4 Shoshana M. Vernick Shoshana M. Vernick is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Avathon Capital, an investment platform she launched in 2016 to foster innovation and growth across the education and workforce markets. Avathon partners with founder-owned and founder-led companies, typically taking a control equity position and providing strategic guidance, operational expertise, and human capital support to help leaders scale with purpose. Before founding Avathon, Shoshana was a Managing Director at Sterling Partners, a middle-market private equity firm focused on education, healthcare, and business services. Earlier in her career, she served as an Associate at One Equity Partners, where she worked on private equity investments including venture and management buyouts, and at Razorfish, where she was a strategist on the firm’s digital solutions team. Shoshana began her career at Merrill Lynch in the Global Industries Group, where she developed a strong foundation in finance and deal execution. Shoshana is an active leader in the investment community. She is a member of PEWIN (Private Equity Women Investor Network), a Board Member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association (IVCA), and a founding Board member of the IVCA Foundation. She also serves on the Steering Committee of KPMG & University of Chicago’s Economic Forum and sits on numerous private and public company boards, offering strategic and operational insights. Her work and leadership have been recognized as a four-time recipient of Inc.’s Founder- Friendly Investor award, 2021 Kayo Midwest Dealmaker, 2020 Most Influential Woman in Mid-Market M&A, and 2019 Crain’s Chicago Notable Woman in Finance. Shoshana earned a BS with honors from Indiana University, double- majoring in accounting and finance, with a concentration in international studies inspired by her transformative semester abroad in Maastricht, The Netherlands. She grew up in Munster, Indiana, the daughter of a schoolteacher and an entrepreneur, and has called Chicago home for more than 25 years. IVCA Foundation Award The IVCA Foundation Award recognizes an individual or firm who has significantly contributed to the IVCA Scholar Program or has made impactful strides in enhancing diversity within the private equity and venture capital community in Illinois.
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