ILPA Staff

With more than two decades of institutional investment experience, Steve Nelson joined ILPA in March 2018 as Chief Executive Officer. He is responsible for leading the growing organization in the realization of its mission to engage, empower and connect limited partners on a global basis.

Prior to his role at ILPA, Steve built his career at Cambridge Associates where he served most recently as Board Member, Partner and Chief Operating Officer based in C|A’s Arlington, Virginia office. In that role, Steve was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm, overseeing a staff of approximately 500 in Investment Operations, Portfolio Services, Information Technology, Human Capital and Administrative Services. He also served as a member of the C|A Risk Governance Committee and Compensation Committee.

Steve held a number of senior leadership positions with C|A including co-Head of Global Consulting from 2008-2013, where he was responsible for resource planning, training, staffing, communications, and oversight of C|A investment teams. This work spanned the core client-facing advisory activities of the firm, delivered by a team of over 300 investment professionals operating from 8 offices. Earlier in his career with C|A, Steve was the Head of Asia Pacific where he established firm’s first office in the region, with responsibility for cultivating a network throughout Asia Pacific consisting of institutional investors, investment managers, legal advisors, regulators, industry associations and the press.

From 2002 to 2004, Steve was a member of the Financial Services Committee with the Singapore chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for the Loudoun Country Day School located in Northern Virginia.

Steve is a graduate of the Carroll School of Management Honors Program at Boston College.

As Managing Director of Industry Affairs for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Jennifer Choi directs the association’s engagement with external industry stakeholders to inform and enhance ILPA’s education, research, membership and advocacy platforms. Ms. Choi also leads the implementation of ILPA’s responses to emerging issues impacting the asset class, including efforts to establish and promote industry best practices.

Prior to joining the ILPA, Ms. Choi served as Vice President of Industry and External Affairs for the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), where she led the association’s member and industry engagement activities, including efforts to encourage policy frameworks that support the growth of the asset class. As EMPEA’s Research Director, she built the industry’s first global database of private equity activity in the emerging markets. A frequent speaker and commentator on the industry, Ms. Choi also oversaw the association's media communications and global institutional partnerships. Previously, Ms. Choi was a consultant with Boston-based Stax Inc., leading due diligence engagements and providing advisory services for the U.S. private equity and venture capital industry.

Jennifer holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and Political Science from Augustana College.

As Managing Director of Corporate Development for ILPA, Greg Durst is responsible for the interactions with the non-LP members of our community, including service providers and General Partners. He manages the relationships for ILPA’s sponsors, as well as guiding sponsors and other service providers in their interactions with ILPA around content development, event participation and other member engagement opportunities. With GPs, Mr. Durst is leading our outreach on key initiatives around industry standards like the ILPA Fee & Expense Reporting Template, as well as other industry issues for all players in the PE ecosystem.

Prior to joining the ILPA, Mr. Durst was the founding COO and Head of Business Development for a hedge fund manager in New York. Mr. Durst has broad experience in private equity as a GP, and as a service provider and financier to leading players in the industry. In addition to his work in private equity and other top tier professional services firms, Mr. Durst has lived and worked in North America, Europe and Southern Africa and has extensive experience working in South Asia.

Mr. Durst has an undergraduate degree in Finance from Georgetown University and a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

As Managing Director of Education for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Matt Kelly is responsible for the strategic direction and operation of the organization's diverse educational platform including the ILPA Institute, Workshops, Webcasts and Professional Development Series.

Matt brings more than 15 years of experience in global executive education, strategy consulting, law and business management, most recently as Director of Talent Solutions with CEB, Inc. (formerly Corporate Executive Board) where he helped clients drive the achievement of business objectives through world-class skill and leadership development programs. In addition to co-managing the CEB Talent Solutions business, Matt has been a veteran classroom instructor (delivering executive education programs on six continents) and successfully managed the delivery of quality experiences through a network of more than 85 contract and full-time faculty. Previously, Matt also served CEB clients as Director of Content Delivery, teaching the firm's best practices research to a global audience of more than 400 of Fortune 1000 companies.

In addition to his experience at CEB, Matt has practiced Corporate & Securities law in the Washington, DC and Northern Virginia offices of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and served as a Manager and Director of eBusiness with International Paper Co.

Matt holds a BA in History from the University of Virginia, a JD from Washington & Lee University and is a member of the Virginia State Bar.

Pamela Jenkins is the Sr. Director of Events at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA). She is responsible for the overall strategy and planning of ILPA’s event program; this includes oversight of major conferences, the ILPA Summit New York and Europe, Members’ Conference and Legal Conference, as well as the 40+ events held globally each year, live and virtually. Pamela partners across ILPA to ensure members, general partners and service providers are thoughtfully engaged in the event process, helping to drive ILPA’s mission to engage, empower and connect LPs globally.

Prior to the ILPA, Pamela worked in the hospitality industry in positions with Hilton, Holiday Inn and Princess Cruises. Pamela is an honours graduate of the Special Events Planning for Destination Tourism program at George Brown College.

As Sr. Director of Education for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Nick Jenson is responsible for the strategic execution and operational oversight of the organization's diverse educational platform including the ILPA Institute, Workshops, Webcasts and Professional Development Series.

Prior to joining ILPA, Nick spent 13 years at Cambridge Associates in numerous operational leadership roles across the investment manager data, client performance reporting, and investment operations divisions based in the US. During this time Nick also spent 3 years in Singapore leading the build out of Cambridge’s APAC operations office and most recently served as Head of Public and Private Investment Manager Data, as well as, Program Manager to the Chief Data Officer.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Social Science & Psychology degree from Macquarie University, Sydney Australia.

Matt Schey is Senior Director of Sustainable Investing & Strategic Projects at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), where he leads the Association’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. He also manages ILPA’s Research team.

Prior to joining ILPA in 2019, Matt was a management consultant specializing in providing business transformation advisory services to clients in both public and private markets. Previously, he was a manager at Cambridge Associates, supporting the firm’s institutional client consulting business and leading the daily operations of its Singapore-based performance reporting function, serving APAC, Europe, and ME&A client relationships.

Matt holds a BA in International Business & Management from Dickinson College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Mandy Ilk joined the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) in March 2014, working in both the Accounts and Education Department. As the Director of Education, she is responsible for the operations of the ILPA Institute courses, Webcasts, Workshops and the Professional Development Seminar series.

Mandy came to ILPA from a background in the Art Industry, spending 11 years at a notable Toronto Auction Firm. She holds her Honors Bachelor of Arts Degree from The University of Toronto, where she specialized in Literature with a minor in Cinema Studies.

Jyoti Marwaha is Director of Talent at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) within the Corporate group.

Prior to ILPA, Jyoti spent her career working for Fortune 100’s, 500’s and the last decade in a variety of trade associations building her experience as an HR Generalist. Most recently, Jyoti led the performance management, employee relations, talent management and talent acquisition at National Governors Association. Jyoti brings deep expertise in all HR functions and proudly shares her blended experiences on LinkedIn. She genuinely loves to see the growth of her colleagues and is a Certified Career Coach and a Professional in Human Resources, a known industry-wide HR credential.  

Jyoti holds a BS in Health Science from George Mason University and an MS in Human Resource Management from NOVA Southeastern University.

 

Neal Prunier, Director, Standards and Best Practices at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) within the Industry Affairs group, is responsible for the continuing evolution and expansion of the ILPA standards to help ILPA provide impactful service for its members.

Prior to ILPA, Neal spent his career at Cambridge Associates where he most recently served as Senior Director in CA’s Arlington, Virginia office. In this role, he oversaw staff across Singapore, London, and Arlington as head of a global investment operations department responsible for enterprise data management for Private Investment, Hedge Fund, and Long Only investment manager/client specific data. This work focused on serving the data needs of Research, Consulting, and Performance Reporting functions, as well as clients and the broader industry. This work also included the creation of the ILPA Private Markets Benchmark reports.

Neal holds a BS in Finance from Elon University and an MBA from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Jae Strnisha is Director of Finance at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) and is responsible for overseeing ILPA’s financial health and long-term growth, managing all finance and accounting operations and related data and systems.

Prior to ILPA, Jae spent his career working in various corporate accounting and finance roles at financial service companies.  Most recently, Jae was responsible for the five-year strategic plan, budgeting and expense analysis at a life insurance company.  Jae brings a comprehensive set of skills in accounting operations, financial reporting, financial planning and analysis.  He holds a BS in accounting from Towson University and a CPA license in the state of Maryland.

Nicky Cavanagh serves as the Manager of Membership at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA). She is responsible for delivering on the value proposition for all ILPA members, with a particular focus on understanding the needs of the LP community and working with internal stakeholders to deliver content and resources to help meet those needs. Nicky first joined ILPA as Executive Assistant to the CEO in 2015.

Prior to ILPA, Nicky worked as an Executive Assistant to a former NBA Coach. Nicky’s original field of experience was in organizational psychology and market research. She completed a Bachelor of Behavioural Science and Graduate Diploma of Psychology at Griffith University.

Jennifer Lis

Jennifer Lis is the Event Manager at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA). She is responsible for planning and executing of ILPA’s major conferences: ILPA Summit, Annual Members Conference and European Forum.

Prior to ILPA, Jennifer worked as an Event Specialist at the Toronto Region Board of Trade where she helped to organize a variety of events as well as managed the Young Professionals Program. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Ryerson University as well as a Post-Secondary Certificate in Events Management from Humber College.

Holly is a Manager at the Institutional Limited Partners Association. She is responsible for planning and executing ILPA's Global Events and the ILPA Private Equity Legal Conference.

Holly holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours from Queen’s University where she specialized in health and economics.

As Senior Associate for ILPA, Samantha supports the ILPA team by creating and reviewing LP-focused proprietary content, including the ILPA Private Markets Benchmark and the annual LP compensation survey. She also manages content for the Document and Research Library and Industry News.

Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a minor in French from Boston University, as well as a Certificate in Social Sciences and Humanities from l’Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.

Brian Hoehn is Senior Industry Affairs Associate at the Institutional Limited Partners Association. Brian assists the Industry Affairs team in engagement with external industry stakeholders, advocacy efforts, as well as efforts to establish and promote industry best practices.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and a minor in Business Administration from the George Washington University.

Wei Dai is a Associate & Data Management of ILPA since September 2012. Prior to joining ILPA, Wei was a Research Associate of the Private Equity Team of Thomson Reuters.

Mr. Dai earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering of Tsinghua University in China and his MSc from University of York in England.

Tricia is the Event Coordinator at Institutional Limited Partners Association. She is responsible for supporting the Events team in executing major conferences.

Prior to ILPA, Tricia worked in the hospitality industry as an event planner. Tricia holds a Bachelor of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management major in Hospitality Management from De La Salle- College of Saint Benilde, as well as a Diploma in Special Event Planning from Centennial College.

As the Associate, Corporate Development & Events for ILPA, Daniele Guarnaschelli is responsible for relationships with Service Providers along with supporting ILPA’s robust event program, including the flagship ILPA Summit, Annual Members’ Conference and ILPA Summit Europe.

Prior to ILPA, Daniele worked as a Special Events Coordinator for WE Day (WE Charity) where he organized and planned Honoured Guest events across the US and Canada. Daniele has a Bachelor in Sports and Exercise Science from the Università degli Studi di Roma “Foro Italico” as well as a Post-Graduation Certificate in Event Marketing from Seneca College.

As a Research Associate for ILPA, Ben supports the execution of ILPA’s research and content efforts and provides analysis on issues impacting limited partner and general partner relationships, including fund governance, reporting, transparency, policy and regulation.

Ben graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he studied Financial Economics as well as Media and Communication Studies.

As a Research Associate at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Isabelle supports the execution of ILPA’s research and content efforts and provides analysis on issues impacting limited partner and general partner relationships, including fund governance, reporting, transparency, policy and regulation.

Prior to joining ILPA, she worked as a private market fund management consultant. She supported legal entity administration and risk management efforts with a focus on European funds.

Isabelle studied Political Science and Business Administration and Management at Hope College.

Vanessa Fountain-Allen serves as ILPA's Washington DC Office Manager as well as Executive Assistant to the Washington DC team. Prior to ILPA, Vanessa spent five years with the Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA) where she provided a range of support to the organization. Before SBIA, Vanessa worked with an industry association serving small telecom companies (OPASTCO) for 18 years.

Vanessa graduated from Howard University with Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.