Lawrence (Larry) Benjamin has over 40 years of experience working as a CEO, board member and advisor with troubled businesses in the food, retail, distribution and healthcare industries.

‍

As CEO, he has led several publicly and privately held businesses through difficult situations including capital restructurings and recovery from financial and business challenges. Proceeds from his successful sale of 4 of these businesses (U.S. Foods, Specialty Foods, Stella Foods and the Birds Eye/Budget Gourmet division of Kraft Heinz) have totaled more than $9 billion. As a board member of 11 companies, he has served on multiple audit, governance and compensation committees and has been board chair of 3 of these firms (IRI/Circana, Carvel and Diversified Foodservice Supply). He has also been an advisor/operating partner for 3 private equity firms, most recently as a Senior Advisor at New Mountain Capital.

‍

Larry has a BA from Brown University and master’s degrees from Columbia University (MBA), Northwestern University (MA) and Loyola University Chicago School of Medicine (MPH). He is active in several nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Edwards enjoyed a 35-year career as a partner at Latham & Watkins, a top global law firm, where he specialized in debt capital markets and debt restructurings. At Latham, Mr. Edwards was a leader in building the firm’s practices in the UK and Europe (2000 through 2008), the Middle East (2008 through 2012) and Asia (2012 to 2017). Among other matters, Mr. Edwards advised the Government of Dubai in connection with the $60 billion Dubai World sovereign debt restructuring.

‍

In addition, Mr. Edwards has been an industry leader in developing the debt capital markets. He was Chair of the European High Yield Association (EHYA) from 2004 to 2008, building it into a full-fledged industry association; served on the Steering Committee of the Gulf Bond & Sukuk Association (GBSA) from 2008 to 2012; and was Vice-Chair of the Credit Markets Committee of the Asia Securities & Financial Markets Committee (ASIFMA) from 2012 to 2016.

‍

In recent years, Mr. Edwards has worked on several SPAC reverse IPO mergers, including the merger that took Soundhound (SOUN) public on Nasdaq in 2022. In addition, he is a Director of Nuvvon, an early-stage battery technology company.

Nick is currently a Senior Advisor at Nolan Capital Inc. He is a retired Partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP where he was Global Co-Head of Private Equity and served as a member of the firm’s Policy Committee. His areas of focus were M&A, Securities Law, Debt Financing, and Corporate Restructuring. Clients included Leonard Green & Partners, TPG, Colony Capital, Paul Allen & his investment company Vulcan, UBS, DLJ, and Moelis & Company. Nick was lead counsel for a principal party in the MGM, Charter Communications and Dreamworks deals, all of which were awarded Deal of the Year honors. Nick is also a former Senior Advisor at Moelis & Company.

‍

Nick graduated with his B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and received his J.D. from Loyola Law School. He currently is a member of the Emeritus Board of The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and is a former member of the Loyola Law School Board of Directors, the UCLA Economics Board of Visitors, and the Board of Directors of Paul Allen’s Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology. Nick also co-authored a leading treatise regarding corporate restructurings. Nick has been named among the top Private Equity, M&A, and Securities (for both Equities and Debt) attorneys by both Chambers USA and Chambers Global, and one of the top 100 lawyers in the State of California.

‍

Bio

Colleen Brown is a seasoned public company CEO and current director known for her versatility and strategic depth in the boardroom. She brings decades of experience across technology, media, finance, and workforce sectors, with current board service at Bakkt, TrueBlue, and Big 5. She is the Managing Director of PANARCHY, where she empowers CEOs and boards to disrupt strategic myopia through the combined use of AI and Network Science.

Colleen brings a highly adaptive, foresight-driven approach to all assignments — shaped by her experience as a public company CEO and director across multiple industries. Known as a “Swiss Army knife” in the boardroom, she is skilled at navigating complexity, offering thoughtful strategic insight while staying grounded in operational and cultural realities.

Colleen is a NACD Directorship 100 honoree, a NACD Leadership Fellow, and a NACD Blue Ribbon Commissioner. She also holds the NACD/Carnegie Mellon Certificate in Cyber-Risk Oversight.

Her board experience spans public, private, and venture-backed organizations. Past boards include Associated Press, Career Builder, Cars.com, BECU, American Apparel (Chair), Spark Networks (Chair) and Delta Dental Insurance.

Education

University of Colorado at Boulder | MBA
Stanford Directors College
Harvard Executive Program
Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow
Carnegie-Mellon Cybersecurity Certificate

Mr. Peterson has spent four decades advising corporations, financial institutions, and institutional investors on complex financing, capital markets, and corporate transactions. He began his career at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in New York, becoming a partner in 1992 and helping to build the firm’s transatlantic practice in New York and London through 2011. He later joined Milbank in London, where he was a partner from 2011 to 2025. Across his career, Mr. Peterson has developed deep expertise in international debt and equity securities offerings, leveraged finance (including mezzanine financings), leveraged acquisitions, and debt restructurings.

Mr. Peterson has led a wide range of high-profile capital markets and leveraged finance matters, including multiple senior note and senior secured note offerings for Virgin Media (including a $1 billion senior convertible notes transaction and the largest sterling-denominated high-yield deal), senior note offerings for issuers such as SNF, Mettler-Toledo, and Grupo Televisa, and numerous IPOs and equity offerings spanning U.S. and European markets. On the loan side, he has advised on landmark European leveraged finance transactions, including one of the first “amend and extend” financings, the creation of an early template for senior secured bond structures in Europe, and many of the region’s leading mezzanine financings. His experience also includes significant cross-border M&A and private equity work, as well as restructurings for sponsors, companies, lenders, and bondholder committees.

An industry leader in the European high-yield and leveraged finance markets, Mr. Peterson served on the board of AFME’s European High Yield Section and has chaired its Forms Committee and Intercreditor Working Group. He is consistently recognized as a Leading Individual in Banking & Finance by Chambers & Partners UK and Legal 500 UK, and as “Highly Regarded” by IFLR 1000, with clients describing him as “best in his field.” He was named Dealmaker of the Year by Finance Monthly in 2019 (and previously in 2016). Mr. Peterson holds a B.A., high honors, from Rutgers College and a J.D., honors, from Rutgers School of Law–Newark, and is admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars. Outside his practice, he is a dedicated marathon runner and active in philanthropic work with Amicus and Peterson’s Fund for Children.

Kevin Cramton has spent four decades leading, restructuring, and investing in businesses across the industrial, automotive, energy, technology, and financial services sectors. He has served as Chief Executive Officer or Executive Chairman of five companies and brings more than 15 years of private equity experience, with a particular focus on operational and financial turnarounds of distressed businesses. Across his career he has served on the boards of more than 25 companies, including three public companies. He currently serves on the Board and Audit Committee of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE: HP), the world’s largest oil and gas drilling company, and as a Board member/Trustee of ERShares, an asset management firm whose funds include the Private-Public Crossover ETF (NASDAQ: XOVR). As CEO of Cardone Industries, a $1 billion automotive aftermarket remanufacturer, Kevin led the company to record operating and financial results, improving annual profitability more than four-fold. As Executive Chairman of Atlantix Global Systems, he led the carve-out from Presidio and executed a sale at nearly 3x invested capital in under two years, and as Executive Chairman of Niles, a $600 million Asian-based electronics company, he led a turnaround that culminated in a sale at close to 20x investment. Kevin began his career with 20 years at Ford Motor Company, where he held leadership roles across manufacturing, marketing, product development, and financial services in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, ultimately serving as Director of Corporate Business Development with global responsibility for M&A and venture capital. Over his career he has executed approximately 50 M&A transactions totaling roughly $25 billion in value, including the $15 billion sale of Hertz — at the time the second-largest LBO
in history.
‍

Kevin holds an MBA in Finance and a BA in Business Administration from Michigan State University and is an alumnus of the London Business School Executive Management Program. He served on several non-profit boards in the U.S. and Europe, including Eastern University and Abbey Road School in London. He is the author of TUNED: Leadership Lessons from a Motown Kid Turned Global CEO and co-host of the TUNED Talks podcast.

‍