Jay Lipsey has nearly 20 years of experience in corporate finance, real estate, and strategic consulting across a variety of industries.  He started his career in the debt capital markets group of National City Bank (now part of PNC), where he syndicated bank loans on behalf of borrowers in the manufacturing, food and beverage, and aviation sectors. 

Jay was an asset manager at D.B. Zwirn, a $4 billion hedge fund focused on private equity sponsored transactions, and co-led the finance department of Cargo Ventures, a nationwide real estate developer of logistics facilities, and served as an asset manager at Rialto Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of Lennar, the largest homebuilder in the United States.

Active in numerous community and charitable organizations, Jay is co-founder of the James Madison Institute Young Leaders Council, and leads its South-Florida chapter. While in New York, he co-launched the B’nai Brith Real Estate Young Development Group and was instrumental in the establishment of the New York Private Equity Network’s real estate division. Both the Memphis Jewish Federation and the University of Pennsylvania Health System have recognized Jay for distinguished community service. Jay graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Ramiro A. Ortiz assists the firm’s South Florida business development efforts.  Ramiro has nearly 50 years of leadership, operations, and sales experience, serving as a senior executive in various South Florida institutions, including as president of BankUnited and SunTrust Bank.  

Ramiro is dedicated to the community, and has served as chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, co-chair of the United Way of Miami Dade County, and as an elected member of the Orange Bowl Committee, among numerous other civic roles. Ramiro is a graduate of the School of Bank Administration at the University of Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Valverde is a physician, entrepreneur, and executive who has founded, operated, and managed numerous health care companies.  He was the Regional President for Humana in Florida, where he was responsible for the oversight of over 400,000 Medicare Advantage and Medicaid members, with revenues of over $5 Billion dollars.

Previously, he was the former Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs.  Prior to that, he sat on the board and was the CEO of a NYSE physician management company.

Dr. Valverde performed his Internal Medicine residency at The New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center and Mount Sinai Medical Center and is a graduate of Pontificia Universidad Catolica.  

 

 

 

 

Jack has deep experience leading numerous corporate turnarounds as both an advisor and operator, having served as a President, COO, and CFO.  His restructurings and operational turnaround experience includes a regional mid-size retailer, two North American paper mills, a national sports governing body, a pan-European data center owner/operator, a global subsea cable laying company and a $1.2 billion public environmental services company.  

Previously, he was an operating Principal of The Carlyle Group, where he led two portfolio company restructurings.  Prior to that, he was a Partner at McKinsey & Company where he co-founded its Miami office.  At McKinsey, he supported clients across North and South America, Europe, and Australia in various industries including financial services, manufacturing, consumer products, retail, and telecommunications.  Jack has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University.

 

 

Stephen is a high-impact operating executive with deep operations and transformation expertise.  A Lean Six Sigma Master Blackbelt, he has overseen numerous performance improvements and operational turnarounds across middle-market businesses in industries such as logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and business services.   

Since the Great Recession, he served as a General Partner and Operating Partner for Kamylon Holdings, a lower middle-market private equity fund, and CEO, and Board Member for various  portfolio companies.  During that time, he assumed the CEO role for two portfolio companies, LifeLine Ambulance and Transpac Aviation, both of which had dramatic and rapid profitability and performance improvements despite being initially unprofitable.  Earlier in his career, he was a Project Manager at McKinsey & Company where he led various cultural change initiatives.  

Stephen has an MBA from London Business School, a Bachelor of Managerial Economics from the US Coast Guard Academy, and was a Commissioned Officer and helicopter pilot for the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.  

Julian is a senior executive and advisor with over 40 years of performance transformation and change management/execution experience across healthcare, manufacturing and various other industrial sectors.    

Previously he was a Senior Advisor for Cerberus, where he led strategic and operational performance improvement projects across its $30 Billion portfolio.  Prior to that, Julian was a Managing Director at AlixPartners, where he was responsible for restructuring and reorganizing various private equity portfolio companies.  He was a Director (Senior Partner) at McKinsey & Company where he co-led the firm’s Operations Strategy and Lean Operations practices.  

Julian has a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Masters and Bachelors in mechanical engineering from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

 

Mike has over 35 years of experience as an executive and advisor, serving in roles across various business functions, including operations, finance, sales, IT, and human resources.  With extensive hands-on experience in energy and oil & gas, he oversaw restructurings and reorganizations associated with various oil market downturns.  

Previously, Mike was a Chief Risk Officer and Managing Director at Alinda Capital Partners, where he was responsible for portfolio management of its $9+ Billion portfolio.  While there, he led and oversaw performance turnarounds of various companies as well as served as an interim-CEO and board member.   Prior to that, Mike was a senior management consultant at a number of firms including McKinsey & Company, Cap Gemini, Deloitte Consulting, and Satyam Computer Services.  There, he led numerous cost reduction and business improvement projects.  

Mike has a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelors in chemical engineering from Cornell University.

John Chung is an experienced investment banker with more than 35 years of experience throughout Latin America.  He successfully helped distressed clients restructure and sell through a variety of devaluation and political crises across the region.  John’s experience spans a wide range of industries including: industrials, oil & gas, utilities, media & telecom, food & beverage, and financial institutions.  

Previously, John was a Managing Director at Citigroup where he led its Investment Banking efforts for Central America & the Caribbean and prior to that was the Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Salomon Brothers in Latin America.  He began his career at S.G. Warburg.  

John received his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelors from Davidson College.

 

 

 

Jonathan is the founder of SION CAPITAL LLC, a hospitality and real estate consulting and investment firm, focused on the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean.  He has 16+ years of diverse experience in the hospitality, real estate, consulting, investing, and operating realms; and, has executed numerous real estate projects for hotel, resort, casino, marina, golf, condo-hotel, residential, restaurant, parking, and mixed-use developments and investments, across every major lodging brand family. 

Jonathan is also a columnist for HotelNewsNow.com, a hospitality industry knowledge portal and he writes about cross-border investment topics and frequently guest lectures at universities and conferences. 

Jonathan previously worked in different roles at HotelAVE, JLL, and BofA Securities, among other leading firms and world-renowned hotels.  Jonathan has a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and a Diploma from Les Roches International School of Hotel Management; and, he serves in alumni leadership roles for both institutions.

 

Carlos Alayon has over 15 years of experience in private equity, mergers & acquisitions, financial analysis, and accounting.

Carlos previously held a dual senior financial reporting and accounting role at CalAtlantic Title, Inc, a subsidiary of Lennar Corporation. Carlos was a critical leader in various M&A transactions, where he was responsible for assessing and integrating financial processes and reporting.

Prior to CalAtlantic Title, Carlos was a Senior Associate at EIH Capital Partners, a private investment firm that focused on the acquisition of corporate divestitures. Carlos was responsible for leading the deal origination efforts and M&A process in North America and Europe. Along with managing relationships with Fortune 500 executives and investment bankers, he held an important role in organizing and training the firm’s business development team and instrumental in both buy-side and sell-side transactions.

Carlos received his Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Finance and a Master of Business Administration from Florida International University.

Robert was previously an investment banker and brings over 20 years of experience building and leading teams across diverse government and commercial industries with an emphasis on strategy, operations, and finance. 

Rob served in the U.S. Army and enjoyed an accomplished career leading and managing complex national security programs and projects for the United States Department of Defense. He earned his M.B.A. from the George Mason University School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from Virginia Tech.