STEPHENS - Key Persons
Allie Laborde leads business development efforts and is actively involved in sourcing and originating new transactions on behalf of The Stephens Group.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2019, Allie was a Vice President at The Halifax Group where she sourced and originated new transactions. Prior to The Halifax Group, Allie was an Assistant Vice President at Nationstar Mortgage, where she worked on corporate development and investor relations activities. Allie started her career in the Corporate Finance department at Stephens Inc., where she advised on mergers and acquisitions and public and private financing transactions across multiple industries.
Anthony Porcelli assists the team's investment efforts by conducting financial analysis, due diligence and industry research to evaluate new investment opportunities and manage existing portfolio companies.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2020, Anthony spent two years as an investment banking analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. During his time with STRH, Anthony worked on various M&A and financing transactions in the Industrials group.
Blake Tilley is responsible for new investment deal sourcing, evaluation & due diligence, and execution as well as partnering with portfolio companies to execute strategic, financial, and operational initiatives.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2023, Blake was an Associate at Cotton Creek Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in and growing lower middle market companies. While at Cotton Creek, he assisted in operational and financial initiatives across select portfolio companies and provided transaction execution and due diligence support. Blake began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Global Industrials Group at Robert W. Baird, where he worked primarily on M&A and equity financing transactions.
Bob Martin is an operating partner of The Stephens Group, LLC.
Mr. Martin brings his extensive executive experience in various industries including retail, international business and technology; all of which have been conducted both domestically and internationally. Bob has served in a number of operational leadership capacities. His most recent executive operating role was as the President and CEO of Wal-Mart International executive operations, where he led the development of their international business, during its most formative years.
He is well recognized for his visionary leadership and innovation in retail technology and for his global business experience. Mr. Martin is well traveled (over 91 countries) with operating experience across four continents.
He currently serves as the lead director for Gap Inc. and Conn's, Inc., and a director for Continuum Energy, LLC. He is also on the board of various philanthropic organizations and has previously served as a director for Sabre Holdings, Inc., Edgewater, Guitar Center, Dillard Department Stores, Inc., Furniture Brands International, Solarwinds, Inc. and Vestcom International, Inc.
Bradley Ong assists the team's investment efforts by conducting financial analysis, due diligence and industry research to evaluate new investment opportunities and manage existing portfolio companies.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2022, Bradley spent two years as an investment banking analyst at Rothschild & Co. While at Rothschild & Co., Bradley worked on various M&A and financing transactions across the Metals & Mining sector.
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
- Vice President - Business Development
Callie Blankenau supports the business development efforts and is actively involved in sourcing and originating new transactions on behalf of The Stephens Group.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2022, Callie spent four and a half years as an Associate at ORIX in the Private Equity Solutions group, a generalist lower middle market private equity, and Energy Capital, an energy focused flexible capital provider. While at ORIX, she assisted in the evaluation and execution of investment opportunities, performed transaction due diligence and monitored select portfolio companies. Prior to ORIX, Callie was an Associate at Tribune Capital.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President
- Principal
Chad Greenway is actively involved in a number of the firm's investment holdings, spanning private equity, public markets and alternative investments, as well as other aspects of The Stephens Group business operations.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2018, Chad was the Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Operating Officer of PetroSkills, a private equity-backed provider of training and competency development solutions to the energy industry. In that role, he led the company's finance, accounting, human resources, contracts and IT functions, and was responsible for driving performance initiatives throughout the company. Before joining PetroSkills, Chad was the Executive Vice President of Rave Reviews Cinemas. Chad also co-founded a consulting firm focused on providing financial and operational improvements and prior to that, spent eight years in investment banking, advising companies on mergers, acquisitions and restructurings.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President - Finance & Accounting
- Executive Vice President of Finance and Accounting for the Stephens Group
Chris Kauffman serves as the executive vice president of finance and accounting for The Stephens Group, LLC.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2006, he practiced public accounting for 12 years with JPMS, Cox, PLLC, an accounting firm located in Little Rock, where he was a senior manager in its tax practice focusing on high-net-worth individuals, their families and their businesses. Chris has considerable expertise with partnerships, corporations, trusts and estates with particular emphasis in business acquisitions, healthcare, construction real estate, aviation taxation, political organizations and wealth transition issues. He also functioned as an outsourced CFO for several of the firm's clients.
Chris holds a certificate as a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Craig serves on the board of several private companies.
Craig Campbell worked for Stephens Inc. and SF Holding Corp. for 30 years across several roles, including 10 years as executive assistant to the late Jack Stephens. He also served for 25 years on the board of SF Holding Corp. Craig is former chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and a trustee of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman
- Co - Founder
Elizabeth serves on the board of several non-profit organizations.
Elizabeth Campbell is the daughter of W.R. "Witt" Stephens, Sr. Elizabeth previously spent over 25 years working with the combined Stephens family businesses. Through her volunteer work with local health care and educational institutions as well as nonprofit organizations, she has participated in multiple financings for these institutions and their facilities.
Grant Jones leads the firm's investments in the Commercial and Industrial Products sector and oversees investments in Catalyst Acoustics Group, CoreLink, Kele, Pearlman Group, and Quality Valve. He joined the firm in 2016 and has been active sourcing and executing new investments and working closely with the firm's portfolio partners to drive growth strategies.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2016, Grant was Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at Walmart. His responsibilities included corporate strategy and execution of acquisitions, strategic investments, divestitures and joint-ventures across Walmart's businesses. Prior to Walmart, Grant was a Vice President in the Corporate Finance department at Stephens Inc., where he advised boards and management teams on a variety of mergers and acquisitions and public and private financing transactions across multiple industries.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Society of Human Resources
Heather Bankhead joined The Stephens Group in 2021 with a primary focus on the management of the functionality and efficiency of the firm's human capital.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group, Heather spent eight years in employee benefits and human resources, primarily in the banking industry.
Heather is a member of the Society of Human Resources where she holds a SHRM Certified Professional certificate.
Jack Nadal joined The Stephens Group in 2023 and focuses his efforts across industrials, technology-enabled services and business software. Having completed over 25 transactions worth $4.5 billion, Jack has extensive experience across various business models in both industrial and government end markets.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group, Jack was a Partner and Investment Committee member at Liberty Hall Capital Partners. Prior to Liberty Hall, Jack had roles of increasing responsibility at Lazard, Oak Hill Capital and Insight Equity.
Jack is based out of Houston, Texas.
Jens Talbert is responsible for all aspects of deal sourcing, evaluation, and execution of new investments as well as partnering with portfolio company management to execute strategic and operational initiatives.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2020, Jens was an Associate at The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm. While at Riverside, he assisted in the evaluation and execution of investment opportunities, performed transaction due diligence and monitored select portfolio companies. Before joining Riverside, Jens was an investment banking analyst at Stephens Inc. where he worked on a variety of M&A transactions across multiple industry verticals.
John Lawlor is a senior advisor to The Stephens Group, LLC.
John Lawlor is an entrepreneur, leader, and investor with over 35 years of experience, more than a third which was in leading Private Equity backed investments. John excels at business transformation, building high-performance teams and winning cultures. During his career, John has been highly focused on creating and scaling proprietary high-value/high-margin solutions within the Marketing and Business services industries.
John currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Avery Dennison Corp. Previously, he led Vestcom as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for 13 years, through three Private Equity ownership periods, culminating in the sale of Vestcom to Avery Dennison.
Prior to joining Vestcom, John spent 14 years in the marketing research/services industry, including Spectra Marketing, IPSOS-ASI and IRI. He began his career at Bristol-Myers Squib progressing through a series of positions with Field Sales, Analytics and Trade Marketing.
Knox Kiernan assists the team's investment efforts by conducting financial analysis, due diligence, and industry research to evaluate new investment opportunities and manage existing portfolio opportunities.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2023, Knox spent two years as an Investment Banking Analyst at Croft & Bender. While at Croft & Bender, Knox worked on various M&A and financing transactions across the lower middle market. Prior to Croft & Bender, Knox served as a Credit Analyst at Truist Securities.
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Operations
Lindsey Joseph advises the firm's portfolio companies to improve operational performance. She uses her experience across strategy, pricing, merchandising, supply chain, big data and analytics to drive efficiency across the firm's investments.
Prior to the Stephens Group, Lindsey spent seven years as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Accenture Strategy and Kurt Salmon serving Fortune 500 serving clients within the retail & consumer, food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries. She also completed a rotation in the Principal Investors and Private Equity (PIPE) with BCG. Through her time in consulting, Lindsey has built particular expertise in the change management, ecommerce, data analytics and supply chain network optimization space.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director - Operations
Mark Steenhoek evaluates and advises the firm's portfolio partners to achieve optimal performance. He uses his extensive experience in driving operational improvement across all facets of an organization, including strategy, operations, pricing, cost optimization, data and analytics, project management and talent development.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2019, Mark served as Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Company, one of the leading consulting firms in the world. Mark also completed a rotation with QuantumBlack, McKinsey's advanced analytics division. Prior to McKinsey, Mark held various operating roles, including Director of Operations, Technology and Analytics for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a $1.3 billion worldwide leader in learning services, as well as Senior Consultant at Protiviti, a global leader in operations consulting.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Senior Managing Director
- Group in 2006 As General Counsel
Ron Clark offers the partners of The Stephens Group the benefit of his extensive experience in advising large, closely-held businesses on tax law, merger & acquisition and other critical issues.
Ron joined The Stephens Group in 2006 as General Counsel, after practicing law for 26 years with Rose Law Firm. Beginning in 2010, Ron served as both Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. He relinquished the role of General Counsel in 2021.
Aaron Clark joined The Stephens Group at its founding in 2006 and focuses his efforts on growth investing across internet infrastructure, technology-enabled services and business software. Aaron's experience and understanding of the key value drivers in the technology sector allow him to act as a thoughtful advisor to our management team partners.
Aaron started his career as an investment banker at Stephens Inc. and has advised on a broad range of transactions across a number of industries.
Ryan Morrow focuses on technology investing including all aspects of deal sourcing, evaluation, and execution of new technology-focused investments as well as partnering with portfolio company management to execute strategic and operational initiatives.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group, Ryan spent nearly a decade in various leadership roles in venture capital and private equity backed technology companies. Most recently Ryan was the CFO of Ungerboeck, a vertical SaaS provider to the events industry, and Apptegy, a high growth Ed Tech SaaS provider. Ryan began his career in both buyside and sellside equity research and possesses the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Sam Holland assists the team's investment efforts by conducting financial analysis, due diligence and industry research to evaluate new investment opportunities and manage existing portfolio companies.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2023, Sam was an Associate at H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity firm. While at H.I.G., he assisted in the evaluation and execution of investment opportunities, performed transaction due diligence and monitored select portfolio companies. Before joining H.I.G., Sam was an investment banking analyst at Bank of America where he worked on a variety of M&A transactions across multiple industry verticals.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Westrock Group
- Special Advisor
Scott T. Ford serves as a special advisor to The Stephens Group, LLC.
As a special advisor, Mr. Ford brings extensive C-Suite experience in managing and operating both private and public companies, with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with a business undergoing accelerated growth initiatives.
Mr. Ford is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Westrock Group, LLC, a private investment firm he founded in 2013. Westrock Group operates Westrock Asset Management, LLC, an alternative asset management firm, and Westrock Coffee Company, LLC, a vertically-integrated coffee company. Mr. Ford serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Westrock Asset Management and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Westrock Coffee Company. In these roles, Mr. Ford directs and oversees the firm's investment and risk management objectives and operations.
Prior to forming the Westrock family of companies, Mr. Ford served in a number of leadership roles, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Alltel Corporation from 2002 to 2009. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Ford served as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Alltel, he worked closely with Jackson T. Stephens, the Chairman of Stephens Group, Inc., and he worked in the Investment Banking Division at Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Ford currently serves on the Board of Directors of AT&T, Inc. and Agaciro Development Fund, the sovereign wealth fund for the Republic of Rwanda. He has served on the Board of Directors of Tyson Foods and served as the Chairman of the Little Rock Branch of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. He also served as Chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.
Tyler Train assists the team's investment efforts by conducting financial analysis, due diligence and industry research to evaluate new investment opportunities and manage existing portfolio companies.
Prior to joining The Stephens Group in 2022, Tyler spent two years as an investment banking analyst at Guggenheim Securities. During his time with Guggenheim, Tyler worked on various M&A and financing transactions across the energy sector.
Kent Sorrells focuses on gaining a deep understanding of a management team's strategy. He uses his extensive experience along with the resources of The Stephens Group to help partners drive growth, scale and profitability.
Kent joined The Stephens Group at its founding in 2006 and currently focuses on Opportunistic investments that do not fall into our core defined sectors.
In his personal life, Kent enjoys engaging in charitable work and currently serves on the board of several non-profit organizations.
Witt Stephens, Jr. has a well-earned reputation for partnering effectively with management teams, imparting vision and a sense of purpose while empowering them with the resources needed to create value over the long term.
Since 2000, Witt has overseen the combined Stephens family's energy and natural resource investment activities. Since 1991, he has supported the management team of Stephens Natural Resources, a wholly-owned Stephens subsidiary and one of the nation's largest privately held exploration and production companies. He previously served as assistant to Witt Stephens, Sr., assistant to Jackson T. Stephens, senior vice president of Stephens Natural Resources, vice chairman of SF Holding Corp., and as a member of the Executive Committee, and a director of the board.