Ashley Baum currently leads Special Opportunities, a multi-asset class tactical investment strategy for the $117.5 billion Teachers Retirement System of Texas. Previously, Ashley served for over 2 years as the Chief of Staff to the Chief Investment Officer. She joined Texas Teachers in 2007 as a Senior Investment Associate in Private Markets (Private Equity, Real Estate and Other Real Assets) where she was responsible for $2.6 billion in investments and managed a portfolio of $4 billion in commitments. Before joining TRS, Ashley was a Senior Associate in Transaction Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers providing merger and acquisition-related valuation and accounting advisory services. The University of Texas nominated Ashley for a prestigious post-graduate program at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), where she started her career.

Ashley graduated from the University of Texas with a Masters in Accounting and a Bachelors in Business Honors and Accounting. She is a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant. In 2010, she was awarded a John W. Koza Leadership Fellowship from the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA). Ashley currently serves on the Board of the CFA Society of Austin and is an active member of the Junior League of Austin.

As a founding partner of The Rockefeller Center Group, Sallie Behnke is a Senior Vice President and Family Wealth Director at Morgan Stanley. Sallie moved from Merrill Lynch to the new firm in May 2009. She has been a Financial Advisor since 1999 and serves as a Relationship Manager designing and implementing wealth management strategies for clients including extensive financial modeling and asset allocation analyses.

She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and earned her Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation after attending the course of study at the Wharton School of Business. Sallie was recently named Dallas Business Journal 2015 40 Under 40. She is a board member of the HPA (Hyer Preschool Association) and Christ the King-St. Anne’s organization. She is a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA), Texas Wall Street Women (TXWSW), and sits on the Finance Committee for The Dallas Women’s Foundation. Sallie has been named to D Magazine’s 2015 “Top Wealth Managers in Dallas” List as well as a 2014 Five Star Top Wealth Manager as featured in Texas Monthly Magazine and was recognized in 2015 as an Ambassador Club member as one of the top fundraisers for the Red Balloon Run & Ride, benefiting Children’s Hospital.

Prior to her career at Merrill Lynch, Sallie was a tax consultant at Ernst & Young in its Personal Financial Counseling Group, where she counseled clients on personal financial matters relating to investment asset allocation, executive compensation, and trust and estate planning.

Sallie graduated from Visitation Academy High School in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her BS in Accountancy from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her Masters degree in Accountancy from the University of Missouri School of Business. Sallie and her husband Jared currently reside in the Park Cities in Dallas. Sallie and Jared are active travelers and enjoy spending time with their sons, Will and Wynn.

Elizabeth joined Carlson Capital in 1997. Carlson is a $6.5 billion alternative asset management firm based in Dallas, Texas. Elizabeth is a Partner and Head of Investor Relations for Carlson. She is responsible for overall client servicing and client development activities for Carlson. In addition, Elizabeth is a Partner responsible for Carlson’s product development and involved with overall business strategy. She has additional responsibility for external public relations and marketing. Elizabeth is also a member of the Investment Decisions Committee. She currently is an Angel board member for Texas Wall Street Women and is involved with raising capital for various non-for-profit organizations in Texas. Elizabeth holds a B.A. degree from Texas Christian University.

Lori Lindley has 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. In June 2010, she re-joined J.P. Morgan as an Executive Director in Prime Brokerage Sales covering the Southeast region.

From 2007-2010, Lori worked for Banc of America Securities in Prime Brokerage (which was acquired by BNP Paribas in October 2008) with responsibility for Capital Introduction in the Southwest and West Coast regions. Prior to joining BNP Paribas, she spent 19 years at J.P. Morgan. During her tenure at J.P. Morgan, Lori had numerous responsibilities including being a Senior Vice President in the Funds Group – South Region, covering hedge funds and fund of funds.

Lori graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Finance. She resides in Dallas, Texas, and has been actively involved in the community for a number of years. Lori is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Dallas and serves on the Host Committee for the Great Investors’ Best Ideas Foundation Investment Symposium. Additionally, Lori is a member of 100 Women in Hedge Funds, Texas Hedge Fund Association and serves as a Texas Angel for Texas Wall Street Women.

Vicki Martin-Odette is a partner in the Dallas office of Haynes and Boone, LLP.    She regularly advises fund sponsors and institutional investors in connection with the formation of, and investment in, U.S. and foreign investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, energy funds, real estate funds, and fund of funds.   At Haynes and Boone, LLP, Vicki is the Chair of the Business Transaction Department, Co-Chair of the Investment Fund Practice Group, a member of the Board of Directors and the Profit Improvement Partner.

Vicki received her B.A. from Texas A&M University, her J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, her LL.M. in International Law from Georgetown University Law Center and her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.

Patti Melcher is the Managing Director of EIV Capital, LLC, a private equity firm focused on the energy industry. Ms. Melcher has over 26 years of experience as a private equity investor, consultant and investment banker. She began her energy finance career in 1986 as an investment banker with Simmons & Company International and then joined newly formed SCF Partners, a private equity fund focused on the oilfield service industry. In 1997, she founded Allegro Capital Management, Inc., to provide investment management and consulting services in the energy industry. She joined EIV upon its formation in 2009 to direct its private equity investment program. Ms. Melcher has also founded and operated companies outside of the energy industry, including The Joy School, a non-profit school for children with learning disabilities, and Go Appetít Foods, an innovative natural foods company. She serves as a director and audit chair of Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE: HOS) and serves on boards of EIV Capital portfolio companies. She is also involved in the non-profit community, having served on the boards of The Children’s Museum of Houston, Family Services of Greater Houston, Harvard Business School Club of Houston and currently serves on the boards of Workshop Houston and Da Camera of Houston. She received an MBA from Harvard University and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Charla Parette is a Tax Director in the Dallas office of Deloitte Tax LLP. She currently serves as the Lead Tax Director for her firm’s Dallas Investment Management Practice.

With over sixteen years of experience, Ms. Parette has served a wide variety of clients in the alternative investment industry, including hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds. Ms. Parette provides a variety of services, including tax compliance and tax consulting and has managed numerous tax engagements and special projects for clients of all sizes.

Ms. Parette graduated from the William S. Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University in July 1991 with a Master of Science degree in accounting and May 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. She is an active member of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association.

Ms. Parette is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed to practice in Oklahoma and Texas. She is a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants. In addition, she is a member of Commercial Real Estate Women. She has served as a board member for the Margaret Hudson Program, a Tulsa United Way agency. She is an active participant in Junior Achievement in North Texas. She has been a leader in her firm’s Dallas United Way Campaign and an active participant at the 

Tiffany Ramirez is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for Renner Capital Partners LLC (“Renner”), a global long/short equity hedge fund manager. Renner launched its flagship fund in May 2017.

Ms. Ramirez has nearly fifteen years of investment industry experience spanning hedge funds, private equity funds, RIAs, and wealth managers. Her expertise includes legal and compliance, accounting and operations, and investor relations and marketing.

Prior to joining RGT, Ms. Ramirez worked with an independent consulting firm that provides compliance consulting services to investment advisers, hedge funds, and private equity managers across the country. She worked with clients to design, update, and restructure operations and compliance programs uniquely tailored to each firm. Ms. Ramirez advised firms with regard to fund structure and entity formation, corporate governance, operational efficiencies, service provider selection, and the expectations of institutional investors.

Ms. Ramirez was previously the Chief Compliance Officer of global private equity firm, Kildare Partners (“Kildare”), founded by international financier Ellis Short. Kildare has offices in Dallas, London, and Dublin and organizes institutional capital to invest in distressed real estate, principally in Western Europe.

From 2006 to 2013, Ms. Ramirez was the Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Operations for Paradigm Advisors, LLC, a long/short equity hedge fund manager with a 20+ year history and peak assets under management of $450 million. Previously, Ms. Ramirez worked in mergers and acquisitions for Dallas-based TRT Holdings, a privately-owned diversified holding company. Ms. Ramirez began her investment career at Carlson Capital, LP, an alternative asset management firm that manages over $22 billion across multiple hedge fund products.

Ms. Ramirez received her B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Dallas (2004), where she is currently an MBA candidate.

Ms. Ramirez is active in the Dallas investment community. She is a member of several professional organizations, including The Texas Hedge Fund Association, The DFW Compliance Roundtable, The National Society of Compliance Professionals, and Texas Wall Street Women. She currently serves on the board of Texas Wall Street Women.

Natalie is the Investment Officer for the $3 billion Employees’ Retirement Fund (EFR) of the City of Dallas.  Natalie is responsible for the design and implementation of the overall investment strategy and policy for the Fund.  Her career in finance began in the mergers & acquisitions group in investment banking at J.P. Morgan in New York City where she specialized in real estate and media transactions.  She later joined GE Equity, GE Capital’s private equity arm based in Stamford, CT, focusing on $10 to $25 million investments in both the healthcare and finance sectors.  After graduate school Natalie worked in both global strategy and finance director roles at publishers McGraw-Hill in New York City, and Voyager Expanded Learning based in Dallas, Texas.

She joined Dallas ERF in 2006 and has most recently spearheaded efforts to fulfill new private equity, private real estate, global equity, and master limited partnership (MLP) allocations of $600 million collectively.

Natalie was a selected as a German Marshall Fellow in 2009, and as the recipient of the 2011 Rising Star of Public Funds Award from Institutional Investor News.  More recently she was selected as one of the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty, and one of the highlighted 40 Under Forty Investment Officers in the March/April 2012 financial publication aiCIO.  Natalie serves as Chair of the Investment Committee of Big Thought, a Dallas based non-profit organization focused on creative learning solutions for at-risk youth.

Natalie holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania where she was a Robert A. Toigo Fellow, and a B.A. with honors from Spelman College.

Carol Trevino has 26 of year experience, in the financial services industry.  Carol began her career with USAA in 1987 and currently serves as Director of Mutual Fund Administration working in the Asset Management Company.

In 1997, she left USAA and rejoined in 2005.  She currently serves as a Director, where she works in the office of the treasurer.  She is responsible for leading the team that administers the investment and financial affairs for all funds managed by USAA Asset Management Company.

Prior to re-joining USAA in 2005, Carol held accounting and trust positions with non-profit organizations.  She received her M.B.A. from Cameron University and a B.B.A. in accounting from Texas Lutheran University.  She is involved in the community and is currently serving as an Angel for Texas Wall Street Women – San Antonio.  In addition, she is serving as an advisory board member for the YMCA.

Yorka Velasco-Caballero is a seasoned professional with an entrepreneurial spirit and a proven leader with over 22 years of experience in the areas of sales, marketing, and business development. She is currently a Key Account Manager with Keurig Dr Pepper where she is responsible in driving commercial contracts in the West Region targeting Fortune 1000 companies. In her previous roles at Avon Products and ACCO Brands, she lead high performing teams to best in sales, nationally. She was a two time winner of the President’s Award for Sales Excellence, a member of the Network of Executive Women, President Emeritus for Prospanica, winner of the San Antonio Business Journal’s 2012 Women in Leadership -Volunteer Leadership Award and under her leadership Prospanica San Antonio earned Chapter of the Year for Professional Development award 2017.

Because of her passion for diversity and inclusion, she was selected to Target’s Women in Leadership Training, making her one of the youngest women to participate in this elite training program. That same passion continued to drive her work at the advertising agency level where, she developed strategic Hispanic programs implemented nationally for brands such as Coca-Cola®, Hasbro® and AOL® Latino.

Yorka is an active member and action committee lead for Prospanica National. She designed, developed and implemented the first Women In Leadership Symposium for the San Antonio chapter. She is a role model for Hispanics Inspiring Students’ Performance & Achievement (HISPA).  She has facilitated at various National Diversity Council events and keynoted for Young Women’s Leadership Symposium. She is the driving force behind the creation and development of Prospanica’s Emerging Leadership Series (ELS),  ELS is a six-month leadership program that integrates a robust assessment process which includes strength based leadership, emotional intelligence and values clarification. She was recently selected to co-chair the Women and Girls Development Fund for the San Antonio Area Foundation and is an active steering committee member for the Latino Foundation.

Born in Oruro, Bolivia, she moved to the United States at 15 years of age. Yorka has a double major from the University of Kansas in Economics and Business and, a minor in Latin American Studies. She later obtained an MBA from the University of Incarnate Word,

She calls San Antonio her home, where she lives with her husband Sam and the loves of her life; Samuel and Isabella.