MBA Advisory Board

M&A Senior Manager
Deloitte 

Lisa K. Simon is a seasoned expert in internal communications, change management, and organizational design. As a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Mergers, Acquisitions, and Restructuring Practice, she leads employee experience teams for all types of global M&A transactions, at every point in the deal lifecycle. With over a decade of experience in Management Consulting, Lisa has honed her expertise in developing and executing communication plans for many types of enterprise-wide transformations that range in scope and size of business, where she advises on messaging to a variety of stakeholder groups, including executive levels, at different project milestones. In addition, she has specialized in using Human-Centered Design techniques to create engaging experiences for client stakeholder groups at pivotal points throughout an enterprise-wide transformation, facilitating leaders and their teams through more purposeful and impactful visioning and planning sessions to align on objectives and goals prior to starting their transformation journey.

While her consulting career has granted her the opportunity to work across almost every industry, Lisa primarily serves clients within the oil, gas, and chemical industries, partnering with those organizations to elevate their employee experience especially as they navigate the disruption that has come to their workforce as a result of the pandemic, as well as the disruption that is likely to continue through the Energy Transition.

Lisa is recently married to her husband Justin and they happily live in Dallas, Texas with their 7-year-old beagle. Lisa is originally from Los Angeles, California where she received a B.A. in Communication from the University of Southern California. As a passionate college football fan, Lisa put aside the 2006 Rose Bowl BCS National Championship Game, and received her MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. While the USC Trojans dominate her attention during football season, she is an ardent Longhorn fan at every Red River Rivalry game! Lisa has served on the Texas MBA Dallas Alumni Board and on the McCombs MBA Advisory Board for the past 4 years, with the past year as Vice Chair, and is excited to now lead the Board as Chair for the ’21-’22 academic year.

Founder and Chief Movement Officer
Thru Movement

Head of Strategic Accounts
AWS Professional Services

Asset Manager

Apache Corporation

Omon Aburime currently serves as the Delaware Asset Lead for Apache Corporation, a role he assumed in April 2020.  He is responsible for leading the multidiscipline functional teams and maximizing the value of Apache’s assets in the Delaware Basin. 

Omon joined Apache in 2007 when he was selected for a highly-competitive slot in the engineering development program. His technical expertise, professionalism and strong communications skills quickly won him a strong internal reputation and earned him a permanent position in the improved recovery group in 2010.  His direct approach and ability to cut through technical data and distill key messages ultimately garnered the attention of Executive Management, and he was asked to come work directly for the COO of North America in 2013. Omon became a trusted advisor that the COO relied on for quick and accurate data and recommendations. As the COO transitioned into the new role of CEO, Omon continued to serve as a key player and advisor to him and other members of the Executive Management Team.  He has served in numerous roles, leading technical groups responsible for projects in the U.S., Argentina, Canada, U.K., Egypt, and Suriname.  For his contributions and commitment to hard work and excellence, Omon was nominated and won the Houston Business Journal 40 under 40 award in 2015.

Prior to joining Apache, Omon served in the United States Army from 2000 to 2004.  He had two deployments to South Korea and Iraq and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Omon’s humble beginnings in Nigeria drive his passion for giving back to his community.  He enjoys mentoring young professionals as they try to navigate the challenges of an ever-changing job market and a global economy.  He volunteers with the Nigerian American Multi-Cultural Council and has served as a board liaison for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME). 

Omon holds an MBA from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University.  He is happily married to his beautiful wife Patty and they enjoy spending time with their twins Alex and Annie.

Chief Financial Officer
T5 Data Centers

Peter Almond serves the Chief Financial Officer of T5 Data Centers, which focuses on supporting enterprise and hyperscale customers with customized data center solutions. In this role, Peter manages the full scope of financial strategy and execution, including developing and implementing strategic financing solutions to support T5's growth as well as accurate financial reporting for company-wide decision making. 

Prior to joining T5, Peter spent over 20 years in investment banking with Bank of America and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. As a Managing Director in Leveraged Finance, Peter represented and advised both non-investment grade corporate and financial sponsor clients on raising debt capital from institutional investors and banks across the leveraged loan and high yield debt markets.

Peter graduated with a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, with concentrations in Finance and International Business, and an MBA in Finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Peter and his wife Amber have three children and live in Atlanta, GA.

Principal
Fayez Sarofim & Co. ​ 

Matt Altenau is a Principal at Fayez Sarofim &Co. Mr. Altenau joined the Firm in 2006 as an Associate. He serves as the sector leader for the financials industry and is currently responsible for research of the consumer, banking and real estate industries.

Mr. Altenau received a M.B.A. from the University of Texas in 2006 and a B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University in 1999, where he graduated summa cum laude. Prior to attending the University of Texas, he was employed with Fayez Sarofim & Co. as a Financial Analyst and with Salomon Smith Barneyas an Investment Banker in the Financial Institutions Group.

Manager
Capture Services, Amazon Web Services ​ 

Casey Andrews has a unique background in Military Intelligence, Computer Science and Graphic Arts.  She currently leads Capture for California and Texas as part of the World Wide Public Sector, State and Local Team for Amazon Web Services (AWS). As a Capture Manager, Casey leverages her knowledge of technology and public sector procurement strategy to help customers solve complex problems, remove barriers, and obtain access to innovative solutions they need.

After serving on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, Casey was able to help several technology start-ups grow to reach key milestones such as acquisition and IPO. She then joined Dell, Inc. in Round Rock, Texas where she developed and scaled the Public and Commercial Services Program Management teams and helped to build out the first program management office for the Data Center Solutions team.  
 
Prior to joining AWS, Casey served as the Chief-of-Staff to the CTO at Rackspace in San Antonio, Texas where she played a key role in defining and establishing a differentiating development and retention programs that led to a strong technical culture. During her career, Casey has led large technical teams and well known as a builder and problem solver and has effectively established and expanded many new teams into high performing departments charged to innovate new capabilities as the cloud industry has evolved. 
 
Casey holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, Bachelor in Science in Management Computer Information Systems (MCIS) from Park University and Associate of Arts in Web Design and Development from Saddleback College, Irvine California.  Casey enjoys competing in adventure races and mentoring young professionals. Casey and her husband, David have seven children.

Frankie Arvelo is an experienced attorney with a demonstrated history of working with founders of high growth companies on issues that shape their companies. Frankie serves as outside general counsel and specializes in venture capital and seed financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and commercial agreements.  Frankie writes a blog (atxstartupattorney.com) and presents to different entrepreneurship groups in Texas about the legal issues that may affect their companies.

Frankie is also the General Partner of Rising Tide Ventures, a group that seeks to make pre-seed and seed stage investments in high growth companies founded by persons who identify Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color.

Prior to his career as an attorney and investor Frankie worked for Cisco in Austin as a business analytics consultant focusing on financial clients and for Goldman Sachs in New York as a compliance officer in their Securities Division focusing on the commodities business.  

Frankie is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania where he co-teaches a course on early stage financing to JD/MBA students.  Frankie also sits on the Advisory Council for and is General Counsel to BEAM, an Austin group focused on investing in and assisting women entrepreneurs.  Finally, Frankie serves on the Board of Directors for Partners in Parenting, a nonprofit focused on assisting families who are either expecting or just delivered a baby into their homes.

Frankie graduated with a BS from UMass Amherst, a JD from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the University of Texas.

Frankie and his wife Leah live in Austin with their two children, Victoria and William."

Vice President, Head of Business Development & Operations

Amherst Homes 

Natalie Barnard is the Vice President of Business Development and Operations for Amherst Homes, Amherst’s Build-to-Rent platform, based in Austin, Texas. In this role Natalie owns infrastructure development for the new platform and operations for ongoing Community Management. Prior to this role, Natalie served as Chief of Staff to the President of Amherst for two and a half years and worked on special projects across the organization.

She was a key leader for general management and strategy initiatives which helped grow the firm to over 1,000 employees and over $9.8Bn Assets Under Management.

Prior to Amherst, Natalie was the Director of Partnerships and Content Strategy for CNBC where she launched new business lines, established and maintained content, developed investment and strategic partnerships, and built new content franchises focused on Cybersecurity, Technology, Real Estate, and Innovation. She has also worked as the Director of Business Development for SoulCycle in New York City, where she launched and led off-the-bike programming and partnerships. Prior to Partnership and Business Development focused roles, Natalie spent many years in key leadership roles focused on Marketing for NBC Universal, Bazaarvoice, and Vivaldi Partners. 

Natalie earned a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Natalie volunteers with CapCityKids, Ceresa, and Georgetown alumni networks.  She also served on the board of the Fete fundraiser for Ballet Austin. 

CEO
FoodFidelity

Senior Vice President
Coty

Senior Product Marketing Manager
Microsoft

Partner
Deloitte

Heyday Beverage Company

Vertex Capital

Barry Epstein is a Founder and President of Vertex Capital and represents sellers seeking to sell or divest and buyers that are acquiring either platform companies or add-on acquisitions.  

Barry is a frequent industry speaker, having spoken both domestically and internationally on growth through acquisitions, exit strategies, valuations and the current state of the acquisition marketplace.

Barry began his career in banking in 1985.  Prior to founding Vertex Capital, he served as Senior Vice President at SLP Capital, a specialty finance company which provided capital to the Life Safety sector.  Barry holds an MBA and a BBA from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. 

Stacy Hock is a philanthropist, public policy activist, and private investor. Stacy is serving as the Texas GOP 2020 Victory Chairwoman. Additionally, she serves as Chair of the Board of Texans for Education Opportunity, President of Texans First, and on the boards of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Aminex Therapeutics, the Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and The African Dream Initiative.  Ms. Hock is a gubernatorial appointee, serving as Vice Chair of the Texas Commission on Next Generation Assessment and Accountability, serves on Lt. Governor Patrick’s Education Advisory Council, and on TEA Commissioner Morath’s Philanthropic Council. 

Previously, Ms. Hock served on the boards of City Harvest and The Bowery Mission in New York City. Also, Ms. Hock held senior management positions in the software industry, including running IBM’s WebSphere Software Services business for the Wall Street territory. 

Ms. Hock received her B.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from M.I.T., and her M.B.A. from the University of Texas.

Stacy and her husband, Joel, have been married for seventeen years, have four boys, and reside in Austin, TX. Stacy is a 6^th generation Texan.

Board Service Organizations and Dates:

Texas Public Policy Foundation (April 2015 - present)  
Aminex Therapeutics (June 2015 - present)  
The Blanton Museum of Art (March 2016 - present)
University of Texas McCombs School of Business (Dec 2017 - present)
Board Chair, Texans for Education Opportunity (May 2016 - present)  
The African Dream Initiative (January 2013 - present)
Vice Chair, Texas Commission on Next Generation Assessment and Accountability (2016)
Lt. Governor Patrick's Education Advisory Council (May 2016 - present)
TEA Commissioner Morath's Philanthropic Council (May 2016 - present)
City Harvest (April 2010 - June 2015)
The Bowery Mission (September 2009 - January 2015)

Colin Kelly is a Vice President of Business Development for Brightmark Energy.  In that role, Colin develops anaerobic digester plants that convert organic waste to biogas.  Prior to joining Brightmark, Colin was a power plant developer at Exelon Corporation, the largest nuclear utility in the U.S.  He has successfully developed wind, solar, and natural gas power plants, as well as biogas plants that are in operation or under development. 

Colin is a former US Army Officer.  He served in both South Korea and Iraq.  His Unit was the 1-506^th Infantry Regiment featured in the HBO series, “Band of Brothers.”  He is a member of the 506^th Infantry Regiment Association where he set up a memorial scholarship fund for families of those who served in his unit. 

Colin is involved in other volunteer activities including Living Waters for the World in Honduras, Chapter Advisor at Temple University’s chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity and is a founding member of the McCombs EMBA Legacy Scholarship Fund.

Colin has a BS in economics from Seton Hall University and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business.  He and his wife, Dana, live in the Philadelphia area with their three children: Elena, Georgia, and Harrison.

Assistant Vice President Strategy and Analytics
AT&T

Co-Founder
Explore Ranches

Jay Kleberg is the co-founder of Explore Ranches, a private lands travel company with more than 500,000 acres of open space and lodging available for rent in the American West with the goal of rewilding the modern travel experience. He is also the producer of an upcoming natural history documentary, Deep in the Heart, and was part of a team that produced the feature-length documentary The River and the Wall. Jay is also a management consultant for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Prior to his work in Texas, he co-founded a Brazilian-based adventure travel outfitter and conservation organization. Jay is a graduate of Williams College, holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and lives in Austin with his wife and three daughters.

CMO North America
The Wendy's Company

Carl Loredo joined the Wendy’s Marketing team in January of 2016 as the Vice President of Brand Marketing with responsibilities for Brand Strategy and Product Development. In the summer of 2017, Carl’s role evolved to include the additional responsibilities of Creative Development and Advertising, Media Buying and Social Programming. In April of 2019, Carl ascended to Wendy’s Chief Marketing Officer.

As CMO, Carl is intent on finding ways to get more and more customers into our restaurants every single day. He’s passionate about driving the equity of the brand Dave created because people deserve the unique, different and special experiences only Wendy’s can provide. Internal and franchise-focused collaboration is also huge priority for Carl to ensure we’re getting the restaurant economic model in the right place to drive another 50 years of growth. It was this exact collaboration that supported the recent collective success of the spicy nuggets’ resurgence and the launch of the breakfast daypart. 

Formerly, Carl was a VP of Account Service and ran the multicultural practice for The Marketing Arm out of Dallas, Texas, was the CMO of Craftmade and held numerous leadership roles at PepsiCo.

Carl holds an MBA in Marketing and a B.A. in Fine Arts from The University of Texas at Austin. Born and raised in Texas, Carl and his wife Kelley currently reside in Dublin, Ohio with their two children, Ainsley and Gage. 

Associate Partner
McKinsey & Company

Anthony is an Associate Partner and a leader in McKinsey’s Strategy and Corporate Finance practice with over 15 years of experience and an expert in global mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and strategic transformations for corporate and private equity clients. He is a senior advisor to clients in both developed and emerging markets in Europe, Asia and the Americas and serves on the editorial board for the quarterly publication, “McKinsey on Finance”.  He is a sponsor for diversity and inclusion groups in McKinsey’s Southern Offices and a leader in the firm’s affinity group, “Asians at McKinsey”. Anthony graduated with an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Arlington.  Anthony and his wife live in Austin where they are active in the local community and enjoy their weekends taking in the natural beauty of the Texas hill country.

VP of Medical Affairs
EverlyWell

Sarah Matt MD is the VP of Medical Affairs at EverlyWell, a mid-stage startup in Austin, TX.  She leads the medical affairs team as they build medical credibility focused around straight to consumer laboratory tests.  Before joining EverlyWell Dr. Matt was the VP of Solutions Strategy at Nextgen Healthcare.  She worked for many years running product management teams in the EMR healthcare space, and then at a broader level on strategy and product management operations.

Dr. Matt received her BS in Biology at Cornell University and her MD at SUNY Upstate Medical University prior to completing her MBA at the University of Texas.  Dr. Matt is a practicing physician and volunteers her time at the Sacred Heart Community Clinic where she provides chronic care management to uninsured patients in the Round Rock area.  She resides in Austin, Texas and continues to give back to her community through her work with the Cosmopolitan Rotary Club of Austin.

Partner
Parella Weinberg Partners

Managing Director
Stout Risius Ross Advisors, LLC 

Todd Parsapour is a Managing Director and Head of the Energy practice within the Investment Banking group at Stout RisiusRoss Advisors, LLC. He has more than 15 years of experience providing advice on a wide range of corporate finance transactions including 12 years within the energy sector.

Prior to joining Stout, Mr. Parsapour spent more than 11 years at Simmons & CompanyInternational in Houston, where he was a senior executive in the Energy Services & Equipment Corporate Finance Group and helped originate, execute and close more than 45 transactions totaling approximately $36 billion in aggregate transaction value. He provided a variety of corporate advisory and underwriting services including sell-side and buy-side advisory services, strategic reviews, fairness opinions, public and private equity and debt capital raises, and restructuring advisory services.

Prior to Simmons & Company International, Mr. Parsapour was involved in the creation and development of several technology businesses in Seattle. He began his career as a Financial Analyst in SG Cowen Securities Corporation’s Leveraged Finance Group.

Mr. Parsapour has been integrally involved in annual fundraising efforts for The Post Oak School in Houston for a number of years and is a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

Executive Director of Account Planning
Lopez Negrete Communications

Victor Paredes is a successful marketing and advertising executive with proven experience in building practices that drive brand equity, sales, traffic, and qualified leads. His marketing experience spans sectors such as entertainment, hospitality, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and direct to consumer services. Throughout his career, Victor has led multidisciplinary teams of strategy, digital, media, promotions and public relations experts in building effective integrated marketing platforms. As Executive Director of Account Planning at Lopez Negrete Communications, Paredes seeks to bring keen cultural intelligence in marketing to a diverse new American mainstream.

His passion for marketing, branding and DE&I began in the music industry propelling artists like Marc Anthony and extended into marketing communications. His professional career has been a rewarding journey of connecting iconic brands with a myriad of diverse audiences including Latinx, Black and LGBTQ. Paredes has excelled at empowering brands with cultural relevance to be at the vanguard of intersectional cultural competence.

Victor has had the privilege to foster enduring success for iconic global brands including: Target, Heineken, MasterCard, Nestle, McDonald’s, Kleenex, Sprint, and Walgreens. Paredes’ new and organic business development efforts have contributed to his agencies being named to Ad Age’s A-List a combined 5 times and multicultural agency of the year 4 times.

Victor earned his MBA at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and his undergraduate degree at CUNY’s Herbert Lehman College. He currently lives in Plano, Texas with his wife Nora, his 14-year-old daughter Penelope, and a Bichon Frise named Sebastian.

Partner - Healthcare Provider Competency Lead
PwC

Senior Manager
Dell Inc. 

Brian Payne is the Vice President of Product Management and Product Marketing for PowerEdge Servers.He leads a team responsible for defining the overall product strategy, messaging, and marketing campaigns for Dell Technologies’ industry leading server portfolio.

Brian has twenty years of experience with Dell’s server development organization, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering ('96) and an MBA ('03) both from the University of Texas at Austin.Brian has been an active volunteer and coach for youth sports and other local charities in the Austin area.He's also an avid Longhorn fan and enjoys traveling and water sports with his wife Julie (BBA ’96) and his two daughters, Claire and Charlotte.

Chairman
Bentley Partners, LLP 

Mark Roberts’ career has spanned from aerospace engineer for United Technologies to nylon sales for Monsanto. When he left Solutia in 2003, he was the sales and marketing director overseeing the $300 million carpet fiber business which included the Wear-Dated consumer carpet brand. After several years of sales and marketing consulting for various industries, Mr. Roberts formed Bentley Partners to seek out and invest in promising technologies and their associated businesses. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for two of these companies, ArchaeaSolutions, Inc. and SCT International, LLC.

Mr. Roberts has been very active in his community where he is a member of the Board of Directors for Zoo Atlanta, and most recently served as chair of the board. He has served on the Board of Trustees of St. Martins Episcopal School, where he served as vice chair, Historic Brookhaven Neighborhood Association Board, and Board of Directors at Smoke Rise Field Club near Brevard, North Carolina. Mr. Roberts was chosen to the class of 2010 for Leadership Atlanta and is a past member of the Capstone Engineering Society Board of Directors for the University of Alabama’s College of Engineering.

He graduated as a presidential scholar in 1987 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama and as a Sord Scholar with an MBA in Industrial Marketing from The University of Texas at Austin in 1994 where he met his wife Christy. They have two children. In his spare time, Mark loves to travel with his family and also enjoys playing golf, fly fishing, and shooting sporting clays.

Analyst
LKCM 

Scott Rochelli, CFA, has worked for Luther King Capital Management since 2014 and serves as a small cap analyst. Prior to joining LKCM, Mr. Rochelli was a portfolio manager and trader for the MBA Investment Fund, an analyst for Bares Capital, and an analyst for Pleasant Lake Partners. Before his MBA, Mr. Rochelli was an associate manager and senior financial analyst for PepsiCo. He graduated with a BBA in finance from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.

Managing Director
Charles Schwab

Raul Rodriguez serves as the Managing Director of the Charles Schwab Innovation Accelerator, which focuses on using emergent technology and Design Thinking practices to bring new client experiences to life.  Innovation concepts have led to millions in cost-savings, a new mobile-based Intelligent Assistant, and informed Schwab’s acquisition of FinTech firm Motif.  During his time at Schwab, Raul has repeatedly redefined the ways in which Digital work is approached and delivered, winning several accolades, including the 2020 Charles Schwab Excellence-in-Leadership award.

Prior to joining Charles Schwab, Raul practiced in multiple engineering disciplines, including generating computational low-speed crash simulations at General Motors and designing several pipeline, road, and water infrastructure projects at Georgetown-based civil engineering firm, StegerBizzell.

Raul holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Duke University.  Raul and his wife Leigh are proud parents to three children.

Senior Vice President - Planning and Administration
AT&T

Head of Business Development and Partnerships
Flowspace 

Naruby Schlenker leads Business Development and Partnerships at Flowspace. Founded in 2017, Flowspace is a next-generation logistics company that provides on-demand warehousing and fulfillment services to businesses of all sizes. Prior to Flowspace, Naruby co-founded Ordoro in 2010, a company that delivers a SaaS e-commerce logistics platform. Along with her team, she grew the company from an idea to a multimillion-dollar business that has processed over $1 billion worth of orders for thousands of merchants. Before moving to Austin for her MBA at UT's McCombs School of Business, Naruby worked for Eli Lilly and Co., rotating through several finance-related positions, including an assignment in her native Venezuela where she discovered her strengths in sales and marketing. While at McCombs, Naruby immersed herself in all things entrepreneurship including being the President of the Entrepreneur Society, competing in the TVL business plan competition, 3DayStartup, and the ATI SEAL program.

President and CEO
Reservoir Data Systems 

As the CEO of Reservoir Data Systems, Rebekah Shipman is responsible for running all facets of this fastpaced business. Rebekah has been at the forefront of Reservoir Data System’s growth, leading a strategic expansion into key unconventional shale plays and transforming how the oil and gas industry acquires and utilizes well completion and reservoir data. She is avid about helping clients make meaningful connections and actionable insights out of disorganized data and complicated analysis. Her entrepreneurial spirit, dynamic leadership, and extensive reservoir analysis background have been pivotal in the development of innovative technologies for the oil and gas industry.

Rebekah also co‐founded Shipman Oil and Gas, an investment company that focuses and capitalizes on overlooked oil and gas assets along the Gulf Coast.

Outside of oil and gas, Rebekah is concerned about global water stress and how it will impact our future. She is actively building her network, knowledge, and platform in this area to create programs that propagate awareness, and generate businesses that provide innovative solutions for one of our greatest resources.

Above all, Rebekah believes in paying it forward and investing in people. Ms. Shipman is writing a book on leadership and turning adversity into influence with hopes to inspire other young mothers as well as struggling students to be all they were created to be. She serves on international mission teams, volunteers on community projects, and contributes to humanitarian and philanthropic efforts.

Rebekah serves as a Regional Director for First Financial Bank of Texas (NASDAQ: FFIN). She is involved with numerous professional organizations including Society of Petroleum Engineers, National Association of Women Business Owners, Women in Energy, EntreLeadership, and Vistage.

In addition to several certifications, Rebekah holds an MBA from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Her most important and prized job is being a mother to Emily, a wife to Cecil, and a best friend to her loyal dog, Kobie.

Principal and Founder
SWS Risk Advisory LLC 

Steve is principal and Founder of SWS Risk Advisory LLC, a risk management consulting firm to the financial services, real estate and mortgage industries.  Prior to recently starting his own consulting practice, Steve was Fannie Mae’s top quality control executive.  He played a prominent role in guiding the mortgage market out of the real estate crisis by instilling fundamental risk disciplines while innovating new concepts such as conceiving and co-authoring Beyond the Guide, Fannie Mae’s ground-breaking manifesto on creating a best-in-class risk management system and QC culture.  Steve publishes articles on risk management for Mortgage Compliance Magazine and teaches advanced risk management courses for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Steve is a Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and completed Harvard Business School’s Executive Development Program.  A licensed attorney, Steve earned his JD from SMU’s Dedman School of Law and a BBA in finance from UT Arlington.  Steve views the advisory board as giving back to the school that propelled his career and guiding the next generation of McCombs MBA grads into worldwide leadership opportunities. Steve, and his wife Cristy, have two grown children and in addition to cheering for the ‘Horns, he loves to travel, run, golf, read and follow Liverpool FC and international soccer. 

Managing Partner
EnCap Investments, LP 

Mr. Swanson is a Managing Partner with EnCapInvestments, LP where he serves on the Investment Committee and Management Committee of the firm. He is involved in setting the strategic direction of the firm and is also responsible for originating and managing investments in the upstream portion of the oil and gas business. EnCap is the leading provider of private equity to the independent sector of the United States oil and gas industry and currently manages $26.5 billion of institutional capital.

Prior to joining EnCap in 1999, Mr. Swanson spent three years as a corporate banker with Frost National Bank and Amegy Bank. Mr. Swanson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and also received his Master’sin Business Administration from the University of Texas in 1999.

Mr. Swanson currently serves on the boards of Oasis Petroleum Inc, Earthstone Energy, Eclipse Resources and numerous other private oil and gas operators. He has served or is currently serving on the boards of Small Steps Nurturing Center, the HMTF Center for Private Equity at UT Austin, the Kinkaid School Board of Trustees, and the Houston Country Club. He is also active at Methodist Hospital Houston serving on both the Senior Cabinet of the Presidents Leadership Council and on the Steering Committee for the Campaign for the Second Century.

Mr. Swanson and his wife, Courtney, a Plan II and BHP graduate of the class of 1995, are the proud parents of four children; Sarah, Skyler, Will and Doug III.

Quantitative Risk Analyst
Lower Colorado River Authority

Joanna Wang, CFA, is a Quantitative Risk Analyst at Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). In her current role, she performs research and data analysis to manage risks of LCRA’s generation portfolio. 

Joanna received an M.B.A. from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Economics from Renmin University of China.

Vice President of Development
BZMZ Interests 

Kevin Zlotnik is a vice president at BZMZ Interests, a Houston-based family office where he is a member of the Investment Committee and oversees operation of the Sugar Land Skeeters minor league baseball club. Prior to BZMZ Interests, he received his MBA in 2015 from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas, where he acted as a portfolio manager on the MBA Investment Fund. Mr. Zlotnik also holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from The University of Texas (2010). In his free time, Mr. Zlotnik serves on the University of Texas System Chancellor’s Centurions, the Boys & Girls Club Fort Bend Community Council, is an avid sports fan, and enjoys snow skiing. Kevin and his wife, Lauren, reside in Houston.

Retired

Tom has held accounting, consulting, and financial management positions with KPMG, Duke Energy, and Rice University, and previously served as Manager of IT Finance for AIG in Houston, Director of Budget and Planning, Communications Division, at The University of Denver, and CFO, First United Methodist Church of Austin. Mr. Mays also serves on the Board of Trustees of Zach Theater, the Advisory Council of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and is a member of the University of Texas Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, UT Leadership Society, and Longhorn Foundation. Mr. Mays has endowed scholarships in McCombs and in Athletics. Now retired, he resides in Austin.

Chief Operating Officer
New Teacher Center

CEO
Parekh Partners, LLC 

Chief Marketing Officer
McCombs School of Business 

Emily Reagan recently joined the McCombs School of Business as the school’s first chief marketing officer. In this role, she is charged with integrating marketing strategy and resources across the school and ensuring the marketing systems, talent, and goals are fully aligned with the school’s new brand position, human-centered and future-focused. As a McCombs alumna, she is excited to bring her marketing skills and passion for education together in this new role. Prior to this position, Reagan worked at Bazaarvoice, beginning in February 2012, most recently serving as senior vice president of integrated marketing. She also held senior-level positions at Wunderman DC, Radio Shack Corporation and TXU Energy. She is a proven leader in building brands, driving marketing strategies and creating positive customer experiences for both consumer and business-to-business companies.

Management Consulting 

Ken Weitzel is an executive advisor to senior IT and business executives, and brings over 30 years of business and technology experience to his clients. Working as a project manager, strategy facilitator, technology expert, and research analyst, he has interacted with business executives of all stripes in every region of the globe. For the past 13 years he has served as an advisor, facilitator, and research manager for CEB, the global business best-practice advisory firm. Prior to his years at CEB, Mr. Weitzel has been a consultant on technology-driven change with Accenture, PepsiCo, Hewlett-Packard, Ernst & Young LLP, Computer Sciences Corporation, and Scient Corporation. He was the founder and managing director of FutureFoundry LLC, a network-based consulting concern for strategic planning, change management, and executive alignment.

Mr. Weitzel holds an MBA in Information Systems Management from The University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in Liberal Arts from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He serves as vice chair of the MBA Advisory Board for the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin.

After years in Singapore, Chicago, San Francisco, Brussels, San Jose, and Washington DC, he and his wife Celia returned to Dallas in 2005. Their son Braden is a freshman UGS major at UT, and daughter Lindsay is a sophomore pre-med at Texas A&M.