Vanessa is a dynamic leader who has spent her 23-year career spearheading and leading private equity, venture capital and merger and acquisitions businesses within leading financial institutions. She’s built and led teams that have collectively invested more than $800 million of balance sheet capital into dozens of private equity funds and more than 50 operating companies across a variety of industries and stages. In addition to bringing new products and services to bank clients and teammates through strategic partnerships, her team’s investments generate sizeable fee income and ancillary revenue.
As the first to occupy most of the roles in which she’s served, Vanessa has held numerous executive level positions and has sat on more than 30 private equity/venture capital-backed company boards advising and partnering with CEOs and their leadership teams.
Previously, Vanessa served as Fifth Third Bank’s head of acquisition and strategic investments, leading both corporate development and corporate venture activities. In this role, she developed a comprehensive corporate development strategy and governance framework to consummate more than a dozen fintech investments and seven encompassing comprehensive partnerships—and acquire five businesses, including MB Financial.
Before serving as head of acquisition and strategic investments, Vanessa was Fifth Third Bank’s head of private equity, where she reinvigorated the bank’s disparate private equity efforts and developed an industry-leading strategy, which led to several hundreds of millions of balance sheet capital invested in dozens of private equity firms and operating businesses. This portfolio generated $50 to $75 million of fee income year over year and was invested across several industries and company stages.
Currently, she’s part of the Bon Secour Mercy Health Investment Committee in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Vanessa began her career as an early employee at Key Principal Partners, KeyCorp’s private equity division, where she completed dozens of secondary and primary equity transactions.
She received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, IN.