Al Alvarez is a director at Advantage Capital leading sourcing efforts across the state of Nevada.

Al comes to Advantage with over 35 years of experience in the commercial banking and lending sector. He was most recently a director and principal market manager at Bank of the West in Las Vegas, where he oversaw the managing and servicing of mid-market companies with $25 million to $500 million in revenue. Prior to his work with Bank of the West, Al held leadership positions with other financial institutions in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, such as managing partner at Trism Business Solutions, senior vice president at Silver State Banks, president and CEO at Business Bank of Nevada and senior vice president and manager of Commercial Banking at Bank of America.

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Brian Anderson is a principal at Advantage Capital. As a member of the firm’s investment group, he is responsible for sourcing, due diligence and valuation analysis of current and prospective investments.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Brian co-owned and served as lead operator of a south Texas-based trucking company. Before purchasing that company, he was a managing director at GF Capital Management & Advisors, a NYC-based private equity fund. He has also held roles with NBC Universal, RBC Capital Markets and Credit Suisse earlier in his career.  

Brian received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School and his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University.

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Anan Balaji is an analyst on the investment team where he is responsible for sourcing investments and providing due diligence support.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Anan was an investment banking analyst at Wells Fargo Securities where he managed and analyzed client investment portfolios.

Anan received his bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University.

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Kelly Ballay is a member of the accounting team at Advantage Capital. As a staff accountant, Kelly is responsible for recording activity and preparing financial statements for several of the firm’s entities.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, she served as a senior accountant at SMG-Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA.

Kelly received a master’s degree in accounting from the University of New Orleans and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Louisiana State University.

Nick Barbknecht is a senior associate on Advantage Capital’s expansion team. With more than a decade of experience in prominent positions within project development, policy advancement, and politics, Nick brings his leadership and relationships to Advantage Capital to support the firm with targeted legislative work across the U.S. and oversee community and government relations for energy development.

Nick joins Advantage Capital from the America First Policy Institute where he served as Chief Marketing Officer for the non-profit, nonpartisan think tank. Nick has spent his career in the private and public sectors connecting with thousands of state and local elected officials to advance important agendas through his time in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Indiana Department of Labor, and Indiana Department of Transportation.

Nick received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Manchester University and an MBA from Purdue University.

Kayin Barclay is a vice president at Advantage Capital. As a member of the firm's investment group, he is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, executing transactions, and managing portfolio companies.

Before joining Advantage Capital, Kayin worked as a senior vice president at Insight Equity, where he invested across the business services and manufacturing sectors. He has also held roles at RLJ Equity Partners, Barclays Capital, and McKinsey & Company.

Kayin received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA in economics from Morehouse College.

David Beidler is vice president of business development at Advantage Capital. In his role, David primarily focuses on sourcing state and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investments for affordable housing projects concentrated in Colorado and Georgia.

David brings over 23 years of commercial real estate experience, including more than 13 years of experience in sourcing Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits and federal New Markets Tax Credit investments to the Advantage Capital team. Most recently, he was a tax credit Acquisitions Manager at Foss and Company and prior to that with the National Trust Community Investment Corporation in a similar role.

David received his MBA and master’s degree in regional and urban planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of St. Thomas.

Mike Benson is a senior vice president at Advantage Capital, where he identifies and screens potential new private equity and debt investment opportunities, performs due diligence and valuation analysis, structures, negotiates and closes transactions, and manages investments in venture through mature stage portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, he served in a similar role as a director at Ironwood Capital, where he led the development and implementation of several best practices and process improvements, including development of the firm’s proprietary deal structuring and return analysis financial model, and its fund cash flow and return analysis financial model, as well as spearheaded the search and selection of the firm’s private equity-tailored fund reporting and portfolio management ERP system. Earlier in his career, Mike worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Global Risk Management Solutions practice, specializing in performing and managing business process, operations, systems, and internal controls consulting and assurance engagements for financial services industry clients.

Mike received an MBA degree from Yale University with concentrations in strategy and finance, as well as a BBA degree from Hofstra University with a major in accounting. He has also received a Certified Public Accountant designation.

Michael Bernier is a senior analyst on the investment team where he is responsible for sourcing investments and providing due diligence support.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Michael was an investment analyst at Prime Bucholz where he managed and analyzed client investment portfolios. He also served as a high-net-worth brokerage associate at Fidelity Investments where he analyzed and interpreted economic and capital market data.

Michael received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Saint Anselm College and has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Anthony Billings is a vice president at Advantage Capital. As a member of the investment team, he focuses on portfolio management and the evaluation of new investment opportunities. Anthony’s primary responsibilities include monitoring the firm’s current investments, interfacing with portfolio companies to assess current and future capital needs and underwriting new opportunities to deploy firm capital effectively.

Prior to joining the firm, Anthony served as an associate and assistant vice president in the sponsor finance division of U.S. Bank where he worked primarily with private equity firms to evaluate the financial and business risks of potential new investments, while also monitoring an existing portfolio of loans to identify any issues or capital needs.

Anthony received his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus on finance from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

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Tom Bitting was one of the founding members of Advantage Capital’s renewable energy investment platform and currently leads the sourcing and underwriting for all of the fund’s solar project investments. In that capacity, he is responsible for structuring and underwriting transactions, performing due diligence, managing investments and seeking new opportunities to deploy fund capital effectively. Tom also serves as a member of the solar Investment Committee.

Prior to joining the firm, Tom served as a vice president in the commercial credit administration division of Pulaski Bank. In that role, he assessed investment risk, collaborated with lenders to develop customized financing options to best serve customer needs, and made loan approval decisions for new and existing customers. He served as a member of the bank’s Risk Management Committee and was responsible for monitoring and assessing a number of bank-wide loan portfolio and balance sheet metrics.

Tom received his MBA from Saint Louis University and his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Bucknell University.

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Tim Blanke is a senior special assets associate in the government-guaranteed lending team. In this capacity, he plays a key role in the team’s loan portfolio servicing, collections and collateral management.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Tim served as an insurance adjuster for Associate Claims and Insurance Services.

Tim received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans. Since 2013, he has been a member of a barbeque competition team that annually competes to raise funds for families suffering from pediatric brain cancer.

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Mitch Boyer is a senior analyst at Advantage Capital. As a member of the firm’s investment team, his primary responsibilities include helping underwrite new investments, performing due diligence and aiding in growth initiatives for the firm’s portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Mitch was at Commerce Bank where he worked as a commercial banking officer.

Mitch received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Indiana University Bloomington.

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Ryan Brennan is a Managing Director at Advantage Capital. Mr. Brennan leads the firm’s efforts to foster access to capital and economic development in underserved communities. He is a leader on the firm's fundraising team and spearheads initiatives to strengthen and develop internal talent and assets.  

Ryan was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the development finance arm of the U.S. government. While at DFC, he drove the creation and adoption of the Impact Quotient (IQ), an innovative method of measuring and improving impact in projects around the world. Ryan was a member of the DFC Investment Committee and led business development across the Western Hemisphere that facilitated billions in direct investment to Central America’s Northern Triangle. Prior to COO, Ryan led the DFC Office of Investment Policy, implementing environmental, social and governance standards across the $23 billion DFC portfolio.

Ryan serves on the Providence Queen of the Valley Hospital Community Board, the Truman State University Foundation Board of Directors as well as on the Board's Investment Committee. He is also on the Board of the Napa Little League. He is the former President of the Boys and Girls Club of Napa Valley Board.

Ryan received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Truman State University.

Shannon Brown is the accounts payable manager at Advantage Capital.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, she was the Logistics Manager for an international John Deere distributor and dealerships.

Shannon received her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans.

Pete Byford is a Senior Vice President on the firm’s Partner Services team. In his role, he helps lead the growth of the overall line of business and focuses on origination of New Markets Tax Credit financing transactions.

Byford is a veteran attorney and former equity finance consultant. Over the past eight years, he has been involved in NMTC transactions delivering more than $1.1 billion in total investment to underserved areas.

Before joining Advantage Capital, Byford was a director at one of the largest regional accounting firms in the U.S. In a previous role as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, S.B. Phillips Co., Inc., he served as legal counsel, oversaw financial departments, and worked closely with top executives to define business strategies while providing legal advice on specific issues. For more than thirteen years, he led his own law firm, Byford Law LLC.

Byford holds a B.A. from The Citadel along with a J.D. from University of South Carolina and a L.L.M, Taxation from University of Denver.

Liz Carter is Director of Legislative Affairs at Advantage Capital, coordinating the firm’s advocacy efforts and acting as a liaison with other Advantage departments and industry partners.  

Previously, Liz was Director of Outreach for the Partnership for Job Creation, an industry coalition of New Market Tax Credit practitioners advocating for Congress to strengthen the NMTC as well as make it a permanent part of the federal tax code. In December 2020, Congress granted the NMTC the largest-ever extension in program history, $25 billion over five years. Before that, she worked for the Historic Tax Credit Coalition, which played an integral role in preserving the HTC in the federal tax code during Congress’ tax reform effort in 2017.

Liz received her master’s in History of American Decorative Arts from Parsons School of Design and her bachelor’s in English and Art History from Smith College.

Linda Clark is an executive assistant at Advantage Capital.

Linda plays a key role in the overall operations of the firm’s St. Louis office. She also provides project management support for the impact team and works directly with the firm’s chief impact officer to manage projects, timelines and deliverables. Prior to joining the firm, Linda worked in the non-profit industry. For the past 10 years she was at Urban Strategies, Inc., a community revitalization company, where she was the executive assistant to the president and the office manager for the corporate office. Her expansive administrative background also includes Saint Louis University and Coro Leadership Center.  

Linda holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She is a past board president for the Nursery Foundation of St. Louis and the Urban League Block Unit Initiative.

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Sarah Collier is a tax manager at Advantage Capital. In this role, Sarah services the firm’s leverage lending portfolio and manages income tax compliance for the firm’s entities and their associated federal and state tax filings.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Sarah was a Manager at the Insourced Solutions for Tax Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where she reviewed tax returns, tax provisions, and tax account reconciliations for Bayer Corporation.

Sarah received her master’s in accounting from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and her bachelor’s in accounting from Truman State University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Missouri.

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Cindy Colvin is a Managing Director leading the firm’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit team.

Cindy has nearly 20 years of banking and real estate finance experience in both sales and underwriting capacities.  Prior to assuming her role at Advantage Capital, Cindy was the Head of Credit Delivery for Truist’s Commercial Real Estate Line of business. There she was responsible for leading a team of underwriters and portfolio managers within commercial real estate including private developers, REITs, affordable housing as well as low-income housing tax credits and new market tax organizations.  

Cindy graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and earned her MBA from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.

Adam Constantinides is a vice president at Advantage Capital. As a member of the solar investment team, Adam focuses on sourcing investments, performing due diligence, structuring transactions and portfolio management.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Adam worked for Altus Power America, a renewable energy investment firm, where he was responsible for the development, underwriting and execution of solar investments. He also previously held a position at Regional Plan Association where he evaluated financial impacts of climate change in the New York metropolitan area.

Adam received his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with a minor in social innovation/entrepreneurship from Tulane University where he graduated cum laude.

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Kathy Cornell is a vice president of tax at Advantage Capital. She services the firm’s leverage lending portfolio and manages income tax compliance for the firm’s entities and their associated federal and state tax filings. She has a broad base of experience working in both public accounting and private industry with companies operating in multiple business sectors. Most recently, Kathy worked at Anheuser-Busch in the tax operations group where she helped to improve tax compliance processes and procedures. Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from McKendree College.

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Susan Crockett is an accounting manager at Advantage Capital. First servicing the debt portfolio, she moved into an accounting role in 2011, preparing many of the firm’s financial statements and assisting with quarterly transactions and reporting.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Susan worked in the banking and mortgage industries, processing and underwriting mortgage loans.

Susan is a certified public accountant and completed the CPA preparation program at the University of New Orleans. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Colorado State University.

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Anaëlle Croteau is a senior associate at Advantage Capital. As a member of the solar investment team, Ms. Croteau is responsible for performing due diligence efforts, screening potential investment opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies. Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Anaëlle held positions with the ArcelorMittal Treasury in Paris, France, Meridiam in Dakar, Senegal and the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg.

Ms. Croteau received her MSc in Financial Markets and Management from the EDHEC Business School in France.

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Liam Davidson is a member of the Solar group, where he focuses on transaction structuring, due diligence, and portfolio management.

Prior to Advantage, Liam worked at Sunwealth Power, an impact-driven 3rd party financier and developer focused on the commercial and industrial solar markets. Led analysis of new market opportunities and monitored relevant policy developments.

Earlier in this career, Liam was a policy analyst in the office of former Secretary of State John Kerry.

Liam received a BA in History and Government, from Dartmouth College.

Clare Davies is a senior analyst at Advantage Capital. As a member of the syndication team, she is responsible for assisting with due diligence and transaction work for the firm’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investments.

Prior to joining the firm, Clare served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia, where she led community economic development initiatives. Prior to Peace Corps, Clare worked in administrative and accounting roles at King Street Capital Management in New York City. 

Clare received her MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and her bachelor’s degree from New York University.

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Rachel Davis is an analyst at Advantage Capital. As a member of the investment team, she is responsible for sourcing investments, supporting business development efforts, and providing due diligence support.

Previously, Rachel was an auditor at Ernst & Young for nearly two years, where she conducted audits on private and public companies across various industries.

Rachel received her master’s in Accounting from the University of Missouri and is a licensed CPA.

Manny Davis is an analyst at Advantage Capital. As a member of the syndication team, he is responsible for assisting in underwriting efforts for the firm's affordable housing portfolio.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Manny worked as a staff auditor at Sikich, LLP, where he was a member of the not-for-profit team and was responsible for examining and building financial statements, testing the organization's internal controls, and drafting the audit opinion.

Manny received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Millikin University and is pursuing his MBA from University of Illinois - Springfield. He is also currently sitting for his CPA.

Jeremy Degenhart is a senior advisor at Advantage Capital. Based in the St. Louis office, Jeremy has a wide range of responsibilities including screening deal flow, conducting due diligence, negotiating transactions, managing existing investments and developing exit opportunities. He is also responsible for leading efforts to source and evaluate commercial, municipal and utility solar projects. Selected current and prior investments led by Jeremy include: Veran Medical Technologies; Singulex; Kereos; Prioria Robotics; The Lawrence Group; Stereotaxis, which held an initial public offering in 2004 (NASDAQ:STXS); and DataTrade, which sold to Goldleaf Financial in 2007. Additionally, he is responsible for designing and analyzing new fundraising structures and facilitating their implementation.

Jeremy participated in several of the first New Markets Tax Credit transactions ever closed in 2003-2004, at the inception of the program. He has continued to lead the structuring and closing of such financing transactions for Advantage Capital ever since. To date, Jeremy has been involved in providing in excess of $175 million of capital for more than 20 businesses. He was the valedictorian of his undergraduate class at the John M. Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, receiving a bachelor’s degree in finance, economics and accounting in May 2000. He has also earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Jeremy serves on the Board of Directors of the InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum. He is a seasoned speaker, and he lectures on venture capital and private equity as an adjunct faculty member at the Olin Business School.

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Matthew Derouchie is an analyst on the investment team where he is responsible for sourcing investments and providing due diligence support.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Matthew was an software development intern for Lavalle Transportation, where he focused on process improvement and software implementation.

Matthew received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from St. Lawrence University.