By: David Levy
Keen-Summit Capital Partners & Summit Investment Management
Dear TMA Chicago/Midwest Members,
As the expression goes, the days are long, but the years are fast, and my tenure as 2025 Chapter President was no exception. I am finishing my term right where I started—that it is hard to imagine a more prosperous, better-run, trade association than TMA Chicago Midwest. Over the past 24 months, we staged more than 35 events, attracting more than 2,700 attendees, thanks to the efforts of our more than 100 volunteer committee members, plus our backbone managers, Katlyn Weiler and Amanda Fischer, from Glatz Management Services.
It was all wonderful to be a part of, but I thought I would share what sticks out to me as the year highlights:
- Project 852 Membership Drive: Thanks to the dedicated leadership of Membership Committee Co-Chairs Samantha Ruben (Dentons) and Jake Prizant (Hilco Global) our membership grew by 10% last year! Pssst, if your event name tag is yellow, your membership is not active, so please renew!
- Economic Outlook: It was great to bring this in-person program back as our kick-off event, as it historically drew 300 people annually. After a strong showing last year, it will return on Thursday, January 15th at 5:00 pm at The Ivy Room in River North! The dynamic duo of investment professional Jason Turner (Great Lake Advisors / Wintrust) and senior economist Yelena Maleyev (KPMG) will again be presenting and the program will be moderated by Rob Meyers (Republic Business Credit). Start the year off right and join us!
- 13-Week Cash Flow: We set out to break the Covid-era record of 500 people attending a Zoom webinar to learn about this critical report and we came close with 422 tuning in! Thanks to James Keane and Mac Rowland (Harney Partners) for leading the program.
- “Whose In the Room?” New Member Video: We created a wonderful tool for onboarding new members by educating them on “who does what?” and how we all fit together. Paired with our always informative TMA Chicago Midwest Podcast, hosted by Paul Musser (Katten), new members will get up to speed faster and will be poised to get the most out of their membership, and veterans will learn something too.
- University Relations Summer Student Program: This was a free event marketed to summer associates and interns, which focused on careers in restructuring and insights into networking and relationship-building. Larry Perkins (Sierra Constellation Partners and author of “Don’t Be A Stranger”) was the featured speaker. Not only did we draw 70 students, but they hung around for over 90 minutes after the program asking for career advice. The program was a great way to build a talent pipeline for our industry and Chapter. And next year we will have our first ever Student Co-Chairs of the University Relations Committee—welcome aboard Nathan Lee and Isaac Martin (Indiana University)! Thank you to Stephen Viz (Hilco Global) and Brandon Seni (Arete Capital Partners) for planning the program and Chris Draper (GA Group) for moderating.
- Large Cap Symposium: This inaugural event, featuring elite restructuring professionals working on our industry’s largest deals, was an instant success. Chicago is the ideal location to host this gathering and it will happen again next year on July 21st. I will be Co-Chair of the program alongside Angela Allen (Jenner & Block). Save The Date!
- Executive Speaker Form (ESF): It is hard not have a TMA Chicago/Midwest highlight reel without including ESF. It was another wonderful evening with over 600 tickets sold. Former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was thoughtful and insightful, and our moderator, Patrick Murphy (Hilco Global Geopolitical Unit), brought his own remarkable resume to the program as the former Acting Secretary of the Army, a former Congressman, and an Iraq War Veteran. First-time attendees told me they were blown away by the quality of the event’s production. I told them I was just along for the ride, it is a well-oiled machine after 17 years (hat tip: Joe Fobbe, Maple Bay LLC) and it really is a testament to the strength of our Chapter. Great job to the entire ESF planning committee!
I am grateful for the efforts of all our committee members but wanted to make sure a few get the recognition they deserve:
Finance: My first task as Chapter President was to oversee the budgeting process for the upcoming year. I gained further appreciation for the sophistication of our budgeting and finance process during this time. It was very reassuring to have Kevin Tavakoli (Huron), a quintessential financial advisor, leading this process as Treasurer and I was amazed by his speed in Excel. Kevin was supported by our Finance Co-Chairs Joe Ford (Wintrust) and Jory Berg (McGuireWoods). I will also add that Kevin was a Co-Chair of our Sponsorship campaign in 2024, so further appreciation for his commitment to serving in critical functions in our Chapter.
Pro Bono: I want to recognize Elizabeth Janczak (Smith Gambrell Russell) and Jack Donohue (DSI Consulting) for their efforts this year on our Pro Bono Committee. It’s wonderful that they are doing the work and putting their talents into philanthropy for our Chapter.
TMA Global Operations Committee: Naturally, this is not a TMA Chicago committee, but Pauline Chow (Birch Lake) is one of our members, an expert on finance, and has worked very hard for this organization this past year. Relatedly, we are honored that our own Suzanne Burke is now Senior Director of Finance of TMA Global. Thank you to you both for serving the organization.
This ran a little long, but we got a lot done and there were plenty of people to thank and acknowledge! It has been a wonderful year and an honor to serve as your Chapter President—and I know next year will be even better with Sandy Prabhakar (Armory Securities) at the helm.
Thank you for your continued support. Let’s keep coming together, working together, and let’s keep Making It Rain!
Sincerely,
David Levy
President, TMA Chicago/Midwest Chapter
