean, first at Credit Suisse and then at Morgan Stanley. Her focus was on financial institutions, providing both asset and liability side solutions through structured note ideas, financing, and derivative transactions, respectively. Thereafter, Cindy was responsible for Emerging Markets Local Market product distribution to US institutional investors.  

Cindy graduated from Harvard Business School after spending two years in management consulting with Deloitte. She is a Robert Toigo Foundation alumna. She received her undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Columbia University in New York. She hails from and lives in Brooklyn, NY by way of the Dominican Republic, and is a founding board member of America Needs You, herself a first-generation college student. She is a wife and a mother to three children.

Chris Carlucci is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square, with a decade of experience focused on private credit and equity investments. Prior to joining Lafayette, Chris was a Director at Brightwood Capital Advisors, where he was responsible for fully managing a $1B portfolio of over 30 investments with responsibilities including underwriting and executing new investments, managing ongoing portfolio company relationships, leading restructuring efforts across underperforming investments, and serving on the Board of Directors of multiple companies. He started his career at Citigroup in Middle Market Banking.

Originally from Huntington, NY, Chris holds a B.S. in Corporate Finance & Accounting with a Minor in Mandarin from Bentley University. Chris serves as a volunteer at the St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church in Greenlawn, NY.

Bob is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Bob served as the Chief Financial Officer in the family office of a former Goldman, Sachs & Co. Vice Chairman. Previously, he spent over 25 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. working in a variety of roles across numerous businesses: Controllers, FICC, Special Situations Group, and Corporate Services. He has also worked at The First Boston Corporation and Deloitte, Haskins & Sells. Bob is a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in Accounting (cum laude) and is also a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law. He is both a CPA and an attorney. He and his family are puppy raisers for The Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ having raised over 22 puppies as future dog guides.

Hershel Gerson is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. He brings 20 years of experience in investment banking, leverage finance, and operational roles. Prior to joining Lafayette, Hershel served as the Co-Head of Consumer Coverage at Roth Capital Partners, focused on serving emerging growth companies in the health and wellness industry with expertise in the better-for-you ecosystem. Hershel also served as the CFO of the #19 fastest-growing privately held companies in America on the Inc. 5000 list, gaining valuable experience in the challenges facing today's entrepreneurs. Hershel's expertise across a broad range of strategic matters ' including leveraged finance, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, private placements, project finance, and general advisory assignments ' has allowed him to build long-standing, trusted relationships.'

Hershel began his career at Ernst &Young, earning his CPA, before developing his advisory experience with ten years at Credit Suisse. He subsequently was appointed to leadership positions at BNP Paribas (Head of West Coast), Macquarie (Head of Consumer), and PGP Capital Advisors (Partner). Hershel has successfully advised and closed over 60 transactions with a total value exceeding $30 billion for private equity and corporate clients. His past deal experience is across multiple industry verticals, including retail and consumer, business services, industrials, TMT, real estate, alternative energy, and healthcare.'

Mr. Gerson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Masters in Public Accounting and received his Masters in Business Administration from the Anderson School at UCLA. Hershel participated in endurance events where he met his wife and actively raised money for cancer research through the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

Susan Golden is the Managing Director, Head of Loan Operations at Lafayette Square. She brings 30 years of experience leading financial and loan operations. Prior to joining Lafayette, Sue spent 19 years as Director of Finance and Operations at Cerberus, a leading private equity firm specializing in alternative investing. She was instrumental in building the infrastructure, systems, and teams necessary to support the sponsor finance unit, formerly known as Dymas Capital Management.

Previously, Sue was Vice President of Operations Management for GE Capital Management (formerly Heller Financial, Inc.,) where she oversaw a team of 20+ supporting a $4.5 billion loan administration business. Upon merger of the organizations, Sue was instrumental in integrating two distinct cultures to successfully form the Center of Operational Excellence. Her earlier career with Heller includes roles of progressive accountability in finance, loan operations, reporting & administration.

Originally from Chicago, IL Sue holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from De Paul University, complemented by a Six Sigma Green Belt from Heller Financial. She is a board member and patient advisor for the University of Chicago Medicine Womenlab.org

Judd Kohn is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Judd served as Managing Director and Head of Private Credit at White Wolf Capital, where his responsibilities included managing the day-to-day activities of White Wolf Private Credit, including managing deal flow and origination activities and execution of due diligence . Prior to joining White Wolf, Judd with First Merchants Bank in its Sponsor Finance Group. At First Merchants, Judd was responsible for establishing the Southeast Region, and led the deal process on numerous lower middle-market credit opportunities. Prior to joining First Merchants Bank, Judd was with CIBC Bank USA. At CIBC Judd was a Managing Director who was responsible for establishing relationships with lower middle-market and middle-market businesses and private equity firms. Across Judd’s career, he has sourced, underwrote, and executed over $2.5 billion in lower middle-market and middle-market private credit transactions.

Tom Mullin is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square responsible for sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities and due diligence.

Prior to Lafayette, Tom was a Director on the Origination team at Brightwood Capital Advisors. Formerly, Tom spent thirty-five years in the financial services industry, holding senior positions at PNC Financial Services Group and TD Private Client Group.

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Tom holds a Bachelor of Science from St. Joseph's University with a major concentration in accounting.

Abhay Patel is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Abhay served as Managing Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at Butler Snow Advisory, where he led sell side, buyside and capital raise transactions for companies in the lower- and middle-market. Prior to joining Butler Snow, Abhay served as interim CEO and Board member for the Pelican Institute, where he led the organization through an executive transition and was primarily responsible for supporting Smart on Crime - a public-private partnership that led the passage of historic criminal justice reform legislation in Louisiana. Prior to that role, Abhay was a 2016 candidate for the United States Senate in Louisiana. Before his campaign, Abhay served as Vice President of Business Development for the New Orleans Business Alliance(NOLABA), where he led the firm's business retention, expansion and attraction platform. Prior to entering the public sector, Abhay spent most of his career as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in New York. While there, he worked on transactions raising over $30 billion of debt and equity capital for leading U.S. companies and advised on several notable mergers and acquisitions. Abhay graduated from Louisiana State University and holds a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law.

Nicole Pereira is a Managing Director at Lafayette Square, with over twelve years of experience in middle market private credit as an investor, portfolio manager, and restructuring manager. Prior to joining Lafayette, Nicole was a Director on the credit team at Brightwood Capital Advisors, where she managed a portfolio of $2B, worked on deal teams investing throughout the capital structure, managed over a dozen workouts/restructurings across various industries, and acted as a board representative on behalf of the firm. She started her career at Citigroup in the middle market lending group and graduated from Citigroup's credit training program.

Originally from Long Island, NY, Nicole holds a BBA from Hofstra University.

Mary Ann Raftery is the Managing Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining, Mary Ann served as a Senior Associate on the Client Service Business Development Team at Brightwood Capital Advisors, partnering with the senior investment team on strategic initiatives across the firm. Previously, she was a Coordinator with Gerson Lehrman Group ('GLG'). In her role with GLG, she had roles in Event Management & Logistics, Community Research & List Building, Tracking & Reporting, and New Product Development. Outside of work, Mary Ann played volleyball at Mount Saint Mary College leading the team to their first NCAA appearance as captain her senior year. Mary Ann is a frequent volunteer for the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center organizing beach clean ups.

Originally from Long Beach, NY on Long Island, Mary Ann holds a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Saint Mary College where she was a double major in Public Relations and Media Studies.

Steven Ruggiero, CFA

Steven Ruggiero is a Managing Director on the Technology team at Lafayette Square. Steve has 40 years of institutional financial services experience, involving leadership roles at several major Broker/Dealers. While at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette as Head of High Yield Research, he received the Super Achiever Award after leading his department to several consecutive years ranked as the Top High Yield Research Team on Wall Street and completing numerous underwritings. Steve moved to JPMorgan Chase as Head of Leveraged Finance Research, where he led the unranked research team to be recognized as the highest ranked Institutional Investor Research Team on Wall Street. Later, at UBS Warburg, Steve served as Co-Head of Global Fixed Income Research, managing an international team based in the US, with offices in the UK, and Australia. While heading various teams, Steve was a multi-sector analyst evaluating distressed high yield credits and restructurings, fallen angels, event driven/special situations, mezzanine capital and bank debt total return plays. He had key roles underwriting more than $50 Billion of debt offerings. Steve achieved recognition as a top-ranked Institutional Investor securities analyst with 13 awards in four distinct sectors over a nine-year period. Steve moved to the buy-side as a Partner at Cyrus Capital Partners, where he served as Board Observer for Virgin America Airlines, evaluated Level 3 Assets, and presented detailed Investment Theses to raise investing capital from major University Endowments and Wealth Advisors.  From 2012 to 2018, Steve was also on the Board of Trustees for the Fordham Prep School, Bronx, NY.  As Vice Chairman and Head of the Finance & Investment Committee, he headed a team that grew the high school’s endowment from approximately $16 million to $43 million, enabling Fordham Prep to offer more scholarship and financial aid, particularly to students from the Bronx. Steve graduated cum laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. Economics and has an M.B.A. Finance from New York University’s Stern Graduate School of Business. After earning his CFA, Steve audited Fordham University School of Law’s Corporate Law, Legal Aspects of Corporate Finance and Corporate Reorganization and Bankruptcy courses to supplement his analytical expertise.

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Venkatesh is the Director of Technology at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Venkatesh worked at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for developing systems that house the entire GSAM Accounting data along with architecting platforms that enable report generation and delivery to clients and regulators. Venkatesh also developed frameworks for Microsoft Teams that promote self-serviceability in data and metric generation.

Venkatesh received his Bachelor's degree from DA-IICT and his Master's from the New York Institute of Technology.

Joyce Martineau is the Chief Compliance Officer at Lafayette Square, with over 30 years of compliance experience as a compliance officer, consultant, and regulator. Prior to joining Lafayette, Joyce was a compliance officer at Anchorage Capital Group, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, and Tudor Investment Corporation. Joyce was also a Senior Principal Consultant at ACA Compliance Group advising a diverse group of private fund clients on a wide range of compliance issues. Joyce began her compliance career as a member of FINRA's Advertising Regulation Department.

Originally from Southern Central Pennsylvania, Joyce holds a B.A. in Economics from Indiana University.

Jacqueline is a Director at Lafayette Square, bringing over 9 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining Lafayette, Jacqueline was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs, leading global digital transformation initiatives and providing organizational design solutions to support business growth and operational efficiencies within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

Outside of work, Jacqueline serves as a Mentor and Co-Director for the International Students Inc NYC (ISNYC) Professional Mentorship Program (PMP) at NYU. Originally from Toronto, she holds a Bachelors in Computer Science with a Speech Communication Minor from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

I engineer meaningful ideas, am able to maintain emotional stability under fire and can still surmise enough energy to climb rocks, work on personal projects and commit to social obligations at the end of the day. I am fueled by a personality that is greater than my stature and provides an unyielding amount of motivation to strive for an experience beyond my present self. I have spent 20 years working a variety of positions through a multitude of industries ranging from: corporate branding, performance textile development, and running my own start up.

Throughout all of my experience I have come to learn: how to tell stories by building effective and interesting brands, translate market data into effective print and digital campaigns, manage teams across a spectrum of platforms and run ideation sessions with different department heads at a technology lab. Additionally, because of my experience in a variety of settings from large to small, luxury to grassroots, and local to international, it has honed my ability to adapt quickly in a catalogue of ambiguous environments and to understand that the ego needs to be put aside in order to really create something innovative.

Thomas Moon is the Creative Director at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining, Thomas was employed as a Creative Director for Sabrina Industrial Fashion Corporation, building OBM start-up companies from concept to execution.

Previously, he was employed as Design Director for Elysium Health where he elevated the brand through: CPG, partnerships, advertising and 360 experiences. The narrative of his career was spent as a creative, working for the world's top brands and global agencies: Nike, Chase, Unilever, Publicist and more.

Originally from California, Thomas holds a B.A in Studio Art with a digital minor from UC Irvine. After moving to New York, he obtained his Master's degree in Science from Pratt Institute in Manhattan.

Eric Piazza is a Director at Lafayette Square, supporting all technology initiatives across the firm. Eric has over 14 years of financial services and manufacturing experience. Prior to joining Lafayette, Eric was a Vice President with Goldman Sachs' Consumer and Wealth Management Division leading cross-organizational customer experience and process digitization initiatives. Eric began his career working with automotive manufacturers such as Toyota and Delphi Packard.

He was a part of the Firmwide Black Network at Goldman Sachs, focused on convening leading thinkers to share insights and ideas on issues of importance to the firm's black community. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, he holds a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Anurag Roy is a Director on the Technology team at Lafayette Square. He brings over seven years of experience in product development with multiple industry domains. Prior to joining Lafayette, Anurag was an Assistant Vice President at Barclays Investment Bank.

Previously, he has held positions with Apex Supply Chain Technologies, University of Cincinnati, and Symphony Teleca.

Anurag holds a Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science from Pune University and a Master of Science, Information System from the University of Cincinnati.

Zack Salinas is a Director on the underwriting team at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining LS, Zack was a Vice President at Brightwood Capital Advisors where he focused on both performing and distressed private credit investments in non-investment grade small to medium sized enterprises. Prior to Brightwood, Zack held roles at HSBC in their asset-based lending group and JP Morgan in credit trading.

Zack holds a BS from the University of Delaware and is a CFA charter holder.

Joshua Spolsdoff serves as Director of Economic Research at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Josh was a Senior Economist at the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, where he led research for local businesses, non-profits, and the State of Utah. He specialized in regional economies, economic impact analyses, and public finance. Previously, Josh was a consultant for Dell EMC, performing a diverse range of project management and senior analytic roles for Fortune 500 companies and the federal government.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Josh holds a B.S. in Economics and an M.S. in Economics, both awarded by the University of Utah.

Utkarsh is Director at Lafayette Square. A seasoned professional with a diverse background in the tech industry, Utkarsh honed his skills at esteemed companies such as Apple, eBay and Goldman Sachs. His experience spans across diverse domains, including finance, e-commerce, and consumer technology, allowing him to adapt quickly to new challenges and environments. During his time at Apple, Utkarsh lead the Point of Sale team to drive the development of innovative solutions in the retail and financing space, delivering seamless and intuitive experiences to millions of users worldwide. His tenure at eBay provided him with the opportunity to work on cutting-edge distributed systems, enhancing user experiences and driving business growth. At Goldman Sachs, Utkarsh worked on various core data systems that support complex asset management operations. Utkarsh received his bachelors from DA-IICT and his Master's in Information Systems from University of Cincinnati.

Aquil Stinson is a Director at Lafayette Square. Aquil has over 15 years of experience working with middle market companies and small businesses. Prior to joining Lafayette, Aquil had a 13 year career with JP Morgan Chase. He was an integral member of the business development efforts in the JPMC Mid-Atlantic Commercial banking expansion. He further managed the origination efforts in the Northeast, Southeast and Central markets. As the first banker hired to lead business banking in Washington DC, he was able to build a book of business of over 40 names in under 3 years. Aquil has experience as a principal owner in 3 independent businesses in the field of commercial and residential real estate development and logistics. He began his early career at Goldman Sachs, as a salesperson on their fixed income desk.

Aquil currently serves on the board of Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF). WACIF's mission is to support inclusive entrepreneurship in Washington DC. Originally from Philadelphia, Aquil holds a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University with a major concentration in finance.

Miriam Tejada is the Director of Internal Operations at Lafayette Square. Prior to Lafayette, Miriam was a Senior Manager with Capital One within the Diversified Industries group in Corporate Banking. She monitored portfolio activities, spearheaded regulatory requests and interacted with Internal Audit. Her career in finance began at American Capital, where as Manager of the Investment Committee she provided business intelligence to the company's Investment Professionals, Senior Management and the Board of Directors. After American Capital, she was an Independent Consultant to companies who needed help developing data implementation strategies.

Miriam holds a Master in Business Administration focused in Business Strategies from Zicklin School of Business, and a Master of Science from New School University in Urban Policy Analysis and Management. She is also a graduate of Daemen College, in Amherst, NY and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Miriam teaches Communications and Soft Skills at the Science and Technology Entry Program(STEP) at Vaughn College.

Akofa Tsiagbe is an Assistant General Counsel on the Legal team at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Akofa was an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in the bank finance group where she worked on leveraged finance transactions including cross-border acquisition financings and chaired the firm's global Black attorney inclusion network. Akofa spent six months on secondment at Citibank's office in London, where she covered the high yield desk. A first generation Ghanaian-American, Akofa grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and holds a B.A. in Politics, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of San Francisco and a J.D. from Berkeley Law.

David A. Williams is a Director of Real Estate, Impact and Partnerships at Lafayette Square. Previously he served as the Director of Policy Outreach at Opportunity Insights, a research and public policy lab based at Harvard University dedicated to using big data to improve upward mobility in America. He supported research and evidence-based policy change by creating and leading partnerships with communities across the country, including a regional economic opportunity initiative in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Creating Moves to Opportunity, a national housing mobility initiative.

David served as a senior advisor to the Mayor of Detroit where he was a member of the Mayor's economic development team, managing large-scale real estate and community revitalization projects, neighborhood planning initiatives, and policies related to economic mobility, land use, and equitable development. He has also served as an affordable housing and community development attorney and a non-profit management consultant.

David received an AB from Harvard College and a JD from Harvard Law School where he served as President of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, focusing on anti-foreclosure and anti-eviction law and policy.

David serves on the board of directors of Up for Growth and StriveTogether. He also serves as a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute and an advisor to High Opportunity Neighborhood Partners, a real estate firm dedicated to breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty by providing homes to low-income families in high opportunity neighborhoods.

Trisha Ciancimino is the Controller for Lafayette Square's holding company. Trisha is responsible for managing all accounting, financial reporting and operations of Lafayette Square's holding company and it's subsidiaries.

Throughout her career, Trisha has assisted nearly 40 start-ups with fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, tax compliance, and establishing scalable accounting and finance departments. As a former advisor with Kruze Consulting -an outsourced accounting firm specialized in assisting venture-backed start-ups- Trisha worked with start-ups across a diverse range of business sectors, including: information technology, agriculture, healthcare, software as a service (SaaS), manufacturing, e-commerce, and environmental sustainability.

Trisha is an Arizona native who holds a B.S. in Accounting and an M.B.A from Benedictine University and has also held Series 6, 63, and 65 securities licenses.'

Ignacio de Osma Gadea is a Vice President at Lafayette Square on the Technology team. Prior to joining Lafayette, Ignacio was a Software Developer at Goldman Sachs, where he focused on building strategic solutions to automate and streamline reports for Goldman Sach's Asset Management (GSAM) division.

Originally from Lima, Peru, Ignacio holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Computer Science with a minor in Economics from Northwestern University. Outside of work, Ignacio loves to play squash, soccer and run.

Luisa Majnoni is a Vice President on the Credit team at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Luisa was an Investment Analyst at Sandton Capital Partners, where she focused on distressed debt and equity investments in American and European middle market companies.

Born in Rome, Italy, and raised in Washington, D.C., Luisa holds a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from New York University and an M.A. in Economics from Columbia University. She also sits on the Junior Board of the Partnership for After School Education.

Connor Regan is joining Lafayette Square as a Vice President on the Credit team. Previously, he was an Associate at Carl Marks Management where he invested in middle market special situation and distressed credit opportunities. He began his career in the Workout and Restructuring group at Deutsche Bank. Originally from Long Island, New York, Connor holds a B.A. with a dual major in Economics/Applied Math and Spanish.

Akshay Yadav is a Vice President at Lafayette Square. He has seven years of experience in building business intelligence reports and dashboards for clients in multiple industry domains and utilizes these skills to help organizations make insightful business decisions.

Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Akshay worked with InMoment, Inc. and Inautix Technologies.

Akshay holds a Bachelor of Engineering, Electronics from the University of Pune and a Master of Science, Information System from the University of Utah.

Alyssa Ortiz is a Senior Associate in the Finance department at Lafayette Square.  Alyssa is responsible for maintaining accounting records and preparing monthly financial reports for the holding company and its subsidiaries. 

Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Alyssa served as an Outsourced Controller, managing accounting operations for multiple clients across various industries.  She also spent 10 years at a regional title insurance company in Indiana, where she advanced from Staff Accountant to Director of Accounting, focusing on leading and expanding the general and escrow accounting teams. 

Residing in Indiana, Alyssa holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Accounting from Indiana University.  She is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Indiana.

Taylor Phillips is a Senior Associate at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette, Taylor was a positioning and content strategist at Cunningham Collective, a strategic consulting firm specializing in brand positioning and messaging. Prior to that, Taylor was senior associate at a public relations agency specializing in enterprise technology and public sector.

Originally from San Francisco, CA, Taylor holds a B.S. in Journalism with a minor in Media, Arts, and Technology from California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo.

Avani Vora is a Senior Associate on the Credit team at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Avani was with MUFG's Sponsor Finance & Direct Lending team, where she underwrote and monitored levered middle-market companies across various industries. She began her career in the Healthcare Leveraged Finance group at CIT.

Originally from India, she moved to the U.S. at 18 to pursue her education and holds a B.B.A in Finance, Investments, and Banking, as well as an M.S. in Finance specializing in Security Analysis both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Susan Wang was an Investment Banking Associate at J.P. Morgan in the Leveraged Finance group, where she focused on sponsor and corporate transactions in the technology, media, and communications sectors. Susan is also an Associate Board Member of The Bowery Mission, a non-profit serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and poverty. Born in New Zealand, she grew up in Japan and California and speaks English, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese. Susan graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics and Certificate in Energy Studies.

Rhiannon Davies is an Associate on the Capital Formation team at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining Lafayette Square, Rhiannon was an Investor Relations Associate at Morgan Stanley, where she focused on fundraising, financial reporting and investor communications for the infrastructure private fund platform. Previously, she worked at Brookfield Asset Management, where she fundraised for the flagship infrastructure private fund and played a key role in launching and raising capital for the global transition fund. Rhiannon began her career at Stern Investor Relations, where she advised both public and private biotechnology companies on investor relations and capital-raising strategies. 

Originally from Sacramento, CA, Rhiannon holds a B.S. in Psychobiology from UCLA.

Natasha Gandhi is an Associate at Lafayette Square. She recently graduated from Emory University, where she double majored in Quantitative Sciences and Economics. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as an Economics Research Assistant at Emory with a focus on statistical modeling. She has also worked as a Data Analyst at Fika, and as a Programmatic Data Analyst Intern at WebMD.

Javier Rodriguez is an Associate on the underwriting team at Lafayette Square. Prior to joining the team, Javier was an Associate at Nexxus Capital where he focused on the deployment of the firm’s inaugural private credit fund. Prior to Nexxus, Javier held roles at Morgan Stanley in various Equity Research groups.

He holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Finance from ITAM.

Tracy Dillon is an Executive Assistant at Lafayette Square. Tracy has over 15 years of professional administration experience across the finance and technology industries. Prior to joining Lafayette, she supported C-Suite executives at Jackson Hewitt Tax Services.

Originally from Australia, Tracy attended New Jersey City University where she earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, in Business Management. She also holds an advanced diploma in Marketing from Adelaide TAFE.