Board of Directors

Tazia Smith
StreetWise Partners Board Chair,
Closed Loop Partners

  • Tazia is a Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners, a New York based investment firm and innovation center focused on the advancement of the circular economy. Prior to joining Closed Loop, Tazia spent eight years at Deutsche Bank and seven years at Goldman Sachs focused on family office clients by delivering private direct investment opportunities, global structured lending, and capital market solutions. She began her career at Citibank in the firm’s in the Law Firm Group. Throughout her last year with Deutsche Bank, Tazia worked with the CEO’s strategy team on a plan for firmwide integration of sustainable finance. As part of her work in sustainability for the bank, Tazia co-founded the IMP+ACT Alliance, an independent nonprofit technology and data initiative with the purpose of advancing market participants’ assessment of impact investments. Tazia holds her Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She graduated magna cum laude with her B.A. degree in Environmental Science & Policy from Duke University. Tazia’s involvement with StreetWise Partners began in 2005. She volunteered as a mentor in the PwC adult program for four cycles. In 2007, Tazia joined the StreetWise Partners Junior Board, of which she served as Co-Chair from 2008-2012, before being elected to the StreetWise Board of Directors in 2014.

Padma Elmgart
StreetWise Partners Board Vice Chair,
Global Atlantic

  • Padma Elmgart is the Chief Technology Officer of Global Atlantic, a privately-owned life and annuity insurance company that has grown substantially since separating from Goldman Sachs in 2013. Today, Global Atlantic has approximately $85 billion of assets supporting promises to over two million policyholders throughout the United States. In her capacity as Chief Technology Officer, Padma oversees the technology strategy and operations of the firm. Padma also sits on Global Atlantic’s Management Committee, which oversees the broader operations of the business.

    Prior to joining Global Atlantic in June 2019, Padma spent 20 years as a senior technology officer at global banks namely Barclays, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan and Citigroup. Most recently, she served as the Chief Information Officer responsible for Deutsche Bank’s Capital Markets, Risk, Finance, and Treasury functions in North America.

    Padma holds a Masters in Computer Science and a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering, both from University College London.

Monica Aggarwal
StreetWise Partners Board Treasurer,
Fitch Ratings

  • Monica Aggarwal is a Managing Director and Team Head of Retail and Consumer in Fitch’s U.S. Corporate Ratings group. She is responsible for the sector team covering retail, consumer products, packaged foods, beverages, proteins, agricultural commodities and restaurants.

    Prior to joining Fitch in September 2007, Monica spent almost ten years in equity research at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Chapdelaine Institutional Equities covering various retail segments.

    Monica earned a BA in economics from Delhi University and an MBA with majors in finance and international business from Fordham University. She is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and New York Society of Security Analysts.

    In addition to StreetWise, Monica is actively involved in various organizations, serving as Vice President of the Board of the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc., and the Women’s Bond Club where she was the co-chair of their mentoring committee for fiscal year 2018/2019. She is also a HearstLab (innovation lab for women led businesses) Scout, assisting in the evaluation process for HearstLab investments and advising the startups on business strategy and development.

Nadja Marcoz
StreetWise Partners Board Secretary,
Napier Park

  • Nadja Marcoz is a Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager at Napier Park Global Capital. Napier Park separated from Citigroup’s alternative investment arm, Citi Capital Advisors , in February 2013. Prior to joining CCA in June 2009, Nadja worked as sales coverage for institutional accounts at Wachovia Securities. Between 2003 and 2007 Nadja worked for Citi Investment Bank – Credit Structured business covering both UHNW as well as institutional accounts. Between 1997 and 2003, Nadja was working as a product manager for offshore vehicles in London and Switzerland. Nadja started her career at Citi in Sydney where she was recruited as a management associate. Nadja finalized her management associate program in Switzerland where she implemented a compliance program for the Citi Private Bank in Switzerland and Luxemburg. Nadja has an MBA (cum laude) from Neuchatel University.

Rahul Advani
StreetWise Partners Founder,
Ser Capital Partners

  • Rahul, a Founder and a former Chairman of StreetWise Partners, is the founder and CEO of SER Capital Partners, a firm dedicated to private equity investing in sustainable, environmentally-focused, and renewable energy sectors.

    Prior to founding SER Capital, Rahul was a partner at Energy Capital Partners, a private equity firm with over $20 billion of capital commitments, where he focused primarily on renewable and environmental infrastructure investments as well as capital raising. Prior to Energy Capital, Rahul was an early team member to join Orion Power, a Goldman Sachs-backed power company which was formed during industry deregulation and sold within five years after meaningful growth. Additionally, he was an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley after working at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a turnaround consultant.

    Rahul graduated from Colgate University where he majored in mathematical economics. Rahul earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Matt Gorin
StreetWise Partners Founder,
Contour Venture Partners

  • Matt, the Founder of StreetWise Partners and former Chairman of StreetWise Partners for 12 years, is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Contour Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm based in New York. Matt was previously with Promontory Financial Group, a merchant banking firm focused on the financial services sector, where he helped launch Promontory Interfinancial Network. Previously he worked for Red Hat as Business Development Manager in its Strategic Planning & Corporate Development group. Matt also worked at Morgan Stanley within its strategic venture capital fund, concentrating on making investments in early-stage financial services companies. Prior to entering business school, he was a turnaround consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Financial Advisory Services group. Matt received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.A. in Economics and American Studies from Brandeis University, where he was an NCAA Academic All-American for tennis.

Puneet Arora
PwC

  • Puneet is an international tax advisor in the Private Equity & Financial Services industry at PricewaterhouseCooper, where he has worked since 2001. Known for his broad experience and deep insights into the constant changes impacting global business, Puneet advises PwC's most significant clients, helping them navigate through complex tax and operational challenges. Puneet is intensely passionate and goal oriented, earning a unique reputation in the industry for his creative approach and tenacious problem solving. With an unfailing sense of optimism, solid commercial acumen and his dedication to building and sustaining relationships, Puneet has established himself as a valued and trusted business advisor to his clients.

    Previously he was a Senior Associate at J.S. Arora & Co. Puneet graduated with honors in Business Administration & Finance in India. He also has his Bachelor of Laws degree from University of Delhi and his Master of Laws in US taxation from New York University. He has had several articles published in the Journal of Taxation of Financial Products, Journal of International Taxation and the International Tax Review.

Neil Barua
PTC

  • Neil Barua is EVP and President of the Service Lifecycle Management business at PTC.

    In this role, Neil leads the business across the combination of PTC’s ServiceMax, Servigistics, and Arbortext solutions, and drives PTC’s ThingWorx IOT and Vuforia AR revenue that is aligned to service use cases.

    Neil previously served as the CEO of ServiceMax before PTC’s ~$1.5 billion acquisition of the company in 2023 to strengthen service capabilities of PTC’s closed-loop PLM portfolio.

    Prior to his ServiceMax role, Neil was CEO of IPC Systems. During his tenure, he sold IPC and led a SaaS and data transformation of the company. Prior to IPC Systems, Neil was an operating executive at Silver Lake and Francisco Partners.

    Neil is a member on the board of StreetWise Partners.

    Neil earned a BSc in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern School of Business.

Vipula Gandhi
Gallup

  • Vipula Gandhi is Managing Partner at Gallup Inc. She leads business strategy, performance and teams for Financial Services, Professional Services and Healthcare industries for the organization. She is motivated to make a positive difference within organizations by ensuring that individuals realize their full potential, thereby helping their organizations to reach their goals and achieve their vision. Since joining Gallup, Vipula has led consulting and change management engagements for many clients. Delivering significant business impact at these organization has made her a valued advisor to leadership, as evidenced by the positive client feedback she has received throughout her career. Prior to joining Gallup, Vipula spent eight years with some of the best known banks in the world. Her last assignment was as a Director in corporate banking for one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom. Her responsibilities there included long-term strategy, short-term financial deliverables, credit analysis and management, and team management. She received her master’s degree in business administration from Warwick Business School in the United Kingdom.

Todd Greenbarg
Avenue Capital Group

  • Mr. Greenbarg is a Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Avenue Capital Group. He is responsible for legal matters across the firm’s strategies. Mr. Greenbarg focuses on all areas affecting the firm’s management companies and funds, including structuring new investment products, drafting all constituent documents for the funds and general contract work. Prior to joining Avenue in 2003, Mr. Greenbarg was an Associate in the Investment Funds practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he specialized in the formation, structuring and development of private equity funds, institutional funds, hedge funds and other private investment partnerships. Mr. Greenbarg received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, with Honors (1997) and a J.D. from New York University School of Law (2000). He joined the StreetWise Board in 2017.

Alex Kaplan
Sidley Austin LLP

  • Alex Kaplan is a partner in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP, an international law firm, where he represents clients in high stakes litigation and threatened disputes, with a particular focus on securities litigation, litigation relating to mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance issues, and proxy contests, as well as related internal and regulatory investigations. Alex represents financial institutions, private equity firms, hedge funds, corporations and individuals in a range of matters, and also counsels clients on risk and diligence issues. Alex has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a magna cum laude graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law. Alex joined the StreetWise Board in 2020.

Steve Kezirian
Full Potential Solutions

  • Steve Kezirian is the CEO and Co-Founder of Full Potential Solutions. Prior to founding FPS, Steve served as the CEO of Goji, CEO of IBEX Global Solutions, and COO of CG Technologies. Steve began his career in executive management at Tickets.com and Sprint. In addition, Steve consulted at McKinsey & Co., advised companies on mergers & acquisitions at Morgan Stanley and invested private equity at J.H. Whitney. Steve is currently a Board Director at Waterfield Technologies, and formerly served as a Director of Goji, IBEX Global Solutions, Multiband and Proginet. Steve holds a bachelor's degree cum laude in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Brian Korb
Swellbox

  • Brian is currently CEO of Swellbox, a digital health company specializing in data connectivity solutions and patient engagement products for health systems. Prior to Swellbox, Brian was a Co-Founder of Glocap, a leading tech-enabled recruiting company in the alternative asset space, also featured in Forbes “Best of the Web” rankings. While with Glocap Brian co-authored a yearly PE compensation report with Dow Jones and also authored “The Glocap Guide to Getting a job in Private Equity” published by John Wiley & Sons. Brian has been an invited expert guest on CNBC and Reuters, as well as an invited speaker at Harvard, Stanford and Wharton business schools. Prior to Glocap, Brian worked in investment banking in telecom and gaming sectors at Deutsche Bank in NY (DMG). Brian has a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

    Brian is married to his wife Vanessa with whom he lives in Westchester, NY with his three children.

David Kurzweil
Latham & Watkins LLP

  • David Kurzweil is a partner in the new York office of Latham & Watkins LLP, an international law firm, where he specializes in mergers and acquisitions and general public company representation. David has a broad array of experience in both public and private company mergers and acquisitions, which includes representation of principals, special committees, private equity and leveraged buyout funds, and financial advisors. David has also represented issuers, underwriters and initial purchasers in numerous debt and equity securities offerings, and has provided general corporate advice to both public and private companies. David has a BA from Georgetown University and a JD from Columbia University School of Law.

Anton Levy
General Atlantic

  • Anton Levy is a Managing Director and Global Head of Internet & Technology at General Atlantic, based in the firm’s New York office. He serves on the firm’s Investment and Executive Committees and co-chairs the Human Resources Committee. Since joining GA in 1998, Anton has worked on investments around the globe and across various sectors and currently manages a number of GA’s investments in the internet, marketing services, and media areas. He is currently on the board of directors of Squarespace, OneCountry, Klarna, and Red Ventures, and serves as a board observer for Airbnb, Meituan and Uber. Anton is a former director of prior GA investments including AKQA, Dice Holdings, Mercado Libre, Network Solutions, Web.com, Gilt Groupe, and Zantaz Corporation. He also led the firm’s investments in Alibaba Group, Facebook, and Snap. Before joining GA, Anton was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, where he focused on the technology sector. He is involved with several educational and nonprofit organizations and serves as chairman of Streetwise Partners. Anton is also a trustee of WNYC (New York Public Radio) and the University of Virginia’s Endowment (UVIMCO). He graduated with a B.S. in commerce with degrees in finance and computer science from the University of Virginia and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Anton graduated with highest honors from both universities.

Bethany Menzies
The Ready Foundation

  • As founder of The Ready Foundation ("Ready"), Bethany is a hands-on philanthropist in support of at-risk and underserved members of the community across New York City. Ready's mission and resources are devoted to non-profits within the five boroughs doing remarkable work with youth development, workforce and economic development and social justice. Through Ready, Bethany provides direct funding, strategic advisory and board service. Her experience is drawn from over two decades in the private sector and more than a decade with non-profits. She and her husband and Ready co-founder have become advocates for the role of strong mentors and coaches in helping to build successful careers; hard work, formal education, and even luck often prove to be insufficient without leadership and role models. This perspective guides much of the work of Ready. Bethany is currently serving in board governance and strategic advisory roles with non-profits including StreetWise Partners and The Door. Prior to Ready, she served in executive sales, marketing, and business development leadership roles with global consulting firms including Gartner and Deloitte, "Fortune 500" corporations including The Thomson Corporation (now Thomson Reuters), and two venture backed start-ups. Bethany earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University, and an Executive development Program Sponsored Certificate from Columbia Business School. She joined the StreetWise board in 2016 and lives in downtown Manhattan with her husband and two dogs.

Maya Pochiraju
The Contract Network

  • Maya Pochiraju is the Chief Product Officer at The Contract Network, an AI-powered contract collaboration platform focused on radically accelerating contract negotiation and simplifying contract compliance. She leads Product, Strategy, and Customer Enablement for the company. Prior to this role, Maya served as the Chief Operating Officer at Payability, a New York-based fintech startup providing financing and payment solutions to propel growth for eCommerce businesses. At Payability, Maya led all Go To Market, Product, and Customer Success functions, focusing on company strategy, product innovation, and customer experience. Before her tenure at Payability, Maya was a Vice President in Blackstone’s Innovations Group, where she drove firm-wide strategic technology programs across investor experience, fundraising, new-business regulation, and cloud computing. Maya is deeply committed to mentoring and unlocking potential in others. She has been volunteering with StreetWise Partners since 2017 as a mentor and lead volunteer. Maya joined the Program Committee in 2018 before joining the Board in 2020. Maya received BAs in both Economics and Information Science from Cornell University.

Samantha Vega
Verizon

  • Samantha is a Data Scientist within the Artificial Intelligence and Data group at Verizon, a leading provider of technology and communications services. The Artificial Intelligence and Data (AI&D) organization focuses on delivering the power of data and AI to drive Verizon’s marketplace leadership through innovative solutions that create value for customers, shareholders, employees, and society -- responsibly. Samantha is tasked with using advanced data analytics techniques to enhance and maintain Verizon's network infrastructure and services. She is focused mainly on Competitive Intelligence.

    Samantha graduated magna cum laude with her B.S in Computer Science with a concentration in Networking and Telecommunications from St. John's University. Samantha began her involvement with Streetwise Partners in 2020 as a mentee. Following her program graduation, she joined the Alumni Council, focusing on improving alumni relations. Samantha now serves as the first Alumni Ambassador of the Streetwise Partners Board of Directors.

Gitanjali Workman
Soros Capital Management LLC

  • Gitanjali Workman is General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of Soros Capital Management LLC.

    Prior to joining SCM in early 2018, Gitanjali practiced for over a decade at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP where she focused on all aspects of the alternative asset management industry. Prior to her time at Paul, Weiss, Gitanjali worked as an advocate in the Supreme Court of India, handling constitutional law and complex commercial and civil litigations.

    Gitanjali holds a BA. LL.B (Hons.) degree from The National Law School, India and a LL.M from Duke University School of Law. She is a member of the Board of Visitors at Duke University School of Law.

Ajit Naidu
TIAA

  • Ajit Naidu is Executive Vice President and acting Chief Client Services & Technology Officer. He joined TIAA in 2018 as the Chief Technology & Operations Officer for Nuveen. In 2021, Ajit became the acting global leader of all technology, operations and client service teams for the TIAA enterprise.

    Previously, Ajit was the founding CEO of MDC Business Management, a shared services company under Mubadala Group, a strategic investment firm for the Abu Dhabi government in the United Arab Emirates. There he led a program of innovation, change management, automation and resource integration.

    Prior to that, Ajit served as Mubadala Group’s Chief Information Officer, designing and implementing an award winning private cloud data center that provided agile PaaS and SaaS services to more than 30 client organizations. Before that, he spent 12 years at Merrill Lynch in various roles, notably as Chief Technology Officer for Global Markets and Investment Banking.

    Ajit serves on the Board of Directors for TIAA India and is a member of the CIO Executive Council. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Mysore University in India.

Colin Smith
SageSure

  • Colin Smith is the Chief Operating Officer of SageSure, the country's largest residential property insurance MGA, where he is responsible for identifying and executing strategies for the company’s continued growth. Colin oversees strategic planning, financial planning, and corporate development efforts - including raising over $800 million of capital from institutional investors. Prior to SageSure, he worked in investment banking at Banc of America Securities and Atlantic-Pacific Capital.

    Colin served as the Executive Director of the NYC nonprofit Change for Kids from 2009 to 2017. At CFK, he increased revenue 25x, built a robust network of over 3,000 individual donors and corporate sponsors, and supported nearly 5,000 elementary school students annually. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the Congregational Church of New Canaan, and has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Virginia.

Fred Strobel
Tradeweb Markets

  • Fred Strobel is the Global Head of Human Resources and a Managing Director for Tradeweb Markets where he leads the efforts on building and developing the strategies and programs to recruit, retain and develop the best talent for the company. His team focuses on all aspects of HR – including talent and succession planning, learning and development, compensation design and administration, benefits and organizational strategy.

    Prior to joining Tradeweb in 2015, Fred spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley in several senior roles including running the HR functions for Global Equities Sales and Trading, Private Banking, Investment Management, Wealth Management Sales and Products and Infrastructure. Fred also previously worked at State Farm Insurance for 6 years where he started his Human Resources career and eventually led the operation for the New York/Long Island office.

    An active mentor and coach to many, Fred has dedicated himself to helping others as they grow and navigate their lives and careers. He is the Vice Chairman of the non-profit organization Tuesday’s Children and a member of their Board of Directors since 2012. In this organization, he has personally mentored over 100 young adults who lost a parent on 9/11 by helping with the organization’s Career Resource Center.

    He has as B.S. from St. John’s University and a Master’s in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix.

Keith Banhazl
Moody’s Investors Service

  • Keith Banhazl is a Managing Director and Head of Commercial Real Estate Finance for Americas within the Structured Finance Group and leads the team responsible for CMBS & CRE CLO new ratings and surveillance at Moody’s Investors Service. The team is responsible for reviewing Conduit/Fusion, Large Loan/Single Borrower, Agency CMBS, Credit Tenant Lease, Small Balance Commercial, CRE CLO, CRE CDO and other structured products at Moody’s Investors Service. In his role, Keith also coordinates the Commercial Real Estate cross group initiatives and liaises with CFG, FIG, PFG and CSS teams. Additionally, he is Moody’s Global Structured Finance Outreach Coordinator. He has been involved in various research initiatives and outreach activities related to the CRE securitization space, publishing and speaking on Moody’s behalf. Prior to being appointed to his current position, Mr. Banhazl was a Managing Director within the Structured Finance Group leading the US CRE Surveillance team and the review of primary US CRE CLO/CDO transactions. Keith also serves as a mentor within the Women’s BRG and the Pan-Asian Impact BRG at Moody’s. In addition to his work at Moody’s, Keith is actively involved in other organizations, serving as a Board Member at Turning Point Brooklyn (Brooklyn Community Services). Keith has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in Economics and History.