BIG PATH CAPITAL - Key Persons
Christie has over eight years of experience in financial services. She most recently was with Piper Jaffray in their consumer investment banking team in San Francisco working with companies across a variety of consumer sectors on M&A, private placement, and IPO transactions. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray in 2013, she worked for Lehman Brothers in New York City as an analyst and then post-bankruptcy unwinding Lehman's derivatives portfolio.
Christie received a B.S. in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
In addition to her role with Big Path Capital in providing investment advisory and merger and acquisition support, Christie Lange is separately registered as a representative of Growth Capital Services, Inc. ("GCS"), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. GCS is not responsible for the separate advisory services offered by GCS Rep or for any services offered by other Big Path personnel. More information about Christie and GCS is available through FINRA Broker check.
Isabel joined Big Path in 2022. Prior to joining Big Path, Isabel was a Venture Capital Analyst for Greenspring Associates (acquired by StepStone Group), where she was responsible for sourcing and due diligence efforts on direct, fund-of-fund, and secondary investments. While at Greenspring, Isabelspecialized in impact and diversity fund-of-fund investing.
Isabel received a B.S.B.A. in Business Administration and Global Studies from the Honors College at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
J.D. Dell - Managing Director
A skilled marketing strategist and seasoned web manager and developer, Justin brings a well-rounded background of technical experience to Big Path Capital's team. In his role, he assists with event logistics, digital and print collateral production, and various other administrative tasks. Capable of securely managing networks, websites, and analytical tools, Justin also oversees the infrastructure of Big Path Capital's technical back end.
Justin graduated from the University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Political Science.
Kristin comes to us with an extensive background in project and event management. She has worked as a project manager, juggling multiple clients and projects, and as an event manager with 20+ events annually. Ranging from large to small, trade shows to corporate, and most everything in between. She has worked on large-scale events such as the Olympics, the ESPN X Games, CES, and AWS. Kristin graduated from Carthage College in Kenosha, WI with a B.A. in Recreation & Resort Management, a self-designed major that she developed and won approval for.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Michael is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Big Path Capital, a leading boutique impact investment bank focused on providing Corporate Finance, M&A, and Placement Agent services to impact companies and funds globally. Big Path has worked with over 120 impact and sustainable companies and funds, more than any firm in the sector. In 2007 the old economy driven by the single gear of profit maximization reached a dead end in the financial crisis. It was a moment of reckoning during which Michael left his fifteen-year career in private equity to form Big Path Capital with his partner, Shawn Lesser, leveraging the engine of capitalism for an expansive economy built on natural, social, and financial capital.
Recognizing that impact investing isn't just a different way of investing but a superior way of deploying capital, Michael is committed to challenging the status quo and to raising the expectation of capital. In this vein, Big Path has created a number of first-in-class initiatives demonstrating SmarterMoney+: Maximize impact, Maximize return. These include the Five Fund Forum, Impact Capitalism Summit, and Impact & Sustainable Trade Missions.
Michael received his BA summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and received a joint MBA and MEM (Master of Engineering Management) from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Michael is a Kellogg Youn Impact Scholar, an advisory board member of the Croatan Institute and is a member of the Social Venture Network and Net Impact.
In addition to his role with Big Path Capital in providing investment advisory and merger and acquisition support, Michael Whelchel is separately registered as a representative of Growth Capital Services, Inc. ("GCS"), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. GCS is not responsible for the separate advisory services offered by GCS Rep or for any services offered by other Big Path personnel. More information about Michael and GCS is available through FINRA Broker check.
Nick joined Big Path in 2020. Prior to joining Big Path, Nick spent over four years in the commercial real estate industry both in a brokerage and development capacity. He worked at both Matthews Real Estate Investment Services, a national brokerage company, and JPI, a national multifamily development company. At both firms, Nick's roles relied heavily on business development, due diligence, underwriting and asset evaluation, and transactional services.
Nick received a B.S. in Agricultural Economics with a focus in Finance and Real Estate from Texas A&M University.
In addition to his role with Big Path Capital in providing investment advisory and merger and acquisition support, Nick is separately registered as a representative of Growth Capital Services, Inc. ("GCS"), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. GCS is not responsible for the separate advisory services offered by GCS Rep or for any services offered by other Big Path personnel. More information about Nick and GCS is available through FINRA Broker check.
Patrick joined Big Path in 2021. Prior to joining Big Path, Patrick was an Investment Banking Analyst for Harris Williams' Healthcare & Life Sciences Group, where he worked with companies across a variety of subsectors on M&A transactions. At his previous firm, Patrick's roles relied heavily on due diligence, financial modeling, and execution support.
Patrick received a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of the varsity baseball team.
In addition to his role with Big Path Capital in providing investment advisory and merger and acquisition support, Patrick McDonald is separately registered as a representative of Growth Capital Services, Inc. ("GCS"), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. GCS is not responsible for the separate advisory services offered by GCS Rep or for any services offered by other Big Path personnel. More information about Patrick and GCS is available through FINRA Broker check.
Rebecca has experience supporting the M&A deal process and served as an M&A Execution Assistant at Harris Williams in the Food & Beverage sector.
Prior to joining Big Path, Rebecca was a Client Success Manager at demandDrive, a sales development and demand generation company.
She has experience in B2B sales and managing sales teams in the IT industry.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Shawn brings over twenty years of experience in the financial advisory sector to Big Path Capital. Prior to co-founding Big Path Capital, Shawn founded the investment bank, Sustainable World Capital, which assisted cleantech companies in raising capital from European institutional investors. Shawn has been Co-Head and Managing Director of the international equity teams at Morgan Keegan and at Deutsche Bank.
In partnership with Michael Whelchel, Shawn has founded a number of first-of-their-kind initiatives, all of which demonstrate SmarterMoney+ TM Maximize Impact, Maximize Return. Those include the Five Fund Forum, Impact Capitalism Summit, and Impact & Sustainable Trade Missions. In 2010, Shawn also co-founded the Global Cleantech Cluster Association as a meta-cluster to create momentum and move the cleantech market by networking global clusters together.
Shawn speaks at events around the world on the topic of Impact and Sustainable Investment and partners with the US Department of Commerce in conducting Impact and Sustainable Trade Mission. Shawn received his BS in Finance from Syracuse University and is conversant in German, Spanish, and Chinese.
In addition to his role with Big Path Capital in providing investment advisory and merger and acquisition support, Shawn Lesser is separately registered as a representative of Growth Capital Services, Inc. ("GCS"), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. GCS is not responsible for the separate advisory services offered by GCS Rep or for any services offered by other Big Path personnel. More information about Shawn and GCS is available through FINRA Broker check.