Pete Grum serves as a Venture Partner for Advantage Capital and continues his career of investing in private companies. He has spent the past 25 years president, chief executive officer and director of a publicly traded investment company.

Pete received his MBA in finance from Rochester Institute of Technology and his bachelors in economics from Eisenhower College. He is currently an adjunct professor at University of Buffalo where he teaches corporate finance. His various community activities include board roles as trustee of Buffalo State College, Community Foundation, Horizon Health, 43 North and a variety of investment committees.

Jennifer Jeandron is a vice president and controller at Advantage Capital where she plays a key role in the firm’s accounting and financial reporting activities. As an accounting controller, she is responsible for oversight of the preparation of many of the firm’s financial statements.

Prior to joining the firm, Jennifer worked in the audit practices of KPMG, LLP and Deloitte and Touche, LLP. In that role, she served public and private clients in a variety of industries, including energy, banking, healthcare and oil and gas.

Jennifer is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Louisiana State University. She serves on the board of directors of the Young Leadership Council and is a member of the Junior League of New Orleans and the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants.

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Darian Harris is a senior associate on Advantage Capital’s national expansion team where he focuses on the firm’s economic development, public policy and public finance initiatives at the state and local level.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Darian served as a government affairs legal intern/extern at Troutman Pepper Strategies where he collaborated with various actors in the firm to coordinate and manage meetings with the legislature and other government officials. During law school, he was a legal intern in the Appellate Division of the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office and worked as a judicial Intern for the Honorable Chief Judge Reuben M. Green.

Darian received his J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law, where he served as the Vice-Justice of Phi Alpha Delta and was a member of the Black Law Students Association, and his bachelor’s degree in political science from Reinhardt University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

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Christopher Harris 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. He serves on the board of directors for several portfolio companies, including GENICON, Prioria Robotics, Beehive Industries, RepEquity, SOMS Technologies and Quoddy. Christopher also manages Advantage's investments in Veran Medical Technologies, Minimally Invasive Devices and OrderWithMe.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Christopher worked for GE Capital as an assistant vice president, where he helped establish the company’s presence in large cap leveraged finance underwriting and investing. He joined GE in the FMP program and cycled throughout various operating and finance roles before joining on with the large cap leverage finance team.

Christopher received his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

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Erin is an associate on Advantage Capital's investment team. She is responsible for screening potential investment opportunities, performing due diligence, and monitoring portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Erin worked for Meta as a financial analyst. She also served as a consultant on Deloitte's Mergers & Acquisitions team where she served Fortune 500 companies by performing due diligence and conducting pre- and post-close integration planning.

Erin earned her MBA with honors from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and she graduated cum laude from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

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

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Tucker worked as a search intern on the formulations division of Endolytx where aided in the development of novel techniques to combat nontuberculous mycobacterial infections.

Tucker attended Northeastern University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences.

Joseph Henderson is a senior vice president on the firm’s investment team where he provides due diligence support and monitors portfolio companies. Prior to joining the firm, he was the director of finance and analytics at Punchbowl, Inc., a venture-backed technology startup. Joseph also worked with the Maine Venture Fund where he evaluated potential investments and worked closely with portfolio companies.

Joseph received his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and his bachelor’s degree in economics from Bowdoin College.

Leah Hendricks is a senior vice president on the investment team, where she focuses on portfolio management. She monitors current firm assets, seeks new investment opportunities for the firm and interacts with portfolio companies to evaluate their capital requirements.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Leah served as an assistant vice president at BMO Private Bank. Additionally, she worked in the commercial lending division of BMO at M&I Bank, where she gained valuable experience working with executive management and key financial officers in middle market companies to provide debt obligations for various operational purposes.

Leah graduated magna cum laude from the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in economics.

Laura Heying is a Content Manager at Advantage Capital, gifted at crafting and implementing dynamic marketing strategies across social media, blogs, and email platforms. With a background in Communications, she earned her Master's Degree with an emphasis in Promotions and a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications with a focus on Public Relations, both from Lindenwood University.

Before her time at Advantage Capital, Laura succeeded as an Associate Director of Social Media at Elasticity, where she honed her expertise in developing and executing organic social media campaigns and influencer marketing initiatives for a diverse range of agency clients. Her proactive approach and understanding of digital landscapes enabled her to drive engagement and foster meaningful connections between brands and audiences.

Laura's passion for leveraging innovative strategies to amplify brand presence and foster audience engagement defines her professional ethos. She brings a unique blend of creativity, strategic thinking, and analytical prowess to the table, consistently delivering results that exceed expectations. With her comprehensive skill set and dedication to staying ahead of industry trends, Laura continues to make impactful contributions to the digital marketing landscape, driving growth and success for her team and affiliates at Advantage Capital.

Stephanie Hiatt joined Advantage Capital in 2018 as senior vice president. Ms. Hiatt focuses on origination, compliance and asset management of the firm’s Partner Services portfolio, which includes federal and state New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) loan funds and standalone transactions. Ms. Hiatt is a seasoned financial professional with more than 15 years of banking, investment, and finance experience, including 11 years facilitating investments in low-income communities, low-income housing, historic preservation and renewable energy.

Most recently, she was Director of Advisory Services at Dudley Ventures in Phoenix, AZ, where she led a team focused on raising and deploying capital utilizing federal tax credit programs, such as the NMTC Program, among others. During her tenure with Dudley, Ms. Hiatt was responsible for closing more than $750 million in NMTC investments in over 150 low-income community businesses. Ms. Hiatt also worked in the banking industry for Wells Fargo Bank and First Security Bank.

Ms. Hiatt received her bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Rochester, with a minor concentration in Italian language and culture.

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Gregory Hulecki serves as a venture partner for Advantage Capital and brings more than 30 years of private equity investing experience to the firm. Mr. Hulecki was a partner and founder of FA Technology Ventures, an independent, established venture capital firm that invests in early stage technology companies in targeted emerging technology sectors. Previously, he was a managing director and founder of Seacoast Capital, a growth equity fund. Prior to founding Seacoast, Greg managed the investment portfolio of Signal Capital. Mr. Hulecki also worked as a principal at Capital Growth Partners, a middle market private equity firm, and Venture Founders, an early stage technology venture capital firm.

Mr. Hulecki earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Kettering University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. His community involvement includes recruiting and screening entrepreneurs for Springboard Enterprises, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating women’s access to the venture capital markets. In addition, he has worked with mentors from the MIT Venture Mentoring Service, comprised of successful entrepreneurs and investors who assist technologies and startups in spinning out of the University.

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Reid Hutchins is a managing director at Advantage Capital where he manages the firm’s New York investment portfolio. His responsibilities include sourcing and structuring new investments, as well as working with current portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Reid served as a product development engineer for Advanced Micro Devices and as an engineer and manager with IBM Microelectronics. He brings operational experience in semiconductor design, manufacturing, testing and production to the firm.

Reid currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Upstate Venture Association of New York (UVANY). He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Northeast New York.

Reid holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Lawrence University, in addition to a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in engineering management from Dartmouth College.

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Kelly Jacobi is an analyst on the Partner Services team,where she focuses on asset management for Advantage Capital’s network ofpartner firms.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, Kelly worked as theOperations Manager at Convergence Accounting, where she supervised taxpreparation workflow, processed payroll for a variety of clients, preparedbookkeeping, and managed accounts receivable.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Filmmakingfrom Stephens College. She is currently completing a Certificate of Proficiency in Accounting with Saint Louis Community College.

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Michael Johnson, an experienced venture capitalist and a specialized transactions attorney, is a managing director at Advantage Capital. He is involved in all aspects of the firm’s operations, with a primary focus on capital-raising transactions, regulatory compliance and government relations. He also serves as chief compliance officer.

Previously associated with New Orleans’ largest law firm, Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre, Michael practiced securities and corporate law for a broad range of clients.

Michael received his J.D. degree from Stanford University School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, and an his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, graduating cum laude.

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Alex Johnson is the President of InState Partners, leading a dynamic and experienced team of state affairs professionals from across the country. Offering comprehensive state government affairs and strategic counsel, he works to ensure that clients are well informed about state political environments and current policy issues.

Alex has worked in politics for over 20 years working on campaigns, PACs and political committees. Previously, Mr. Johnson served as the founding director of both the Republican Legislative Committee and the Republican Lieutenant Governor Association. More recently, he served as senior vice president at FP1 Strategies and founded a boutique state affairs firm.

Alex received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Marquette University. He currently serves on the executive committee of the board for the America Council of Young Political Leaders.

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Anne Johnson is a principal and helps lead the Capital Markets team, focusing on capital formation and investor relations across the firm's Renewables, LIHTC, NMTC and state tax credit platforms. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the public and private equity markets, and has closed nearly $1.5 billion in federal tax credit equity transactions and placed more than $400 million in state tax credits during her time with Advantage Capital.

Anne was with Johnson Rice & Co. for eighteen years, first as an equity research analyst and later in institutional equity sales. She worked in corporate finance for Deloitte and Chaffe & Associates, valuing privately-held companies and financial institutions for capital raises, mergers and acquisitions, and estate planning. Immediately prior to joining Advantage Capital, she was with DeMonte & Falgoust CPAs, focusing on tax compliance and planning for corporations and individuals.

Anne holds an MBA from the University of New Orleans and a bachelor's degree in business from Rhodes College.

Lee Judd is a senior project developer for Advantage Capital with over 17 years of end-to-end greenfield solar project development experience. Lee focuses community and utility scale projects ranging from 1MW- 5GW.  

Her prior experience includes solar manufacturing in thin film solar modules and BESS with a geographic focus on North America, Africa, Europe, Middle East & North Africa.

Lee received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Geet Kalra is an Associate at Advantage Capital, playing a key role in advancing the firm's impact efforts as part of its investment team.

Geet has experience in working with a wide range of impact actors - including investors, NGOs, and consultants - across the globe on themes such as sustainable finance, poverty alleviation, and climate change. He also has attended/presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, COP meetings, and the World Government Summit.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, he worked with Yunus Social Business (YSB) leading cross-sectoral investments in multiple early-stage social enterprises in India and other developing countries. Alongside, he also advised three EU based consultants and investors on impact-related projects. Previously, Geet worked with Nomura Securities in its Global Markets function as Analyst.

Geet received his MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and his bachelor's degree in finance and engineering from BITS Pilani in India.

Thomas Keaveney serves as a board member and senior advisor for Advantage Capital. He has extensive experience in all phases of private finance, including deal origination, structuring, pricing and documentation.

Thomas previously served the firm as an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was Chairman of the Private Finance Department, and a member of both the Investment and Investment Banking committees. Prior to CSFB, he worked in the private finance department of Salomon Brothers and at the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association. He is a director of the Gregorian University Foundation in Rome, Italy.

Thomas earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics at Fordham University.

Brooks Kiser is an associate at Advantage Capital. As a member of the 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, Brooks worked for IBERIABANK in New Orleans, LA. After spending a year working with the bank’s commercial underwriting team, Brooks switched roles and became the portfolio manager for the bank’s tax credit investment team, managing a portfolio of Historic, Low-Income, and New Markets tax credit investments.

Brooks received his bachelor’s degree in Public Relations with a business minor from Tulane University.

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Buzz Kofos is an investment analyst at Advantage Capital. As a member of the investment team, he provides due diligence support and helps underwrite and structure new investments.

Prior to joining the firm, Buzz worked at Deloitte as an intern in their Audit & Assurance department and Houlihan Lokey as a summer analyst on their Transaction Advisory Services team.

Buzz received both his BBA in accounting and master’s in professional accounting from The University of Texas at Austin.

Kenneth Krizan is part of the accounting team at Advantage Capital. As a staff accountant, he is responsible for recording activity and preparing financial statements for many of the firm’s entities.

Prior to joining Advantage Capital, he worked in the tax department of KPMG, LLP, where he specialized in accounting methods and tax credit services.

Kenneth received a master’s degree in Accounting with Data Analytics from the Villanova School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting Info Systems from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. He is a certified public accountant.

Clare Landreneau is an accounting manager at Advantage Capital.  She is responsible for recording activity and preparing financial statements for several of the firm’s entities.

Prior to joining the firm, Clare worked as the Treasury Manager for Service Corporation International where she managed all cash and debt related activity for the company.  Clare also worked in the banking industry for ten years as a VP and Controller for Hibernia Bank in New Orleans.

Clare received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana of Lafayette, where she majored in business management.

Selma Landry is a collateral coordinator at Advantage Capital.  As a member of the government-guaranteed lending team and the investment team she monitors collateral and covenant compliance of the portfolio companies and assists in the closing of new transactions.

Selma comes to Advantage Capital with over 20 years of experience in the lending and financial industry, serving as a credit specialist, mortgage loan processor, legal assistant, and title clerk.

Selma attended Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo and received an associate degree in business from the Community College of Rhode Island.

Debra Landry serves as our Payroll & Talent Specialist, overseeing all payroll operations at Advantage Capital.

Before joining our team, she held the role of Payroll Supervisor at a prominent healthcare hospital in the Gulf South. Additionally, she worked as a Payroll Administrator at a global cold storage company, where she managed accounts receivable, payroll, and HR functions. Debra's experience extends to handling union and private pay medical matters, and she also served as a staffing supervisor.

Julie Laperouse is a Principal and Chief Talent Officer at Advantage Capital. With two decades of experience helping companies and clients create meaningful corporate cultures and establish strong, strategic people pipelines, Julie leads the human resources strategy for the firm.

Julie comes to Advantage Capital from Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company where she was Director of Culture and Talent for a team of more than 800 employees. She also served as Managing Director of Training at Emergent Method; a management consulting firm focused on helping organizations achieve their mission. As Director of Talent Development for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce, she assisted local businesses in the attraction and retention of talent including executive recruitment and recruiting program development

Julie holds a B.A. from Louisiana State University. She also serves on the Emerging Leaders Council of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and runs The Alliance, a networking consortium of professional women. In 2017, the Baton Rouge Business Report named her to the list of Most Influential Women in Business.

Adan Leal is a senior analyst on the investment team where he is responsible for providing due diligence support and structuring transactions and portfolio management. 

Prior to joining the firm, Adan was an intern at Rex, ATX Acquisitions, a real estate investment firm and startup incubator.  

Adan received his bachelor's in finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Michael Lessa is a Vice President at Advantage Capital leading the financial modeling, valuations, and planning efforts for the solar development platform.

As an experienced corporate development and project finance professional in the renewable energy industry, Michael’s prior experience includes mergers and acquisitions, investment analysis, due diligence, and board approvals resulting in the successful commissioning of some of the largest renewable natural gas projects in the U.S. Michael also has significant experience with capital budgeting and investment analysis for natural gas combined cycle and combined heat and power plants.

Earlier in his career, Michael worked in asset liability management in the insurance and financial services industry helping to manage a multi-billion-dollar derivatives portfolio for the top annuity company in the U.S.

Michael holds a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Notre Dame as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

Sheri Lewis joined the syndication team as a paralegal in 2015. Ms. Barto supports the team’s efforts to syndicate tax credits, while maintaining relationships with tax credit buyers and investors.

Ms. Lewis has over 10 years of experience with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Prior to joining Advantage Capital, she served as a paralegal at Sugar Creek Capital, forming and maintaining entities in multiple states, drafting operating and partnership agreements and bylaws and maintaining responsibility for many other integral functions. She also has over 15 years of experience in the title insurance industry.

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Mary Ann Lichvar is an executive assistant at Advantage Capital. She has a background in legal assistance, banking and brokerage compliance business support.    

Prior to joining the firm, Mary Ann worked at Wells Fargo Advisors as an Independent Testing Specialist for Wealth and Investment Management (WIM).  She supported the Head of WIM Independent Testing, directors and senior manager with staffing, communications, meetings and evidence-based control testing projects. She also previously worked in the Wells Fargo Compliance department supporting the College of Risk program, Compliance committee meetings, and the Director of Internal Controls.  She was the executive assistant to the CCO of Wachovia as well as the administrative assistant to the Director of Internal Controls at A.G. Edwards.  Her career began as a legal secretary at the Weier, Hockensmith & Sherby law firm in St. Louis and she worked for several years as an administrative assistant at IBM corporation in both service and marketing.

Mary Ann received her secretary certificate with an emphasis in legal studies from Sanford Brown College.

She is married, has three children and two grandchildren.  She resides in Chesterfield, Missouri.  Her hobbies are reading, cooking and cross-stitching.