At Cascadia Capital, we are deliberate about how we grow our team and how we invest in our people over time. Developing a strong, values-aligned team is foundational to how we serve our clients—and to the culture we foster across offices and practices.
Over the last 18 months, Cascadia has welcomed 12 senior hires and promoted 4 team members to the senior leadership team at year-end 2025. Full bios and announcements are linked below for additional detail.
As our platform expands, we remain focused on developing leaders from within while thoughtfully adding senior talent to deepen our sector expertise and expand our advisory capabilities.
Watch this short video to learn more about how we think about partnership, collaboration, and long-term growth at Cascadia.
Recent Additions
Over the last 18 months, Cascadia has welcomed several senior leaders whose experience strengthens our sector coverage and expands our ability to serve clients across industries and transaction types.
Jonathan Cantwell — Head of Technology Investment Banking
Jonathan’s appointment signals the expansion of Cascadia’s Technology practice and the formal launch of a Silicon Valley office. As Head of Technology Investment Banking, he brings deep experience and leadership to support innovative growth companies across the technology ecosystem. He brings deep domain knowledge across enterprise software, including transaction experience with artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
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Michael Del Pero — Managing Director | Industrials
Michael Del Pero joined Cascadia’s Industrials team, bringing two decades of M&A and financial advisory experience. His particular expertise lies in advising companies in specialized industries serving technically advanced OEM customers and applications where highly-engineered products and manufacturing processes are required, such as high-reliability electronics and components, mission-critical systems, materials technology, and engineered solutions.
Jordan Finkler — Managing Director | Business Services
Jordan Finkler joined as Managing Director in the firm’s growing Business Services group. Based in the New York office, he will focus on the Technology Services sector, leveraging his extensive experience and expertise to deliver value for clients. He brings over 19 years of transaction experience, primarily advising IT Services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies.
Aarti Kapoor — Managing Director | Consumer, Retail & E-Commerce
Based in New York, Aarti brings 18 years of experience across private equity investing and advisory, with deep expertise in health, wellness & beauty services, restaurants, and pet products & services. Her addition meaningfully expands Cascadia’s Consumer practice and further strengthens our presence in high-growth consumer verticals.
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Bill Kerkam — Managing Director | Industrials
Bill joins Cascadia as Managing Director leading the Plastics, Print & Packaging practice within Industrials. His addition deepens sector expertise and enhances Cascadia’s ability to deliver tailored M&A and capital markets solutions across critical industrial sub-verticals.
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Sim Ketchum — Managing Director & Co-head | Equity Capital Solutions
Simeon Ketchum joined Cascadia to launch a new Equity Capital Solutions practice focused on deal-by-deal capital formation and advisory for independent sponsors and fund sponsors. He joins Cascadia from Houlihan Lokey, where he most recently led its EMEA region Directs & Co-Investments business, bringing more than two decades of experience advising middle-market businesses, financial sponsors, and institutional investors across global markets.
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Muizz Kheraj — Managing Director | Business Services
Muizz Kheraj joins Cascadia’s Business Services team with more than 20 years of experience, both as a software engineer and as a trusted advisor to middle-market entrepreneurs. His career has been defined by a focus on innovation and capital market solutions for fast-growing technology companies. Muizz advises clients within the digital marketing, media & entertainment, and tech-enabled business service sectors
Tom Mills — Head of Capital Markets
Thomas Mills joined the firm as a Managing Director and Head of the Capital Markets Advisory Group. He brings more than 20 years of experience in debt capital markets, raising capital for clients in a wide variety of industries and transactions, including recapitalizations, growth financings, and management buyouts.
Connor Owens — Chief Financial Officer
Connor Owens joined as Chief Financial Officer at Cascadia where he oversees the finance, strategic planning, human resources, technology, and operations functions, supporting the firm’s ongoing growth.
Pete Purcell — Managing Director & Co-Head | Equity Capital Solutions
Pete Purcell joined Cascadia to launch a new Equity Capital Solutions practice focused on deal-by-deal capital formation and advisory for independent sponsors and fund sponsors. He was previously with Houlihan Lokey, where he was a part of the leadership team of its Directs & Co-Investments business in the U.S.
Nathan Gordon — Director | Technology Investment Banking
Based in Los Angeles with significant time spent in Silicon Valley, Nathan focuses on M&A and capital-raising transactions for enterprise software and technology companies. His addition strengthens Cascadia’s Technology Investment Banking team and enhances coverage for growth-oriented technology clients.
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Michael Kahn — Director | Equity Capital Solutions
Michael Kahn is a Director in Cascadia Capital’s Equity Capital Solutions Group, bringing more than 12 years of experience advising independent and funded sponsors on complex direct and secondary capital raises. He connects sophisticated investors with differentiated middle-market opportunities, drawing on prior roles at Houlihan Lokey, Triago, and leading global investment firms.
Promotions
We are pleased to have announced the following senior team promotions, recognizing leadership, and impact across the firm. These individuals continue to support our clients and contribute to Cascadia’s long-term growth.
Kerri Hagen — Managing Director | Financial Sponsors Group
Kerri has been promoted to Managing Director in the Financial Sponsors Group. Kerri has been an exceptional contributor to Cascadia since joining the firm, and this promotion reflects both the impact she has had on our platform and the trust she has built across the private equity community. Our private equity relationships and transaction activity have grown meaningfully in recent years, and Kerri has been a key part of that growth—bringing strong sponsor-side perspective, exceptional market connectivity, and a highly collaborative approach with our banking teams.
Kayla Cartoski — Director | Capital Markets
Kayla has been promoted to Director in Cascadia’s Capital Markets group. Kayla has been instrumental in building a platform designed to deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes for clients. She has led execution on eight closed transactions over the past 18 months and has been instrumental in developing the processes and team that support efficient, disciplined execution.
Tyler Howard — Director | Food, Beverage & Agribusiness
Tyler has been promoted to Director in Cascadia’s Food, Beverage & Agribusiness group. Since joining the firm, Tyler has been a meaningful contributor, supporting clients across four Ingredients transactions over the past 12 months. He has delivered consistently strong execution and brings valuable prior experience that has meaningfully strengthened the group.
Phil Sheridan — Director | Business Services
Phil has been promoted to Director in Cascadia’s Business Services group. He has played a critical role in strengthening deal execution practices and supporting the build-out of the Facilities Services practice. He is a trusted partner to deal teams, known for driving high-quality execution and contributing to the development of thoughtful, differentiated client materials