Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management
Mayo Center - Events - Private Equity Speaker Series
Private Equity Speaker Series
Each year, the Darden Private Equity Club and the Mayo Center for Asset Management convene leading private equity practitioners at the intersection of several industry hot topics. This year we will be hosting several guests as part of a speaker series occurring through the fall and spring semesters.
Past Events
Fall 2025
25 September 2025: Chris Conti (Managing Partner, Lancor)
9 September 2025: Vitali Bezuchko (Chief Data Officer, Investure)
4 September 2025: Pedro Russell (Vice President, Shore Search Partners)
Spring 2025
25 April 2025: Eliza Wood (EMBA '19) & Alex Shahidi (Senior Director & Senior Managing Director, Riveron)
14 April 2025: Women in PE Panel:
- Mary Winston Richardson (MBA '22) (Vice President, Monomoy Capital Partners)
- Kelly Thomson (MBA '99) (Head of Capital Markets, Mubadala Capital)
- Allie (Atwood) Laborde (MBA '15) (Managing Director, The Stephens Group, LLC)
- Sukari B. Gaylor (MBA '23) (Investment Director of Private Investments, Cambridge Associates)
10 April 2025: Darren Fultz (MBA '06) (Former CEO, Dorilton Capital)
20 March 2025: Andrew Crowley (MBA '11) (President, Markel Ventures)
6 February 2025: John Fruehwirth (MBA '96) (Managing Partner, Rotunda Capital Partners)
21 January 2025: David Lawrence (MBA '16) (CEO, ISI) & Carlo Dominguez (MBA '16) (Chief of Staff to the CEO, ISI)
Fall 2024
4 December 2024: Saul Walker (MBA '13) (Managing Director, Columbia Partners Private Capital)
3 October 2024: Kevin Klau (MBA '02) (Executive Director, Friends of the University of Notre Dame)
24 September 2024: Zach Ruchman (MBA '18) (Private Markets Investor, Partner, WMS Partners)
2024 Spring Speakers
10 April 2024: Pop-up session with Allan Vartelas (MBA '85) (Co-founder and Managing Partner, Nebrodi Partners)
28 March 2024: Industry Trends and Speaker Series wrap-up with John Loverro (MBA '00) (Partner, Lexington Partners)
21 March 2024: Pop-Up session with Peggy Roberts (MBA '01) (Managing Partner, The Riverside Company)
21 February 2024: Virtual Women in PE Panel led by Allie Laborde, (MBA '15) (Principal, The Stephens Group) with the following panelists:
- Maureen Harrell (MBA '08) (Managing Director, Hudson Advisors L.P.)
- Aly Mackenzie (MBA '20) (Investor, Radar Partners)
- Kristen Gunther (MBA '09) (Investor, Revolution Growth)
24 January 2024: Search Funds/ETA with Emily Holdman (Managing Director, Permanent Equity) *in partnership with the ETA club
2023 Fall Speakers
15 November 2023: John Fruehwirth (MBA '96) (Managing Partner, Rotunda Capital Partners)
9 November 2023: Mark Pacala (Operating Partner, Healthcare Private Equity). Mark is a tenured business professional with over 30 years of general management and private equity experience in healthcare and consumer services companies.
2023 Spring Conference: 23-24 March
Event Summary from The Darden Report
Photo Album
Agenda Overview:
DPEC President's Opening Remarks, Sukari Brown (MBA '23)
Remarks Honoring Susan Chaplinsky and Her Impact, John Fruehwirth (MBA '96), Rotunda Capital Partners
Fireside Chat on Global Infrastructure Investing with Jose Maria Zertuche, BlackRock (Moderated by Professor Elena Loutskina)
Panel on Investing Opportunities and Considerations in Healthcare with Church Moore, Kelso and Frank Winslow, Quad-C (Moderated by Taylor Cole, Harren Equity Partners)
Keynote Speaker (virtual), Jose E. Feliciano, Clearlake Capital (Moderated by John Loverro, Lexington Partners and Sukari Brown (MBA '23))
Panel on the Current State of Private Equity: "Exploring Investment Activity, Trends, and Challenges" with John Alouf, Virginia Retirement System and Caitlin Fitzmaurice, Selby Lane (Moderated by Schon Williams, Mercer Alternatives)
Brief Synopsis of the 2022 Conference
Keynote Address
David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Non-Executive Chairman, Carlyle
Moderated by Robert S. Harris, C. Stewart Sheppard Professor of Business Administration, UVA Darden
ESG and Private Equity
Elizabeth Lewis, Managing Director and Deputy Head of ESG, Blackstone
Joseph Acevedo, Managing Director, BlackRock Alternative Investors, BlackRock
Jason Scott, Managing Director, Renewable Resource Group, Co-Chair, CREO Syndicate
Moderated by Matthew McBrady, Professor of Practice, UVA Darden
State of the Industry and Moderated Q&A
David Fann, Vice Chairman, Aksia
Moderated by John Loverro ('00), Partner, Lexington Partners
Perspectives: Founding and Building a Private Equity Firm
Erik Scott, Co-Founder and Partner, Avance
Moderated by John Fruehwirth ('96), Managing Partner, Rotunda Capital Partners