Felix Akresi is a Vice President and member of Advantage’s talented Capital Markets team working to expand the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and renewable energy lines of business while also bolstering fund management and investor relations activities. Felix joined Advantage from Aegon Asset Management where most recently, he was an Associate Director on the Strategy Analytics and Client Management team, and responsible for oversight of the pricing models and fund analytics for Aegon’s tax credit strategies. At Aegon, he also played a leading role in the closing of more than $2.5 billion of tax credit equity and structured debt investments. Earlier in his career, Felix was an Associate at KPMG advising on tax regulatory compliance, transfer pricing for cross-border transactions, and general business advisory services. He also held a position as an Actuarial Analyst on Transamerica’s Pricing and Margin Analytics team.

Mr. Akresi holds a B.S. in, Statistics and Actuarial science from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Ghana and an M.S. in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Amine Alami is a Principal at Advantage Capital where he leads the engineering, procurement and construction of the firm’s renewable energy investment platform.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Amine was the senior director of business and corporate development at Solv Energy, one of the largest renewable energy construction firms in the United States. He also served as vice president of asset management at Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and the director of solar operations at K Road Power Holdings, LLC. During this period, he led the development, asset management, engineering procurement and construction for approximately 2GW of renewable energy projects.

Earlier in his career, Amine held several leadership roles at Sunedison, FRV and MMA renewable ventures where he managed M&A activities, engineering, development, supply chain, and construction and operations of renewable energy assets.

Amine received his master’s degree in electrical engineering and MBA from Georgia Tech focused on renewable energy and finance. During his tenure at Georgia Tech, Amine led lab research on high efficiency solar cells at the University Center of Excellence of Photovoltaics and was a key member of the 2007 solar decathlon competition. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and speaks 4 languages (Arabic, French, Spanish and English).

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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Lynn Ambrosy is a Managing Director and a leader on the talented Capital Markets team working to expand the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and renewable energy business lines of the firm.

Ambrosy comes to Advantage Capital from Aegon Asset Management where he led its tax credit syndication platform with direct responsibility for capital raises, fund structuring and investor relations. At Aegon, he originated more than $4.5 billion of tax credit equity in 43 proprietary and multi-investor funds and served as co-head of the LIHTC platform. Ambrosy has more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience spanning both debt and equity with a primary focus on affordable housing.

Ambrosy leads LIHTC syndication initiatives and place tax credit equity in the firm’s other growing lines of business, including renewable energy, while helping to bolster Advantage Capital’s Investor Relations function.

Ambrosy holds an MBA from The University of Iowa Tippie College of Business and a B.A. in finance from the University of Northern Iowa.

Brian Anderson is a Managing Director 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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Corey Archibeque is an associate at Advantage Capital. As a member of the investment team, Corey is responsible for screening potential investment opportunities, performing due diligence and monitoring portfolio companies.      

Corey received his MBA from Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Anan Balaji 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, 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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Madeline Bale is a senior analyst at Advantage Capital. As a member of the investment team, she provides due diligence support, helps underwrite new investments, and aids in growth initiatives at the firm's portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Madeline spent two summers as an institutional equities sales & trading intern at Morgan Stanley, where she used statistical techniques to help finetune the dynamic margin policy used by the prime brokerage business.

Madeline received her master's in statistics and her bachelor's in statistics & data science from Yale.

Nick Barbknecht is a vice president 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.

Shannon Bartolo is a member of the accounting team at Advantage Capital. As the manager of all accounts payable functions, she is a key asset in the overall management of the firm’s financial operations.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Shannon served as office manager for Standard Parking, where she maintained accounts payable, payroll and coordinated office operations, procedures and resources to facilitate organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Kendra Becker is a sourcing analyst on the investment team at Advantage Capital. She is responsible for sourcing investments and providing due diligence support.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Kendra was a marketing intern for OnLogic, where she focused on content migration and quality assurance for a new website launch.

Kendra received her bachelor's degree in business and psychology from St. Lawrence University.

Evan Bell is an associate at Advantage Capital. Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Evan was an associate in the Business group at Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P., where she focused on corporate and securities laws, mergers and acquisitions and real estate finance. Evan earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Loyola Law Review. She earned her bachelor's degree in environmental studies from Rhodes College.

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.

Samantha Berman, a dedicated Certified Public Accountant (CPA), serves as an accounting manager at Advantage Capital. In this capacity, Samantha spearheads financial planning and analysis, ensuring the financial health and strategic growth of the organization.

Before joining Advantage Capital, Samantha demonstrated her prowess as the Acquisitions and Divestiture Manager at Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), where she played a pivotal role in overseeing all aspects of business and real estate acquisitions and divestitures. Furthermore, Samantha served as the Trust Services Supervisor for Trust Advisors, Inc., a subsidiary of SCI and a Registered Investment Advisory Firm (RIA). Her responsibilities extended to nurturing valuable client relationships, representing their interests internally, and championing initiatives.

Samantha's professional journey began at Hannis T. Bourgeois, LLP, a prominent Public Accounting Firm headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During her tenure, she showcased her expertise by providing assurance and consulting services to various sectors, including Financial Institutions, the automobile industry, and small businesses in Southeast Louisiana.

Samantha's academic achievements are equally impressive, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the E.J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University (LSU) and a Master of Accountancy from the esteemed Brock School of Business at Samford University.

Beyond her corporate pursuits, Samantha is an active member of her community. She serves as the Treasurer on the Board of Trustees for St. George’s Episcopal School and plays integral roles on the Executive Committee, Finance Committee, and the Committee on Employee Advocacy & Engagement.

Michael Bernier is a senior associate 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 senior 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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Rebecca (Becky) Boudreaux brings over two decades of experience in legal administration and compliance to her role as a Compliance Administrator at Advantage Capital. With a robust background as a legal assistant at Murphy, Rogers, Sloss, Gambel & Tompkins, where she dedicated 25 years to the firm, Becky has honed her skills in navigating complex regulatory landscapes and ensuring adherence to legal standards.

In her current position at Advantage Capital, Becky demonstrates her expertise in regulatory compliance, leveraging her meticulous attention to detail and comprehensive understanding of legal frameworks to maintain organizational integrity and uphold industry standards. Her commitment to excellence and professionalism is evident in every aspect of her work, where she consistently strives to exceed expectations and deliver results of the highest caliber.

With her wealth of experience, unwavering dedication, and genuine enthusiasm for making a difference, Becky Boudreaux continues to make significant contributions to the success and integrity of Advantage Capital and the broader community.”

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Mitch Boyer is an associate 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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Rachel Branson serves as a vice president on the firm’s syndication group, for which she is responsible for due diligence and transaction work for our state-based Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) investments.

Rachel brings more than 20 years of real estate, legal and development experience, the last 13 of which were spent working on LIHTC and Historic Tax Credit (HTC) projects. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for many years in corporate real estate departments and a law firm, where she gained a wealth of knowledge in due diligence, real estate transactions, multifamily housing and the LIHTC and HTC programs. Most recently, she served as the director of acquisitions for Bruce Development Company, where she worked on all aspects of commercial and multi-family real estate development.

Rachel received her bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Webster University and earned a paralegal studies certificate.

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.

Pete Byford is a principal 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 Senior 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.

Paul Castedo is an Associate at Advantage Capital. As a member of the investment team, Paul focuses on evaluating new investment opportunities, performing due diligence and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Paul was an Associate at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. where he was involved in raising capital from qualified investors and analyzing public and private investment portfolios. He began his career in transaction advisory and valuation services with Carr, Riggs & Ingram specializing in providing buyside and sellside accounting, financial, and tax diligence services to financial sponsors and corporates in the lower middle market.

Mr. Castedo holds his Masters Degree in Accounting and a BSM in Finance from Tulane University.

A native of New Orleans, Paul volunteers at the Community Sailing Center and competes in sailing events with the Corinthians Sailing Association. Paul is a dual-citizen of both the US and Germany, and bilingual in Spanish.

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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Oryah Cohen-Hodos is a data analyst on the Partner Services team at Advantage Capital. In his role, he builds and operates quantitative analysis tools to organize and evaluate investment and impact data within our Partner Services portfolio.

Prior to joining the firm full time, Oryah was a data analyst intern, where he worked to organize and consolidate investment and compliance data across Advantage Capital’s business lines.

Oryah previously served as a Combat Medic in the Israeli Defense Forces, during which time he led first aid and life support training for other soldiers and was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Hebrew language.

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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.