Leadership

We are the ones who embrace challenge.

Our team has a wealth of experience in matters that extend beyond investment banking. Together we provide substantial expertise across multiple areas of focus. This is how we simplify the complex and execute transformational transactions for our clients.

The ones who are

  • Experienced
  • Dedicated
  • Client-centric

Meet our senior leadership.

For nearly three decades, our leadership team has been advising on many of the most relevant corporate finance transactions in the industry. We are known for developing and maintaining close relationships with decision makers because of the results we provide and the business principles our senior leadership follows.

The Trusted Ones

A team built over several decades.

  • Michael Kramer

    Partner and Chief Executive Officer

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    Michael Kramer is the CEO and a Founding Partner of Ducera Partners, a leading investment banking advisory firm focused on providing trusted, independent advice and innovative solutions to decisions makers in complex and transformative corporate finance transactions and situations.

    Mr. Kramer is one of the country's preeminent investment bankers. Over more than 30 years, Mr. Kramer has served as a trusted financial advisor to leading companies, creditors groups, government and quasi-government institutions, and other parties of interest in complex corporate finance transactions, including financial restructurings, court supervised insolvency proceedings, mergers and acquisitions, financings, and in connection with the resolution from a financial perspective of off-balance sheet liabilities including mass tort and products liability, environmental contamination and remediation, intellectual property litigation, and other significant litigation and regulatory proceedings. Mr. Kramer has developed many of the most innovative corporate finance transactions, and his advice has been relied upon by leading stakeholders to structure and evaluate bespoke solutions to complex financial situations.

    Prior to founding Ducera Partners, Mr. Kramer was a Partner and held various leadership roles at Perella Weinberg Partners, Greenhill & Co., and Houlihan Lokey. Mr. Kramer is also an active investor in both early stage and mature private companies, having invested in companies that operate in Financial Services, Sports and Entertainment, Telecommunications, Healthcare, Technology, Crypto/Blockchain, Consumer, Winemaking, Apparel, and Transportation, among others.

    Mr. Kramer has served as a member of the board of director for public companies, and currently serves on the board of directors of private companies and non-profits, including Filling in the Blanks (childhood hunger), St. Luke's School (childhood education), and as a Governor for the WHL (Western Hockey League) a part of the CHL (Canadian Hockey League). Mr. Kramer is also a member of the Advisory Board of RAND's Kenneth R. Feinberg Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation.

  • John Vaske

    Partner, Vice Chairman, and Co-Head of M&A

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    John Vaske is Vice Chairman of Ducera Partners and brings to the firm over 35 years of experience as a global finance and operating executive. Mr. Vaske’s experience includes nearly three decades of global advisory leadership, with particular focus on the Industrials and Natural Resources verticals.

    Most recently, Mr. Vaske served as the Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Business Network (FBN), the North American agri-tech company. Prior to joining FBN, John was Head Americas for Temasek, the $280 billion AUM global investment firm. While at Temasek, he oversaw a team of 55 investors and represented the firm on multiple boards.

    Previously, Mr. Vaske was a Partner at Goldman Sachs. He joined the firm in New York in 1988, relocating to Tokyo from 1989 to 1991 to help start Goldman Sachs’ M&A practice in Japan. After returning to New York in 1991, he executed on dealmaking across multiple industries, ultimately focusing on the Agriculture and Chemicals sectors. Mr. Vaske relocated to London in 2005 to lead the European Natural Resources Group and returned to New York in 2010 as Co-Head of the firm’s first global industry vertical, Global Natural Resources. He capped his 28-year career at Goldman Sachs as Co-Chairman of Global M&A in 2015.

    Mr. Vaske serves as a director, and former Chairman, on the board of PeacePlayers International and as a member of the Athletic Leadership and Basketball Alumni Committees of Columbia University. He received his BA in Economics from Columbia University in 1988 and was a 2016 recipient of the John Jay Award, which honors Columbia College alumni for distinguished professional achievement.

  • Mark Davis

    Partner

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    Mr. Davis has more than fifteen years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera as a founding member, Mr. Davis worked at Perella Weinberg Partners and Kramer Capital Partners.

    Mr. Davis earned a BA from Arizona State University.

  • Patrick Dowling

    Partner and Chief Operating Officer

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    Mr. Dowling is responsible for Ducera’s accounting, tax, technology, real estate, and operation functions.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Dowling worked at GE Capital and Deloitte & Touche.

    Mr. Dowling earned a BA from The College of the Holy Cross.

  • Michael Feinberg

    Partner and General Counsel

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    Mr. Feinberg is responsible for Ducera's legal and compliance functions.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Feinberg worked at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, Credit Suisse, and WilmerHale. Mr. Feinberg also served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Harold Baer, Jr., in the Southern District of New York.

    Mr. Feinberg earned a BA from Amherst College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

  • Mike Genereux

    Partner

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    Mr. Genereux has nearly thirty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments.

    Prior to Ducera, Mr. Genereux was a managing director at Piper Sandler. Previously, he was a partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, a partner and management committee member at PJT Partners, and a senior managing director at Blackstone. He began his investment banking career at Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch & Co.

    Mr. Genereux earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from Wake Forest University.

  • Christopher Grubb

    Partner and Co-Head of M&A

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    Mr. Grubb has more than twenty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to Ducera, Mr. Grubb served as the Head of M&A and Restructuring for the Western Region of Greenhill, where he advised clients on M&A, financing, and restructuring mandates. He previously served as Co-Head of U.S. M&A and Greenhill’s Chief Financial Officer.

    Mr. Grubb earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Engineering from Cornell University.

  • Cody Leung Kaldenberg

    Partner

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    Ms. Kaldenberg has more than fifteen years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera as a founding member, Ms. Kaldenberg worked at Perella Weinberg Partners and Goldman Sachs.

    Ms. Kaldenberg earned a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Bradley Robins

    Partner

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    Mr. Robins has more than thirty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to Ducera, Mr. Robins worked at Greenhill where he was a Partner and Co-Head of Financing Advisory and Restructuring for North America. Previously, Mr. Robins worked at Houlihan Lokey and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

    Mr. Robins earned a BA from Middlebury College and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

  • Joshua Scherer

    Partner

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    Mr. Scherer has more than twenty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera as a founding member, Mr. Scherer worked at Perella Weinberg Partners, Houlihan Lokey, and Merrill Lynch.

    Mr. Scherer earned a BA from Middlebury College.

  • Jay K. Sinha

    Partner

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    Mr. Sinha has more than fifteen years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Sinha worked at Citigroup.

    Mr. Sinha earned a BS from Boston University.

  • Derron Slonecker

    Partner

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    Mr. Slonecker has over thirty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera as a founding member, Mr. Slonecker was a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, U.S. Head of its Restructuring Practice, and Co-Chair of its Fairness Opinion Committee. Previously, Mr. Slonecker worked at Houlihan Lokey where he was a member of its Operating Committee.

    Mr. Slonecker earned a BA from the University of Washington.

  • Agnes Tang

    Partner

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    Ms. Tang has more than twenty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera as a founding member, Ms. Tang worked at Perella Weinberg Partners, Houlihan Lokey, and Oliver Wyman.

    Ms. Tang earned a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from The Harvard Business School.

  • Lauren Kobernick Finley

    Chief Human Resources Officer

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    Ms. Finley is responsible for the firm’s human resources’ function.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Ms. Finley spent over nine years in human resources at PJT Partners and its predecessor, Blackstone. She has also held recruiting focused roles at Credit Suisse and Barclays.

    Ms. Finley earned a BA at Trinity College

  • Emily Katz-Turner

    Managing Director

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    Ms. Katz-Turner has nearly 20 years of experience evaluating complex capital structures, analyzing credit documentation, and advising on investment decisions based on fundamental, legal and structural considerations.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Ms. Katz-Turner worked at Morgan Stanley as an analyst on the Distressed Trading Desk and Special Situations Group. Previously, she worked as an analyst at Chimney Rock Investments and practiced law at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

    Ms. Katz-Turner earned an AB from Harvard University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

  • Jason Koh

    Managing Director

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    Mr. Koh has more than ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Koh worked at FTI Consulting.

    Mr. Koh earned a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

  • Sean Monaghan

    Managing Director

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    Mr. Monaghan has more than fifteen years of experience working in both advisory and restructuring on both the buyside and sellside.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Moanghan worked at Citi and Nuveen Asset Management (Formerly Symphony Asset Management).

    Mr. Monaghan earned a BA from Wake Forest University.

  • Eli Silverman

    Managing Director

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    Mr. Silverman has more than a decade of experience advising companies on financial restructuring, liability management, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital raising transactions across a wide variety of industries.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Silverman worked at Baird, Lazard, Z Capital Partners, Blackstone, Colony Capital and UBS.

    Mr. Silverman received a B.A. in Economics from Duke University and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Columbia Business School.

  • David Zubricki

    Managing Director

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    Mr. Zubricki has more than ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Zubricki worked at King & Spalding, Centerview Partners, Kirkland & Ellis, and Brown Brothers Harriman.

    Mr. Zubricki earned a BA from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

  • Jon Cremeans

    Director

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    Jon has nearly ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Previously, Jon was an investment professional in the special situations group of EQT Partners.

    Jon earned a BS from the Ohio State University.

  • Tim Hatfield

    Director

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    Mr. Hatfield has nearly ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Hatfield worked at Houlihan Lokey, Regions Securities, and AT&T.

    Mr. Hatfield earned a BA from Trinity International University and an MBA from Indiana University.

  • Victoria Hotchkiss

    Director

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    Ms. Hotchkiss has seven+ years of experience working on a broad range of transactions across sectors including but not limited to retail, airlines, biotech, and manufacturing.

    Aside from her time at Ducera, Ms. Hotchkiss has been a part of teams at Miller Buckfire & Co. and Brookfield Asset Management.

    Ms. Hotchkiss earned her BA from Georgetown University.

  • Gabe Marvis

    Director

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    Mr. Marvis has nearly ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Marvis worked at Creative Artists Agency and Houlihan Lokey.

    Mr. Marvis earned a BA from University of Southern California (Marshall School of Business).

  • Kishan Patel

    Director

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    Mr. Patel has nearly ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Mr. Patel earned a BS from Arizona State University.

  • Nick Vadino

    Director

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    Mr. Vadino has nearly ten years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera, Mr. Vadino worked at King & Spalding and Citizens Financial Group.

    Mr. Vadino earned a BS from Villanova University.

Senior Advisors

  • Bradley Meyer

    Senior Advisor

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    Mr. Meyer has more than twenty years of experience working on a broad range of advisory assignments across a number of industry sectors.

    Prior to joining Ducera as a founding member, Mr. Meyer worked at Perella Weinberg Partners, Millstein, Houlihan Lokey, and Lazard.

    Mr. Meyer earned a BA from Harvard University.

  • Thomas Thurston

    Senior Advisor and Chief Technologist

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    Mr. Thurston is a venture capitalist and data scientist, renowned for the use of advanced computing in the fields of venture capital, M&A, corporate strategy and innovation. He is a Partner and Chief Technology Officer at WR Hambrecht + Co, a Partner at Growth Science Ventures and is a trusted advisor to multiple global market leading companies. Formerly at Intel, he led joint R&D between Intel and Harvard with Professor Clayton Christensen on the use of data science to guide growth efforts. At Intel he also helped co-found a high performance computing business that was acquired.

    Mr. Thurston holds a BA, MBA, Juris Doctor and was a Fellow at the Harvard Business School.