Mark is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holding both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accountancy. Mark has worked as a practicing CPA with Deloitte and Touche, serving both private and public clients, largely in the investment management, securities brokerage, technology, and private equity spaces. Mark has worked extensively with the St. Charles based production company, Onesti Entertainment and has worked as an independent producer on projects across the Chicago-land. Mark currently works extensively in the real estate private equity sector, serving multi-billion dollar companies and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Ellen Stucky is a manager at Deloitte & Touche, LLP in the audit practice, serving primarily the financial services and real estate sectors. She has overseen the audit process and reporting compliance for a variety of companies, ranging small privately held companies to large REITs. She is a licensed CPA and carries a degree in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame. 

Mr. Warren E. Holtsberg has served as Managing Principal, Managing Director, and Co-Head of Portfolio Management at The Tokarz Group Advisers LLC, heading the Chicago office. Mr. Holtsberg has served as a Partner at The Tokarz Group, LLC. He was the Member of the Board of Managers of Illinois Ventures, LLC. Previously, he was the Vice Chairman of the Board of Managers at the firm. Previously, Mr. Holtsberg served as the Corporate Vice President of Equity Investments at Motorola, Inc. He led Motorola's Corporate Business Research Group and joined the Motorola Corporate Strategy office in 1994. Mr. Holtsberg also served as the Corporate Vice President of Equity Investments at Motorola Ventures, which he founded. He served as a Director of Illinois Venture Capital Association until 2014. He served as a Director of Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. He is a senior investment professional with almost 20 years of lending and investment experience. Mr. Holtsberg is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Kellogg Management Institute at Northwestern University J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management

Founded in 1984, Drury Lane Theatre is Chicagoland’s largest longest running commercial theatre. As a descendant of Tony DeSantis, founder of numerous playhouses throughout the Chicagoland area, Drew is a veteran of the industry.
Drury Lane Theatre and Conference Center has become a Chicagoland icon. Drew serves as the Chief Financial Officer to Drury Lane Theatre at Oakbrook Terrace, the venue for the company’s core operations. Drury Lane Theatre’s productions have received numerous Jeff Awards; and the company continues to be a leading producer of high caliber theatre for the region. Drew is a graduate of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Laura Gillespie is a Tax Director at Revantage Corporate Services, where she manages tax compliance and consulting for both public and private investment vehicles across multiple real estate asset classes.  Before joining RCS in the summer of 2018, Laura was Tax Director at Green Courte Partners, LLC, a private equity real estate company in Chicago.  She began her career as a tax professional with Deloitte Tax where she served a variety of clients in the private equity and not-for-profit sectors.  Laura holds both Bachelor of Science and Masters of Business Administration degrees in Accounting from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Lindsay is the Director of Platform at Chicago Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. At CV, she works directly with the firm’s 50+ active portfolio companies on matchmaking talent; building communities; marketing, communication and PR; connecting into customers; and producing private and public events. She’s also a Kauffman Fellow, Class 23. Prior to joining Chicago Ventures, Lindsay spent time in the Marketing department at Ocean Tomo, an intellectual property merchant bank, where she was part of the team that launched the industry’s first live patent auctions. She later joined CHOUmedia as Vice President, where she worked with clients in the IP industry on marketing strategy and execution. In 2018, Lindsay launched Chicago Blend, a collaborative effort of venture capitalists in Chicago who know that diverse teams and inclusive environments are critical foundations for both the startups we invest in and our own venture firms. She is a part of the Ms.Tech Associate Council, a social impact organization that helps business women do tech and tech women do business. She also serves on the Governing Board and as President of the Lookingglass Theatre Associates Board, a Tony-award winning theatre that focuses on the spectacular and the physical. She graduated from the Miami University Honors Program with degrees in English/Journalism and Strategic Communication. She started swimming when she was 5, and has been hooked on triathlons since 2012.

Lei Lei has worked as a practicing CPA with Ernst and Young, serving both private and public clients, largely within the financial services and insurance spaces. Lei Lei additionally carries extensive operational private equity accounting experience, where she oversaw reporting and compliance activities for one of Green Courte Partners REITs, with over $500 million in assets under management.  Lei Lei now currently serves as the Controller for the Fulton Market Group, a tech focused supply chain management company within the food industry based in Chicago. Lei Lei is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, from which she holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy.

​arry G. Swets, Jr. has served as Chief Executive Officer of FG Financial Group since November 2020 and as a member of our board of directors since November 2013. Mr. Swets has over 25 years of experience within financial services encompassing both non-executive and executive roles. Mr. Swets founded Itasca Financial LLC, an advisory and investment firm, in 2005 and has served as its managing member since inception. Mr. Swets also founded and is the President of Itasca Golf Managers, Inc., a management services and advisory firm focused on the real estate and hospitality industries, in August 2018. Mr. Swets is a member of the board of directors of GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. (TSX: GFP), a public company focused on investments in the forest products industry since June 2016; Harbor Custom Development, Inc. (Nasdaq: HCDI) since February 2020; Ballantyne Strong, Inc. (NYSE American: BTN) since October 2021; Insurance Income Strategies Ltd. since October 2017; Alexian Brothers Foundation since March 2018; and Unbounded Media Corporation since June 2019.

Ron Onesti is President and founder of St. Charles, IL based Onesti Entertainment Corporation, producing 200 concerts, corporate events, television specials, casino shows, and festivals annually across the United States. He is an Emmy Award winning producer, and frequent host of PBS WTTW Channel 11’s on air pledge drives. Ron serves on the Board of Directors at the St. Charles Convention and Visitors Beureau and serves as a leader for the Italian American community through various affiliations. Ron is also a frequent contributor to television’s ME-TV, WGN, PBS, and radio’s The Mancow Show and WGN’s Bill and Wendy Show. Mr. Onesti is a graduate of DePaul University.

Erik Schroeder serves as the Managing Director of The House Theatre Chicago after completing the Leadership U: One-on-One fellowship, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, during which he worked at the Manhattan Theatre Club under executive producer Barry Grove and general manager Florie Seery. Schroeder previously served as Director of Marketing for Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company from 2008-2015. In Chicago he has taught as an adjunct instructor at Columbia College Chicago's Business and Entrepreneurship Department, and served on the board of directors of The Hypocrites.