LAKE PACIFIC PARTNERS - Key Persons
Dara Griffith, CPA, is Finance Director of Lake Pacific Partners where she is responsible for reporting, taxes and other administrative functions. She was previously a Director at McGladrey and a Senior Accountant at Arthur Andersen.
She is a CPA and holds a bachelor degree and a Master's degree in accounting from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dave is an Operating Partner at Lake Pacific Partners. In this capacity, he provides general business diligence for target transactions. Additionally, Dave assists Lake Pacific portfolio companies with strategy, marketing and other organizational issues.
Prior to Lake Pacific, Dave spent nearly 25 years in marketing and general management leadership roles across the consumer packaged goods and food industry. Most recently, Dave served as CEO of Plant Snacks - a maker of vegan snacks foods free of the big 8 allergens. Prior to Plant Snacks, Dave was Chief Marketing Officer at Welch's - and previously held marketing and commercial leadership roles at The Schwan Food Company and General Mills, where he progressed though numerous marketing leadership roles over the course of more than a decade. Dave began his career as a strategy and marketing consultant at Yankelovich Partners.
Dave holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Micaela Green is a principal of Lake Pacific Partners, a private equity investment firm primarily focusing on food, beverage, consumer products, business and consumer services, distribution, packaging and related industries. She is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and monitoring investments made by the firm.
Prior to joining Lake Pacific, Micaela was with Castanea Partners, a consumer-focused middle market private equity firm, and DOM Capital Group, a family-backed growth equity firm that specializes in food, beverage and restaurant investments. Micaela started her career at BlackRock Private Equity Partners, where she helped to invest in companies across a wide range of industries. Micaela has also worked in the finance and strategy functions of Frontera Hospitality Group and Rent The Runway.
Micaela studied finance and psychology at the University of Dayton and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Director of Cal Pacific Specialty Foods
Paul Murphy is a successful, experienced executive in the food processing, packaging and private label manufacturing sectors. He served as the CEO of Teepak, a Lake Pacific portfolio company. In that role, Mr. Murphy led the successful turnaround of the Teepak business, acquisition and integration of a Mexico based competitor and the successful sale of Teepak to strategic buyers.
Previously he was an accomplished president and senior executive with several companies including SKW, Sanofi and Devro-Teepak.
Mr. Murphy serves as a director of Cal Pacific Specialty Foods. He has also served as director for Maxi Canada, Inc.
Mr. Murphy received an MBA degree from Drexel University and a BS in Marketing and Industrial Management from LaSalle University.
Job Titles:
- CEO, President and Board Director With Twenty - Five Years of Fortune 100
Susan Sentell is an accomplished CEO, president and board director with twenty-five years of Fortune 100, mid-sized and entrepreneurial company experience.
As a president of Sprint Business, an $8 billion operating division of Sprint Corporation, Ms. Sentell led an extensive business model transformation while delivering over $1 billion in top line growth and double digit growth in operating profits.
As CEO of a privately held business services company, Ms. Sentell led the strategic and operational evolution of the company to an enterprise software provider, while improving operating profits in the legacy business. She has served on corporate boards for organizations with revenues ranging from $18 million to $1 billion in private, family-owned and national non-profit sectors.
Ms. Sentell has also served as chief executive officer of Gladson, a business services company. In 2006, she served as director.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lake Pacific Operating Advisory Board
Terry Sebastian is a member of the Lake Pacific Operating Advisory Board and serves as CEO of Cal Pacific, an industrial food ingredient processor. Previously, Terry was a managing director of Lake Pacific Partners. He is a successful principal investor and food industry senior executive.
Earlier, Mr. Sebastian was senior vice president of Natural Nutrition Group (NNG), a leading manufacturer of branded organic food products. At NNG, he led the successful operational turnaround of Health Valley Company, and oversaw the integration of two acquired companies, Breadshop and Casbah Sahara Natural Foods, into NNG's existing manufacturing and distribution systems.
He was also an executive with McCain Foods, where he led key strategy initiatives and implemented major performance improvements. Mr. Sebastian was also a management consultant with Booz, Allen & Hamilton, where he worked on corporate strategy, reorganization, and cost reduction engagements for Fortune 500 clients in several industries.
Mr. Sebastian previously served as chairman of Maxi Canada, a frozen food company. He also serves as a director of Cal Pacific Specialty Foods, a fruit-based ingredients company, and Gladson, a marketing services company. He is a member of Young Presidents' Organization.
Mr. Sebastian received an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School and a BBA with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
Wayne Carpenter is a managing partner of Lake Pacific Partners, LLC, a private equity investment firm primarily focusing on food, beverage, consumer products, business and consumer services, distribution, packaging and related industries.
Mr. Carpenter has over 20 years of private equity and consulting experience. Prior to joining Lake Pacific, Mr. Carpenter was an executive director at an $500 million private equity firm, and prior thereto, was a senior investment professional at Thoma Cressey Equity Partners. He has served as a director for a number of companies and led transactions representing over $1 billion in areas of consumer products, business services and industrial goods. Mr. Carpenter is a former board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association.
Mr. Carpenter served as a director of Gladson, a business services firm and Mercer Foods, an industrial dehydration company.
Mr. Carpenter was also a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and Price Waterhouse, where he consulted over 30 Fortune 500 companies in the areas of corporate strategy, post merger integration and operational efficiency.
Mr. Carpenter received an MBA degree from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.
William R. Voss is founder and managing partner of Lake Pacific Partners, LLC, a private equity investment firm primarily focusing on food, beverage, consumer products, business and consumer services, distribution, packaging and related industries. He is a successful business executive, entrepreneur and investor.
Immediately prior to forming Lake Pacific, Mr. Voss was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Natural Nutrition Group (NNG), a company he formed to acquire and develop brands in the expanding but fragmented natural food industry. Between 1996 and 1999, NNG acquired several companies, including Health Valley, creating one of the largest natural food manufacturers in the U.S. In May 1999, NNG was sold to the Hain Celestial Group, a public company with interests in the natural food industry.
Prior to forming NNG, Mr. Voss was chief executive officer of McCain Foods, a large privately owned frozen food manufacturer. He also served as president, chief operating officer and director of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, a $1 billion publicly traded food processor. In addition, he was a principal with Booz, Allen & Hamilton, management consultants, where he advised Fortune 500 clients in the consumer products and retailing industries.
Mr. Voss served as a director of Maxi Canada, a branded frozen food company; Gladson, a business services company; Mercer Foods, an industrial dehydrator; and WennerBread Products, a commercial bakery.
He currently serves as director of Cal Pacific Specialty Foods, an industrial food processor. He also served as chairman of Nash Finch Company, a Fortune 500, publicly traded food distribution company and is a director of SpartanNash, a Fortune 500 retailer and wholesaler.
He has previously served as a director and advisory board member with numerous other public, private and not-for-profit organizations. He is past chairman of the Chicago Chapter of the World Presidents' Organization and was a member of the Young Presidents' Organization.
Mr. Voss received an MBA degree from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin.