Vanessa Stephens is a private equity M&A attorney. Beginning her legal career at Kirkland and Ellis, she has worked with private equity tech giants, such as Vista Equity, Thoma Bravo and Madison Dearborn. She also led investments as in-house counsel at BlackRock and BAM Elevate in some of the earliest tech companies, like MasterClass, OpenAI, Klarna, and MACRO Media. Her role involves partnering with portfolio managers to invest in promising mid to late-stage businesses and negotiating agreements that safeguard high yields for clients.

As a former management consultant and startup advisor, Vanessa brings a robust skill set to her investments, focused on corporate exits, like IPO and acquisitions; Vanessa balances a deep understanding of private fund structures, investor incentives, and the strategic management of portfolio companies to help companies grow and scale while yielding higher returns for her investors. Her hands-on approach helps startups establish robust governance structures, prepare for significant financial milestones, and strategically plan for future funding rounds.

Inspired by her grandmothers who were pioneers in their own right—establishing commercial enterprises in Haiti; Vanessa is passionate about leveraging private capital to create generational wealth for her investors, founders, and family. Vanessa’s broader community activities include mentoring budding impact investors at Emory University on the Advisory Board of Emory Impact Investing Group and serving as Director for Girls on the Run Georgia and Savvy Ladies in NYC.

In her personal time, Vanessa is an avid runner, a golfer and a violinist. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and Nutella, her spirited five-year-old mixed beagle.