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TXWSW Houston C-Suite Insights

TXWSW C-Suite forum flyer with meeting photo

Join Texas Wall Street Women (TXWSW) for the inaugural Houston C-suite Insights, a curated discussion-driven forum designed to connect attendees with leading voices across the finance, investment, and advisory community in Houston. This event creates space for direct dialogue with executives, partners, and senior leaders and deeper engagement on the themes shaping today’s investment landscape.

Following an opening discussion with senior leaders, attendees will participate in a series of executive table discussions, where each featured speaker will facilitate small-group conversations. Attendees will rotate between tables, providing the opportunity to engage with multiple perspectives in a more conversational setting.

This is a curated, discussion-oriented event focused on business trends, market perspectives, and leadership decisions. Attendees will have the opportunity to:

  • Hear directly from accomplished women leaders on the issues shaping their industries, organizations, and leadership decisions
  • Engage directly in small-group discussions with decision-makers
  • Build meaningful connections with peers across investment, advisory, and financial services sectors before and after the panel

When: Thursday, October 15, 2026
5:30pm – 8:00pm CST

Where: Clifford Chance, Texas Tower
845 Texas Ave., Suite 2700
Houston, TX 77002
Parking information will be provided prior to the event.

Registration Deadline: Thursday, October 1, 2026

Cost:   $75/member and $85/non-member

Registration

 

Meet the Speakers

Mary Bass

Partner
Spencer Stuart

Sarah Bracewell

Partner & Head of Strategy
Corient

Roshmi Dalal

Director Executive | Leadership Coaching Services
Weaver

Kathryn Denson

Partner | Assurance Principal
SBDO USA

Elena Ippolitova

CFO
Halcyon Energy Partners

Camaron Thorson

Audit Partner
KPMG

Alexandra Wilde

Managing Partner
Clifford Chance - Houston
Placeholder avatar image with a gray circle on a light gray background.

Lynn Nazareth

CFO
Integrated Openings Solutions

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Mary Bass

Partner
Spencer Stuart

Mary Bass is based in Houston and has a broad-based search practice focusing on assignments for board directors, CEOs, chief operating officers, chief human resources officers and chief financial officers for growth companies nationwide. She is a member of the firm’s Board and Private Equity practices and is active in the Energy, Financial Officer, Financial Services, Industrial and Healthcare practices. Mary has served on and chaired the firm’s global partner nominations committee. She is also a recipient of the Lou Rieger Quality Award for client service.

Deep private equity expertise

  • Mary specializes in working with organizations undergoing significant business or organizational change, including nonprofit hospital systems, endowments and cultural institutions. She also works with prominent private equity groups, helping them recruit senior executives and board members for their portfolio companies as well as experienced investment professionals for their firms.
  • Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Mary had direct investing experience with Triad Ventures, one of the leading private equity firms in Texas, where she participated at the board level to help build the management teams necessary to take companies public. Her work with emerging growth companies spanned industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, distribution, software, specialty retail, technology and consumer.
  • Mary is the past president of the Houston Venture Capital Association and is on the steering committee for the Dallas Private Equity Forum. She has served on the international board of the Association for Corporate Growth and as the organization’s international membership chairman.

Mary is a past director of the Texas Lyceum Association, the First Tee of Greater Houston and the San Jacinto Girl Scout Council. Mary has also served and chaired the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation and is a past director of The Houston Golf Association. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University, earning both B.S. and M.B.A. degrees with an emphasis on corporate finance.

Sarah Bracewell

Partner and Head of Strategy
Corient

Sarah is a Partner and Head of Strategy in our Houston office. Sarah joined legacy firm Avalon in 2020 as Managing Director and Head of the Investment Strategy group. Prior to Avalon, Sarah served as the head of relationship management for TIAA Endowments, a full-service outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) for endowments and foundations with complex investment needs. Before TIAA, Sarah was a director at Covariance Capital Management, overseeing multi-asset class portfolios ranging from $100M–$1B+, focused on asset allocation and risk management advice, mission-driven investing, relationship management and new business initiatives. Sarah previously held positions in the management of multimillion-dollar bankruptcies and restructuring and new business strategy and development. She has an AB from Harvard University and MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Dr. Jennifer Stimpson

Director of Education
Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center

Dr. Jennifer Stimpson is a scientist, educator, speaker, and writer who believes curiosity is not just where learning begins, but where possibility begins.

Raised in a family of pharmacists, Dr. Stimpson learned early to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and stay curious about what could be possible. Her career has taken her from forensic science and the classroom to national education and STEM policy. An Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, she has worked with organizations including the National Science Foundation and Department of Justice and founded JSTEMP Science to create experiences that make STEM more accessible, engaging, and personal.

Her work has earned national recognition, including a life-sized statue at the Smithsonian Museum, celebrating her contribution to the broader story of science and innovation.

Today, as Director of Education at the Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center in Dallas, Dr. Stimpson connects aviation’s history to the future of STEM, education, and workforce development. At the heart of her work is a question she continues to ask: What becomes possible when more people can see themselves in the story?

Kathryn Denson

Partner / Assurance Principal
BDO USA

With over 17 years of experience in BDO’s assurance practice, Kathryn Denson is a trusted advisor to clients navigating today’s complex financial reporting landscape. Kathryn’s deep technical knowledge spans PCAOB, AICPA, and SEC reporting standards, allowing her to deliver practical solutions that address both regulatory requirements and business objectives.

Kathryn has extensive experience working with public and private companies with significant global operations, including those backed by private equity. Her industry expertise covers manufacturing and distribution, oilfield services, renewable energy, power generation, and construction. Kathryn is known for her collaborative approach to problem solving, her commitment to service quality, and her ability to build high-performing teams that deliver exceptional results.

As a leader, Kathryn is passionate about mentoring and developing talent within BDO, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. She is actively involved in the Houston Private Equity Group and chairs the Texas Manufacturing Group, where she helps drive industry best practices and thought leadership. Kathryn also serves on the advisory council for the University of Houston-Downtown, supporting the next generation of accounting professionals.

Kathryn holds both a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Accountancy from the University of Houston.

Outside of work, she enjoys reading, running, and spending time with her three rescued dogs.

Elena Ippolitova

CFO
Halcyon Energy Partners

Ms. Ippolitova is a senior finance and investment executive with more than 20 years of experience leading upstream M&A, strategic A&D transactions, and capital deployment across North America. She combines advisory, corporate finance and principal investing experience with deep expertise in oil and gas acquisitions, operations, and performance management.

Ms. Ippolitova is recognized for navigating complex stakeholder environments, optimizing capital structures, improving recoveries, and supporting boards in high-pressure, decision-critical situations. She brings a rare combination of finance, turnaround, principal investing, and operating leadership across the entire energy value chain.

Ms. Ippolitova has led or been directly involved in $1.2 billion of investments that generated realized returns of 31% IRR and 1.5x ROI, advised on over $2 billion of restructurings and capital raises across upstream, OFS, power, and energy transition sectors.

She served on the boards of private E&P companies, advised on capital allocation, M&A strategy, industry partnerships, and performance improvement.

Ms. Ippolitova currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Halcyon Energy Partners, where she oversees acquisitions, finance and accounting for a privately held E&P consolidation platform. From 2021 to 2023, she served as Managing Director at Kroll, advising energy companies, boards, lenders, and investors on restructuring, corporate finance, and strategic matters. From 2020 to 2021 she served as Managing Director at Conway MacKenzie’s restructuring and turnaround practice, where she specialized in developing and executing financial, operational and strategic solutions for lenders, equity sponsors and companies in distressed and special situations across the entire energy value chain. From 2014 to 2020, she served as Energy Investment Officer at Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE: ”JEF”, previously known as Leucadia National Corporation, NYSE: “LUK”), leading a $1 billion energy private equity and special situations portfolio and serving on the boards of oil and gas portfolio companies.

Ms. Ippolitova began her career with EIG Global Energy Partners, where she focused on due diligence, structuring, and portfolio management of energy and infrastructure investments. She later held positions of increasing responsibility at APA Corporation (NASDAQ: “APA”), developing competitive intelligence, benchmarking, and operational analytics to support capital allocation and shale development across North America.

Ms. Ippolitova holds an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Investment Analysis from the Russian Federal Government Finance Academy. She is a CFA charterholder, a FINRA Series 79 Registered Representative, and an Advisory Council Member for the KBH Energy Center for Business, Law, and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin.

Camaron Thorson

Audit Partner
KPMG LLP

Background

Camaron is an audit partner in KPMG’s energy practice in the Houston office. She has twenty-three years of experience during which she has served clients of varying sizes across the energy sector.

Professional and Industry Experience

Camaron’s experience has been primarily focused on energy-related industries. She has served clients in the upstream, midstream, and services sectors of the energy industry. The majority of her time has been spent serving large SEC registrants, including experience assisting clients with SEC filings, business combinations, complex transactions, and debt and equity filings.

She played a key role in the first-year audits of both Weatherford International plc and Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. by leading the transition and development and execution of the audit plan.

In addition to her client service roles, Camaron assists other engagement teams on technical auditing and KPMG methodology matters, including serving as an SEC reviewing partner.

Camaron serves as a board member and Nominating Committee Chairperson for the KPMG U.S. Foundation, Inc. In addition, she is a board member and Finance Committee Chairperson for Genesys Works Houston.

Camaron is a KPMG National Chairman’s Award winner which is annually awarded to sixteen professionals across all practices.

She has also been a presenter at various KPMG, university, and CPA society events.

Community Activities

  • Board Member and Nominating Committee Chairperson, KPMG U.S. Foundation, Inc.
  • Board Member and Finance Committee Chairperson, Genesys Works Houston
  • Member, The Junior League of Houston, Inc.

Alexandra Wilde

Managing Partner
Clifford Chance - Houston

Alexandra focuses on complex domestic and cross-border transactions, with a focus on energy, infrastructure and industrials. She serves as Office Managing Partner for the firm’s Houston office.

Her experience includes advising private equity and strategic investors in M&A, divestitures, minority and majority investments, joint ventures, and other corporate matters. Alex has extensive experience in the energy, infrastructure and industrials sectors, including energy transition (such as solar, wind, battery storage, biofuels, clean tech and other clean and renewable energy), traditional upstream/midstream/downstream oil and gas, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, defense, aerospace and specialty chemicals.

Lynn Nazareth

CFO
Integrated Openings Solutions

Lynn Nazareth is Chief Financial Officer of Integrated Openings Solutions, where she oversees the company’s financial strategy and growth initiatives. With more than 30 years of experience in finance leadership roles across public, private equity-backed, and growth-oriented companies, she brings deep expertise in corporate finance, strategic transactions, and business transformation. She earned her MBA in Finance from Rice Business.

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