THOUGHT LEADING SPEAKERS
Donna Ackerly
Founder & CEO
Lioness
Donna Ackerly
Founder & CEO, LionessDonna Ackerly founded Lioness Consulting LLC in 2023. She is a corporate governance professional with decades of experience of successful leadership and subject matter expertise on proxy solicitations involving annual and special meetings, proxy contests, SPACs and corporate actions conducted via tender or exchange offers. Donna is a trusted advisor to a diverse range of clients, from newly public to well-established corporations across various market capitalizations.
Carla Kwarteng Amaning
Partner
CFGI
Carla Kwarteng Amaning
Partner, CFGICarla is a Partner in the CFGI Capital Markets Practice with over 15 years of experience providing financial reporting and advisory services to private and public companies. Carla has dedicated over a decade of relevant work experience in the Capital Markets advisory space where she has advised clients in a variety of industries such as e-commerce, publishing, oil and gas, software, biopharma, manufacturing, distribution, and production on traditional IPOs, Merger and Reverse Merger transactions, including Special Purpose Acquisition Company Mergers. Carla is a subject matter expert in SEC reporting focusing on IPO and Merger assistance and readiness assessments, restatements, carve-outs, business acquisitions and combinations, consolidations, period-end close and interim management services, variable interest entities, cash flows, and earnings-per-share.
Prior to joining the CFGI team, Carla worked for Ernst and Young in their Houston audit practice and in the private sector for a pre-IPO petrochemical manufacturing company. Carla holds a Master of Science in Marketing and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administrations, Accounting from Texas A&M University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Texas.
Karim Anani
Americas FAAS Transaction Leader
Ernst & Young
Karim Anani
Americas FAAS Transaction Leader, Ernst & Young
Karim has more than 23 years of experience serving clients in a variety of industries. He has extensive knowledge of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) mergers covering accounting, reporting, regulatory, operational and integration matters. Karim has lead 50+ SPAC transactions in the past 10 years. Karim advises clients on numerous accounting and financial reporting matters including: mergers and acquisitions, registration statements’ complex accounting matters, policies and procedures, IPOs, debt offerings, purchase accounting, spin-outs, divestitures, valuation-related matters associated with purchase accounting, carve-out accounting, consolidation matters, fresh start and bankruptcy accounting, and other complex accounting matters, as well as compliance with SEC financial reporting requirements for US domestic and foreign private issuers. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the state of California; and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Jenn Calabrese
Founder & CEO
Calabrese Consulting LLC
Jenn Calabrese
Founder & CEO, Calabrese Consulting LLC
Jenn Calabrese began her career at KPMG, LLP specializing in the Information, Communications and Entertainment industry, and amassing knowledge and experience that would guide her life's work.
Jenn also spent several years working for publicly traded companies, serving as Corporate Controller, Director of Accounting and SEC Reporting, Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.
She specializes in SEC financial reporting, compliance, and consulting services to facilitate the reporting between auditors and public companies on behalf of clients. Jenn founded Calabrese Consulting, LLC ("CCL") in 2012, a minority/woman-owned, full-service accounting and advisory firm which currently employs over 50 employees, serving more than 350 clients around the world. She applies a hands-on approach that stems from her tenure on both the client and audit sides, and exemplifies her dedication to her craft.
Joanne Chiu
Partner, COO & Chairperson
Kreit & Chiu, CPA LLP
Joanne Chiu
Partner, COO & Chairperson, Kreit & Chiu, CPA LLPJoanne C. Chiu is the Chief Operating Officer and Chair of the Board. Working from the firm’s New York City office, she provides a broad range of tax planning and consulting services for both public and private companies, and high net worth individuals. She has served many Fortune 500 companies.
As the leader of KC LLP’s Asia Practice, Joanne works primarily with international clients to understand their accounting and business needs, liaising to match client requirements with her broad range of resources and expertise. She has extensive experience leading Asian companies at all growth stages through IPOs and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She also provides critical networking services, linking clients to other professional service providers, such as bankers, lawyers, insurance brokers, and real estate professionals.
Business Experience:
Joanne has over twenty years of experience in public accounting. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of the Asia Practice at a National Firm. Prior to that, she served as a Director and Founding Member of the China Desk at a large national firm. She specializes in EB5, e-commerce, estate & trusts, high-net-worth individuals, import & export, coordination of public offerings, and mergers & acquisitions.
The clients she serves operate in the family office, private equity, VC, not-for-profit, life science, cannabis, professional services, entertainment, technology, manufacturing, and real estate.
Joanne is a frequent presenter of international tax and real estate-related topics at events hosted by the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), China Real Estate Association, and NYC Real Estate Expo. Joanne also serves on the advisory board of AREAA Manhattan.
William Dooley
Director - M&A and Activism Advisory Group
Morrow Sodali
William Dooley
Director - M&A and Activism Advisory Group, Morrow Sodali
With more than nine years of experience providing strategic counsel to corporate issuers and boards in matters of shareholder activism defense, corporate governance and mergers & acquisitions, Bill has spent his entire career at the firm. Bill works closely with clients throughout the year on engagement programs with shareholders and advisory firms as well as activism preparedness. Bill’s clients are located across the globe and represent all market caps. Understanding a company's shareholder profile from a voting control perspective and a company’s vulnerabilities is vital in determining potential outcomes in a contested situation. Recently Bill has provided counsel on transformative M&A transactions including Time Warner/AT&T, Occidental Petroleum/Anadarko and Bristol Myers/Celgene and a number of contested situations including Newell Brands/Starboard, Olympus Corporation/ValueAct, First United Corporation/Driver Management, Synalloy Corporation/Privet Fund and Luby’s Inc./Bandera Partners.
Yelena Dunaevsky
Senior Vice President & Partner
Woodruff Sawyer
Yelena Dunaevsky
Senior Vice President & Partner, Woodruff Sawyer
Yelena is a Partner & SVP at Woodruff Sawyer, one of the largest independent insurance brokerage and consulting firms in the US. She advises clients on M&A- and IPO-related insurance solutions, including representations and warranties insurance (RWI) and D&O insurance for public companies and SPACs.
Yelena is a frequent speaker and author, featured in many publications including S&P Global, Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Investment News Today, Business Law Today, Law360, CFO.com, Business Journal and Bloomberg. She won the JD Supra top author award in M&A in 2023 and 2022. Yelena also serves as the M&A managing editor of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Today and is the executive editor of the SPAC Notebook, a blog series that covers SPACs and SPAC risks.
In 2022, Yelena was named in Insurance Business America's "Hot 100," which lists top professionals whose contributions have helped shape the insurance industry.
Prior to Woodruff Sawyer, Yelena practiced as a senior capital markets associate at Clifford Chance and a corporate associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae (later Dewey & LeBoeuf) and earned her BS in Economics from Cornell University and her JD from Fordham University School of Law.
Doug Ellenoff
Partner
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole
Doug Ellenoff
Partner, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole
Douglas S. Ellenoff, a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP since its founding in 1992, is a corporate and securities attorney with a specialty in alternative financings, including, SPACs, M&A, PIPEs, RDs and Crowdfunding. In the last 10 years, he has been involved at various stages in numerous registered public offerings, including more than 100 financings and, hundreds of private placements into public companies. Since 2002, Mr. Ellenoff has been involved with over 250 SPAC IPOs and 60 business combinations.
Joseph Fede
Partner
Withum
Joseph Fede
Partner, Withum
Joe Fede is an audit partner in Withum’s Financial Services Group. Joe provides audit, accounting and advisory services to a diversified group of clients in both the private and public sectors, including broker-dealers, venture capital funds and other commercial businesses. Joe also has experience with employee benefit plan services.
In addition, Joe specializes in providing services related to security transactions, investment banking, complex equity transactions, stock-based compensation, initial public offerings (IPOs), business combinations and registration and reporting under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. He has been involved with numerous IPOs, which raised in excess of $7 billion. The majority of these IPOs were Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) sponsored by the investment community.
Teresa Goody Guillen
Partner
BakerHostetler
Teresa Goody Guillen
Partner, BakerHostetlerA co-leader of BakerHostetler’s Blockchain team, Teresa Goody Guillén has a broad securities, litigation/investigations and corporate practice that includes representing businesses and individuals in securities enforcement and other government investigations and conducting investigations for corporate board committees and companies. She is a former litigation counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in its Office of the General Counsel, nationally regarded for the depth of her knowledge of the federal securities laws. Teresa also counsels on general corporate, securities and compliance issues, as well as capital raises under Regulations S, D, A+ and CF. Teresa’s experience includes emerging issues associated with blockchain, cryptocurrencies and digital assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), web 3.0, DeFi platforms and alternative trading systems (ATSs).
Destiny Hance
Vice President Equity Research
Ladenburg Thalmann
Destiny Hance
Vice President Equity Research, Ladenburg ThalmannDestiny Hance has a strong background in equity research, starting with an internship at Ladenburg Thalmann in March 2017. Destiny then progressed to the role of Associate in June 2017 and became a Senior Associate in August 2020. Currently, they hold the position of Vice President at Ladenburg Thalmann since September 2021. Prior to their work at Ladenburg Thalmann, Destiny worked as a Data Entry/Virtual Assistant at Zander Property Group from March 2016 to March 2017, where they created spreadsheets and managed schedules. Destiny also gained experience as a Marketing Intern at TMC Financing in November and December 2016, focusing on basic data analysis. Before that, Destiny worked as a Marketing Intern at the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce from May to June 2016, where they developed a comprehensive marketing plan and designed marketing content for LinkedIn.
Destiny Hance completed their education with a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship from Lynn University in the years 2014 to 2017. During their time at Lynn University, they also obtained a minor in Digital Product Design from General Assembly in 2016. Later, in 2022 to 2023, they pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Florida. Additionally, Destiny has a Series 7 certification from FINRA, obtained in 2017, and several certifications in various analytical and financial skills from S&P Global Market Intelligence, obtained in 2020.
Steve Kaplan
Managing Director
Ladenburg Thalmann
Steve Kaplan
Managing Director, Ladenburg ThalmannMr. Kaplan joined Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. as a Managing Director in September 2004 and was promoted to Head of Capital Markets in December 2011. Mr. Kaplan co-heads the investment banking group at Ladenburg Thalmann which focuses on blank check companies or SPACs. Prior to joining Ladenburg Thalmann, Mr. Kaplan had substantial experience advising companies in the healthcare services industry. From 1999 to 2004, Mr. Kaplan was a Co-Founder and a Partner of River Capital Partners, a healthcare services focused M&A advisory firm. From 1996 to 1999, he was a Vice President in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group of Prudential Securities. From 1993 to 1996 he was an associate at Jefferies & Company, primarily focused on Healthcare M&A. He previously worked at auditing firms Pricewaterhouse and Deloitte & Touche. Over the course of his career, Mr. Kaplan has managed over 500 public offerings including but not limited to IPOs and follow-on offerings as well as advising on numerous merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Kaplan received a BSBA from Babson College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Kevin Kelly
Senior Director
Morrow Sodali
Kevin Kelly
Senior Director, Morrow SodaliKevin Kelly, a Senior Director, joined Morrow Sodali in October 2003. Kevin leads our SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) services and is responsible for new business development.
Prior to joining Morrow Sodali, Kevin held a number of senior roles in the transfer agent business including positions in sales, marketing, administration, product management, and operations. Kevin’s career included transfer agent and corporate trust roles with Computershare, Harris Bank, Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, and Chase Manhattan Bank.
Kevin is a member of National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and the Society for Corporate Governance. He holds an M.B.A. degree from Fordham University and a B.A. degree from St. Anselm College.
Ben Kwasnick
Founder
SPAC Research
Ben Kwasnick
Founder, SPAC Research
Benjamin Kwasnick has nearly two decades of experience as a principal investor in US public equity markets, with a focus on SPACs, special situations, and event-driven strategies. He is the founder of SPAC Research, an independent data service focused on US-listed Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. SPAC Research is a thought leader that provides custom research and analysis on the SPAC space, as well as a comprehensive data set and synopsis of all material events throughout each SPAC's life cycle.
Steve Levine
CEO
EarlyBird Capital
Steve Levine
CEO, EarlyBird CapitalMr. Levine is Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Investment Banking. His primary focus is on private placements, public offerings, restructurings, mergers and acquisitions and financial advisory work.
Prior to EarlyBirdCapital, Mr. Levine was Vice President of Investment Banking at Southeast Research Partners, Inc., (a predecessor to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.) an investment banking and research firm with offices in New York and Florida that specialized in institutional research and sales, covering middle market private and public companies. In June of 2000, together with Mr. Nussbaum, Mr. Levine launched EarlyBirdCapital to focus on financing and advisory opportunities with small and mid-market private and public companies. From 1980 to 1991 he headed a New York-based food distribution company, a role that gave him hands-on experience in running a mid-sized business.
Mr. Levine earned his B.A. from George Washington University and his J.D., magna cum laude, from George Mason University School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar.
Jason Ma
Vice Chairman
Norwich Capital Ltd.
Jason Ma
Vice Chairman, Norwich Capital Ltd.Jason serves as the Vice Chairman of Norwich Capital Ltd., a firm headquartered in Hong Kong that specializes in assisting Asian-based companies in accessing overseas exchanges. With a focus on SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies), Norwich Capital has garnered recognition for its extensive experience in both US and Asian markets.
Since teaming up with Norwich from 2014, Jason has spearheaded numerous SPAC IPOs, facilitated and completed multiple cross-border deSPAC transactions. Notably, as Chairman and CEO of Tottenham Acquisition I Limited, he orchestrated the successful acquisition of Clene Therapeutics, a US pharmaceutical company specializing in neural degenerative disease research.
In addition to his expertise in SPAC transactions, Jason brings over 18 years of experience in various forms of cross-border deals, including M&A, reverse mergers, and IPOs for Asian companies.
With a BSc. in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley, an MBA from the University of Southern California and an MSc in ECommerce from the University of Hong Kong, Jason continues to drive Norwich Capital's mission of empowering Asian businesses to thrive in global markets.
Kristi Marvin
Founder
SPACInsider
Kristi Marvin
Founder, SPACInsiderKristi Marvin is the Founder and writer of SPACInsider.com, a website devoted to providing real-time analysis and data focused exclusively on the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) asset class for investors, SPAC teams, bankers, lawyers and other industry “insiders”. She is a former investment banker having been involved in excess of $2 billion in SPAC offerings from a book-runner position and nearly $4 billion in total as lead or co-manager.
Matt McCloskey
Head of Equity Capital Markets
I-Bankers Securities
Matt McCloskey
Head of Equity Capital Markets, I-Bankers SecuritiesMatt has 20+ years of experience in the Financial Services Industry holding Research, Institutional Sales and Asset Management roles at various firms including ABN Amro, CRT Capital and Bear Stearns. Prior to joining I-Bankers, Matt was a SPAC specialist for Macquarie Capital (USA), where he helped build the firm’s SPAC Sales, Trading and Underwriting capabilities. He graduated from Villanova University with a BS in Business Management and holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 securities licenses.
Dan Nash
Co-Founder, Head of Investment Banking
Cohen Capital Markets
Dan Nash
Co-Founder, Head of Investment Banking, Cohen Capital MarketsDan is the Co-Founder Head of Investment Banking at Cohen Capital Markets ("CCM"). CCM is a full-service boutique investment bank providing M&A, capital markets and SPAC advisory. CCM has emerged as one of the fasting growing firms and leading SPAC advisors on wall street, with 47 deals announced or closed since launching in Q1 2021.
Before founding CCM, Dan served as the Global Head of Internet Investment Banking at Wells Fargo Securities, where he advised numerous leading technology companies. Dan helped grow the technology investment banking business at Wells Fargo and led notable transactions including Carvana's IPO. Prior to Wells Fargo, he was a Technology Investment Banker at BofA Merrill Lynch. where he was involved in high-profile transactions, including the IPOs of LinkedIn, Zulily, and Facebook. Additionally, Dan held a number of finance positions including Chief Financial Officer at Machine Zone, a leading mobile gaming company, and various roles at Riverstone Networks and Intel Corp.
Dan has an MBA from UC Berkeley, BA in Economics from University of Pennsylvania, and a General Course degree focused on Mathematics from the London School of Economics. Dan was born and raised in Silicon Valley and lives in Woodside with his wife and four children.
Elena Nuñez Cooper
CEO
Ascend PR for Wall Street
Elena Nuñez Cooper
CEO, Ascend PR for Wall StreetElena Nuñez Cooper is the CEO and founder of Ascend PR & Family Office Advisory, serving family offices and private equity firms. She consults on SPACs, leadership development, risk management, and corporate and family governance.
Nuñez Cooper serves as an independent director for the PCT Family Office. For nearly three years, she served on the board of and chaired the IT marketing committee at ZeroNox Inc., a $255 million off-road electric vehicle company.
Nuñez Cooper has been featured in Fortune and The New York Post. She is a columnist and speaker, having spoken at Stanford Graduate School of Business, HalBar Family Office Summit and the Busch School of Business. She previously served on the board of Cameron School of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.
Mitch Nussbaum
Vice Chairman; Co-Chair, Capital Markets & Corporate
Loeb & Loeb
Mitch Nussbaum
Vice Chairman; Co-Chair, Capital Markets & Corporate, Loeb & Loeb
Mitch Nussbaum is the vice chair of Loeb & Loeb and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Capital Markets and Corporate Department. His practice focuses on representing emerging growth companies and investment banks in initial public offerings, follow-on public offerings, shelf takedowns, registered direct placements, PIPEs and other private placements (144A, Reg D, Reg A, Reg S, etc.). Mr. Nussbaum also regularly represents public companies regarding their SEC and NYSE or Nasdaq listing compliance and has acted as outside general counsel, including corporate, securities, M&A litigation and business counseling, to hundreds of private and public companies as well as their officers and directors. He also negotiates and documents acquisitions, mergers, going-private transactions, reverse mergers, proxy contests, tender offers, control contests, fund formations and secured lending financings and has represented issuers and underwriters in more than 100 SPAC public offerings and business combinations. Mr. Nussbaum was responsible for developing the groundbreaking IPAC, which features many of the benefits of the SPAC, but offers increased flexibility on pricing and deal structure, along with a more rapid transaction cycle.
Tina Pappas
Managing Director
Jefferies
Tina Pappas
Managing Director, JefferiesTina Pappas is a Managing Director in Equity Capital Markets at Jefferies LLC and has over 30 years of investment banking experience. Ms. Pappas leads Jefferies’ SPAC practice and has completed over 140 SPAC transactions. Ms. Pappas joined Jefferies from FBR & Co., where she was a Managing Director and head of the SPAC practice. Previously, Ms. Pappas was a Managing Director and head of Equity Capital Markets at Morgan Joseph & Co. Inc., one the earliest and most active underwriters of SPACs, where she was a key architect of the revised SPAC structure that was introduced in 2010. Ms. Pappas received a B.S. in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Disha Patel
Partner
Withum
Disha Patel
Partner, Withum
With over 14 years of experience, Disha is a partner of Withum’s Audit Team, specializing in accounting and auditing services in the financial services industry. She is actively involved in the development of best practices in the alternative investment industry, and the development of in-house training programs. Disha has experience with IPOs, including SPACs, and other high-value funds, and has in‐depth knowledge of the issues and requirements of the investment company industry.
Henry Rogano
Senior Investment Associate
Meteora Capital
Henry Rogano
Senior Investment Associate, Meteora CapitalHenry Rogano has a banking background and was part of ING’s Global Analyst Program where he obtained experience in structuring, advisory, capital markets and origination alongside ING’s top Managing Directors / Heads. Henry worked in several cities including New York, Sydney, Amsterdam and Sao Paulo and across several industries; real estate, oil & gas, infrastructure, power & renewables, mining and more. Prior to joining Meteora, Henry was part of Glazer Capital’s SPAC team where he focused primarily on SPAC IPOs and risk capital deployments.
Henry earned a B.S. in Finance and Global Business from NYU Stern School of Business and is originally from São Paulo, Brazil.
Mark Schwartz
IPO and SPAC Capital Markets Advisory Leader
Ernst & Young
Mark Schwartz
IPO and SPAC Capital Markets Advisory Leader, Ernst & YoungMark leads EY Capital Advisory’s “EYCA” capital markets advisory team preparing companies to enter the public markets through IPOs, SPAC mergers and direct listings. Prior to joining EYCA, Mark served in senior Equity Capital Markets “ECM” positions on Wall Street for about 15 years. Most recently he was Deutsche Bank's Head of Equity Financing Solutions, and prior to that he was a senior ECM execution banker at Barclays and its predecessor, Lehman Brothers. Before his investment banking years, Mark was a corporate and securities lawyer in Davis Polk's capital markets group, and a staff attorney in the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance.
Elliott M. Smith
Partner
White & Case
Elliott M. Smith
Partner, White & CaseElliott Smith is a partner at White & Case, and a member of the Firm's Capital Markets Practice.
Elliott’s practice focuses on advising clients on corporate and securities matters, including IPOs, follow-on offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities. Elliott has particular experience representing SPACs and their sponsor teams in IPOs and back-end business combinations.
Elliott also advises public companies on corporate governance matters and compliance with federal securities laws, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
Taylor Sherman
Director, Restructuring and Dispute Resolution Services
CohnReznick
Taylor Sherman
Director, Restructuring and Dispute Resolution Services, CohnReznickTaylor Sherman provides financial advisory, business restructuring, and transaction support services to corporations, lending institutions, private equity firms, hedge funds, and law firms. He advises debtors, secured lenders, bondholders, unsecured creditors, stockholders, private equity, and other stakeholders in matters involving turnaround, bankruptcy, out-of-court workouts, litigation, lender and M&A due diligence, transactional support, and profit improvement services.
Brian Zucker
Partner
RRBB
Brian Zucker
Partner, RRBB
Brian is the CFO and Financial Operations Principal for numerous broker dealers and hedge funds. He has over thirty years of experience as a CPA specializing in the securities industry.
Brian started his career as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Haskins and Sells and later Price Waterhouse. He provides a broad range of accounting, tax and regulatory related services to public companies, hedge funds, broker dealers and high net worth individuals. He has previously served as the President and Chairman of Atlantis Business Development Corp. (ABDV), CFO of Natcore Solar Technology, Inc. (NTCXF) and as a Managing Director of American Frontier Financial Corp. (EVIS)
