Trevor Downy
Director
Trevor Downy is currently a Senior Associate in the Black Diamond Private Equity Team, where he has completed several transactions within the Industrials, Media, and Healthcare space.
Previously, Mr. Downy was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., where he executed and advised on a number of mergers, acquisitions, and debt financings for both private- and sponsor-backed clients.
Mr. Downy graduated Cum Laude from Cornell University with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations.
Admiral (Ret.) William “Bud” Flanagan
Chairman
Admiral Flanagan is the founder and CEO of Noragh Analytics. Noragh builds upon a decade of success in transforming big and disparate real-time data into actionable results and is the exclusive commercial provider for a patented approach to analyze massive volumes of disparate information to create decision advantage. Prior to Noragh, Adm. Flanagan founded Kestrel Enterprises in 2005 and Skarven Enterprises in 2002. Upon retirement from the Navy in 1997 through January 2002, Adm. Flanagan served as a Senior Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald. He has served on the boards of public and privately held companies and not for profit organizations. Adm. Flanagan currently serves as Chairman of the Board of IAP Worldwide Services.
Adm. Flanagan’s military service included duties in all theaters of operation, including the Vietnam conflict. He rose quickly to four-star rank and was among the youngest officers to achieve this rank in the US Armed Forces. His assignments included responsibility for US Navy shipbuilding budgets and duties as the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs; serving as Commander, US Second Fleet and NATO’s Striking Fleet; and as final assignment, serving as Commander-In-Chief, US Atlantic Fleet and NATO’s Commander-In-Chief, Western Atlantic.
Adm. Flanagan is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, American University and the Harvard Business School.
John Fontana
Director
John Fontana is currently a Senior Managing Director at Black Diamond Capital Management, where he oversees several key investments.
Prior to joining Black Diamond, Mr. Fontana was the President of Yankee Candle International. His prior positions include serving as Managing Director and lead operating partner with Allied Capital in Washington, D.C., and as a partner with Deloitte & Touche transactions group.
Mr. Fontana earned a B.S. in economics and political science from Yale University and a M.B.A from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Peter R. Frank
Director
Mr. Frank is a Senior Managing Director on the Black Diamond Private Equity Team. Prior to joining BDCM, Mr. Frank was President of GSC Group, where he worked since 2001. From 2005 until 2008, he served as the Senior Operating Executive for GSC’s Recovery Funds.
In addition, Mr. Frank was a member of the investment committees for Recovery Funds, U.S. Corporate Debt, European Corporate Debt and European Mezzanine Funds. Prior to 2001, Mr. Frank was the CEO of Ten Hoeve Bros., Inc. and was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He is Chairman of the Board of Kolmar Labs Group, Inc., and Worldtex, Inc., and a Director of Arclin Cayman Holding Ltd, Color Spot Nurseries, Inc., RAHP LLC, Viasystems Inc., and White Birch Investment, LLC.
Mr. Frank graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S.E.E. degree and earned an M.B.A from the Harvard Business School.
The Honorable Dr. John Hillen
Director
John Hillen is an Operating Partner at private equity firm LLR Partners and a Director various defense and intelligence companies.
Previously, Dr. Hillen was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc. , and has served on the boards of government contracting firms, both public and privately. He is also an experienced Director in a number of consequential non- profit/educational institutions, and has developed a deep experience in governance best practices across a range of enterprises as a result. Dr. Hillen served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military and also served as the Chairman of the Professional Services Council. Prior to his business career, Dr. Hillen worked as a military policy expert and also served for twelve years as an Army officer.
Dr. Hillen is a trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Committee on Economic Development, and Flint Hill School. He received his BA from Duke University, his MA from King’s College London, his doctorate from the St Antony’s College, Oxford, and MBA from Cornell University.
Douglas Kitani
CEO and Director
Prior to joining IAP as the Chief Executive Officer and Director, Mr. Kitani led portfolio strategies at DynCorp International, served as EVP and Chief Financial Officer of AOPA, co- founded Calder Capital Partners, led corporate development activities at Honeywell International, worked as an investment banker, and earned a Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification at General Electric. He served in the U.S. Army as a pilot and officer, completing 11 years of active and reserve duty; he achieved qualifications in the UH-1, OH- 58, and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
Mr. Kitani received a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and a Master of Business Administration from Goizueta Business School, Emory University.
Christopher W. Parker
Director
Chris Parker is currently one of four Sr. Managing Directors leading Black Diamond Capital Management’s $3 bn distressed/turnaround private equity portfolio.
Mr. Parker has worked with Black Diamond since 2003 and led or helped lead multiple corporate turnarounds. Mr. Parker was previously a Managing Director at Dalton Investments where he helped build Dalton’s distressed debt and special situations hedge fund. Mr. Parker also worked for Lehman Brothers in corporate finance advising on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, special situations and financial restructuring.
Prior to his Lehman career, Mr. Parker served as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the American Stock Exchange (Amex) where he spearheaded strategic planning efforts and led the company’s 1995 corporate restructuring and turnaround. From 1991-1995, Mr. Parker served as the lead Policy Analyst covering securities and futures markets at the White House Office of Management and Budget and was the liaison to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Mr. Parker has a M.P.P. from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he won the PAE award for policy analysis excellence, and a B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College.
