McNally Capital

Ward McNally founded McNally Capital in 2008, having previously spent a decade investing in family- and founder-owned businesses. Before starting the firm, he was a partner at private equity firms The Edgewater Funds and Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Company, and earlier held roles at Benedetto, Gartland & Company, Caremark International's M&A team, and Bank of America. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ravi P. Shah is a Partner at McNally Capital who leads the investment team across the National Security, Aerospace, and Industrial Technology & Automation industries, and co-leads the firm's National Security investment thesis. He joined McNally Capital in 2016, having previously worked at Flexis Capital, a New York private equity firm, and beginning his career in investment banking at Moelis & Company focused on M&A and restructuring. He holds a BSc in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Brooks Hulett is a Principal at McNally Capital, where he works on evaluating and executing private equity investments and supporting portfolio companies. He was previously a Senior Vice President at Erie Street Growth Partners and a Senior Associate at Periscope Equity, and began his career as an investment banking analyst at Cowen and Jefferies in New York. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a BA in Business Economics from the University of California Santa Barbara.

Luther Rice is a Vice President at McNally Capital, where he evaluates and executes direct private equity investments and supports portfolio companies. He previously worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at DC Advisory in New York, executing sell-side and buy-side M&A transactions in the defense and government services sectors. He holds a BS in Finance with honors from Indiana University.

Michael Ember is a Principal at McNally Capital, which he joined in 2017, where he evaluates and executes direct private equity investments and supports portfolio companies. He co-leads execution of the firm's National Security investment thesis and leads transactions across other areas of firm focus. He previously worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at William Blair & Company in Chicago, and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Zach Wood is a Vice President at McNally Capital, where he works on evaluating and executing direct private equity investments and supporting portfolio companies. He previously was an Analyst at Wells Fargo, covering M&A and debt and equity financings in the industrials sector, and earlier supported the firm's Corporate Debt Finance & Securitization team working on CLOs. He holds a BA in Chemistry and Economics from the University of Virginia.

Brian Grogan is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at McNally Capital, where he oversees financial reporting, tax, finance, and acquisition structuring for the firm's investment vehicles, and handles legal, regulatory compliance, and administration. He previously served as a Director at a Chicago-based family office managing the financial aspects of its private equity investing, and began his career at Deloitte Tax. He holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Iowa and is a licensed CPA.

Brian Lucido is a Senior Associate on the Portfolio Operations team at McNally Capital, working on value creation planning and portfolio company growth initiatives. He previously served on Vista Equity Partners' Value Creation Team as a go-to-market specialist focused on revenue operations, sales strategy, and customer success. He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BBA from the University of Michigan.

Chad Mateja is the Accounting Manager at McNally Capital, where he supports the firm's finance, tax, and accounting functions. Before joining the firm, he spent over three years as a Senior Associate at PwC Tax within the Financial Services industry, primarily serving the private equity market. He holds a BS in Accounting and Management and an MS in Accounting from Purdue University.

Connor Joyce is an Associate at McNally Capital, where he evaluates and executes direct private equity investments and supports portfolio companies. He previously worked as an Analyst at Lincoln International covering mergers, acquisitions, equity financings, and capital raises in the industrials sector, and began his career on the Business Development & Corporate Finance team at the Renewable Energy Group. He holds a BA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Iowa.

Grace Chatas is an Associate at McNally Capital, where she works on origination, including sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities. She previously was an Investment Banking Analyst at William Blair & Company, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and equity financings in the consumer sector. She holds an Honors BBA in Finance, Business Analytics, and Management Information Systems from Villanova University.

Gus Pinto joined McNally Capital in 2025 as Principal of Portfolio Operations and a member of the Internal Resources Group, where he leads software strategy and development across the firm's portfolio companies. He previously served as Chief Product and Technology Officer at SyBridge and Chief Product Officer at Fast Radius, and held leadership roles at Magic Leap, Citrix, and Microsoft. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Iguaçu University (UNIG) in Brazil.

Hilary Padilla is the Office Manager at McNally Capital, handling facilities management, scheduling, event and meeting planning, human resources, and expense reconciliation. She previously worked as an Office Manager at @properties Christie's International Real Estate. She holds a BA in English with a minor in Art from Bucknell University.

Mary Pizzo is a Vice President at McNally Capital, focusing on the firm's fundraising and investor relations. Before joining the firm, she was a Business Development Associate at Lincoln International, where she worked on sourcing founder-owned businesses and facilitating private transactions. She holds a BS in Finance with a minor in Accounting from DePaul University.

Nick Guarino is a Senior Associate at McNally Capital, where he evaluates and executes direct private equity investments and supports portfolio companies. He previously worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Truist Securities covering M&A and debt financings in the industrials sector, and before that as an Equity Research Analyst at a $2 billion long-only asset manager covering industrials, technology, and energy. He holds a BSBA in Finance with honors from Creighton University.

Nicole M. Henderson joined McNally Capital in 2023 as Head of Fundraising and Investor Relations, working to build the firm's relationships with institutional investors after nearly 15 years in alternative investment funds. She previously worked in the North American sales practice at the Far Hills Group, served as Vice President of Private Credit Business Development at Annaly Capital Management focused on institutional fundraising for a U.S. middle market direct lending strategy, and held business development and investor relations roles at Gramercy Funds Management. She holds a BS in Business with a minor in Spanish from Wake Forest University.

Sam Broom is an Associate at McNally Capital, where he works on evaluating and executing direct private equity investments and supports portfolio companies. He previously worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Houlihan Lokey, handling sell-side and buy-side M&A transactions in the Technology Services and Healthcare sectors. He earned an MS in Analytics from the University of Notre Dame and a BBA in Finance from the University of Dayton.

Tim Gossett joined McNally Capital in 2025 as Vice President of Portfolio Operations within the Internal Resources Group, where he works on software and technology to build value creation plans for the firm's portfolio companies, with an emphasis on AI adoption and digital operations. Previously he was VP of Software Engineering at SyBridge Technologies and worked at Fast Radius on cloud architecture, information security, and software prototyping. Earlier roles included developing logistics optimization algorithms at Bellhop and leading cloud strategy at Magic Leap. He holds a BS in Business Administration with a focus on Decision and Information Science from the University of Florida.

Tyler Ashley is Head of Business Development at McNally Capital, where he manages origination efforts, including sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities. He previously served as Vice President of Originations at Excellere Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm, and as an Associate at JMC Capital Partners in Boston, with earlier roles in the media and technology industries. He holds an MBA from Babson College's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Wake Forest University.