John Garel

John is a founding Member and Senior Managing Director of Envest and serves as a member of the Envest Ventures I, Envest II and Envest III Investment Committees.  Prior to joining Envest in 2000, John served as President & CEO of The Leisure Company, a subsidiary of America West Holdings Corporation.  With America West Holdings Corporation, John oversaw the strategic and operational activities of this $400 million distributor of leisure travel.  John previously was America West's Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales.  Prior to joining America West, John served as CEO of Cadmus Journal Services, a scientific, technical and medical database information, integration and printing concern.  John's previous experience includes 12 years in various financial, operations and marketing positions at Northwest and American Airlines.  John has a MBA from Southern Methodist and a BA, Economics, from Tulane University.


David Kaufman
David is a founding Member and Senior Managing Director of Envest and serves as a member of the Envest Ventures I, Envest II and Envest III Investment Committees.  David previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Vacation Store, which he co-founded in 1994 and grew into a leading national distributor of leisure travel before its sale in late 1998.  From 1987 to 1994, David was employed with Cunard Line Ltd., where he started as Staff Vice President, Finance, and rose to be Senior Vice President, Business Groups, responsible for leading Cunard's cruise business operations.  David started his career with IBM, serving for 7 years in various financial management positions.  David has a MBA from the University of Michigan, focusing on investments and graduating in the top 10% of his class.  David also has a BBA degree from Emory University, Dean's List.


Kevin Wilson
Kevin is a Senior Managing Director of Envest and serves as a member of the Envest Ventures I, Envest II and Envest III Investment Committees.  Kevin has a strong background in strategic consulting, corporate executive leadership, successful entrepreneurship and private equity management.  Kevin began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company; co-founded Benny's Bagels, a successful chain of 28 stores; served as CEO of South African Airway's Technical; and before joining Envest was Senior Managing Director of Discovery Americas I, a $50 million private equity fund based in Mexico City, Mexico.  He holds a business degree from the University of Western Ontario.


Lisa Parks
Lisa is the Vice President of Analysis for Envest.  Her responsibilities include business plan review, due diligence on potential investments, and analytical support.  Lisa began her career at the corporate headquarters for Circuit City Stores in Richmond, VA.  Before returning to get her MBA at the University of Virginia, she ran a small ceramics company called American Sky out of Irvington, VA.  Following her MBA program, Lisa joined Landmark Media Enterprises (formerly Landmark Communications), a media conglomerate with a portfolio of companies including metro daily newspapers, network affiliated broadcast stations, and specialty publications and websites.  As the Director of Corporate Finance, Lisa played a role in the 2008 sale of The Weather Channel to NBC Universal, Bain Capital and Blackstone Group, and was responsible for the strategic planning and budget process, insurance, and treasury.  Lisa received her Bachelors of Business Administration from the College of William and Mary, and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.


Kelly E. McCarthy
Kelly is the Administration Manager responsible for office management, accounting and investor relations.  Prior to joining Envest, Kelly was Administrative Coordinator for the Executive Vice President at Columbia Artists Management Inc. in New York City.  She began her career with the Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk, VA serving as Development Coordinator/Grant Writer and Assistant Producer of the Virginia International Tattoo, a production of the Virginia Arts Festival.  Kelly received her Music Business degree from James Madison University.