Stephen is the leader of Sidley Austin LLP’s global Restructuring group. In his more than two decades of experience, he has represented debtors, creditors, and investors in large and complex Chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, asset acquisitions, and related litigation. Steve has counseled clients across a broad range of industries, including telecommunications, travel, energy, gaming, real estate, financial institutions, and manufacturing.
Steve is also currently a director, and for almost 15 years was the board chair, of Futures and Options, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization that places students from New York City high schools in paid and mentored internships at private sector and nonprofit firms.
Patrick Venter is an associate in Sidley Austin LLP’s Restructuring group in New York, where he advises a broad range of private and public companies, creditors, and investors in highly complex in-court and out-of-court restructuring situations. Patrick is a graduate of Villanova University and Boston College Law School.
Prior to his participation with LIFE, Patrick served for six years as a Junior Board member of Futures & Options.
Matthew Chen is a Director at RenWave Kore, a special situations investment firm, where he focuses on evaluating opportunities that capture arbitrage and market dislocation. Prior to RenWave Kore, Matthew was on the Hybrid Value team at Apollo Global Management, where he evaluated a wide range of structured investments. Prior to Apollo, Matthew began his career in the Restructuring Group at Evercore.
Matthew graduated summa cum laude from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
Rachel Chesley is a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, where she leads the restructuring communications offering, providing counsel to companies, boards of directors, lenders, creditors and buyers as they prepare for, execute and emerge from financial restructuring or reorganization. Rachel co-chairs the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation’s New York Chapter, and she has been recognized for her work by The American Bankruptcy Institute, M&A Advisor, Business Insider, Consulting Magazine, and PR Week. Before entering the restructuring field, Rachel was a high school English teacher in Newark, N.J. through Teach For America.
James Gurney is Director of Grant and Program Strategy at ISTE + ASCD. In his role, James cultivates strategic opportunities designed to support educators as they reimagine and redesign learning experiences through innovative and research-based uses of technology. Prior to joining ISTE + ASCD, James served as Director of Grant Administration at IDEA Public Schools and Program Director at Futures and Options. James earned a PhD in Comparative International Education from the University of Georgia and a B.A. from the University of California - Santa Barbara.
Margarita Kucherenko is a Senior Vice President in the Turnaround and Restructuring Department of AlixPartners with 10 years of experience in restructuring, financial advisory and banking. Margarita assists both debtors and creditors through various stages of in-court and out-of-court restructurings and operational turnarounds. Her expertise spans across multiple industries (including metals & mining, chemicals, oil & gas, telecom) and geographies (North America, Central & Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, South America). Margarita has an MBA from the Wharton School and a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Scott Meyerson is a Director in Lazard’s Restructuring & Liability Management group in Chicago. Scott has over 8 years of experience advising clients in highly complex restructuring situations, including some of the largest corporate restructurings in recent years. Scott is a graduate of The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Scott is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Kumanan Ramanathan is a Senior Director with Alvarez & Marsal's North American Commercial Restructuring practice in New York. He has been helping corporate restructuring clients for over 12 years during periods of fast paced organizational and financial change with the objective of building value for all stakeholders. His clients include FTX, Gibson Brands, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, M&G Chemicals, LifeLabs and more. Mr. Ramanathan earned a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Toronto. Prior to LIFE, he served on the advisory council of Children of Promise NYC, an organization dedicated to helping children of incarcerated parents in New York.
Meaghan Repko is a Partner at Joele Frank, where she provides strategic communications counsel to public and non-public companies involved in a wide range of ongoing and special situations, including transactions, bankruptcies and restructurings, litigation support and shareholder activism. Meaghan received The M&A Advisor’s “40 Under 40” Recognition Award in 2018. She joined Joele Frank in 2006 and received a BA from Hood College.
Meaghan also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Tina’s Wish, an ovarian cancer non-profit organization dedicated to funding groundbreaking scientific research for the prevention and early detection of ovarian cancer and to educating women and people with ovaries about their gynecologic health.
Meghan Daley is the Executive Director of Leadership in Financial Education. In this role, Meghan mentors program participants, cultivates relationships with school and nonprofit partners, designs curricula and programmatic strategy, and leads program volunteer training and recruitment. Meghan has built and implemented career readiness programs for high school-aged students in her tenure as Program Manager at Futures and Options, a NYC-based youth development organization. She has also worked as a high school counselor, providing an added layer of understanding around curriculum and program development. Meghan earned a B.A. in Communication from Villanova University and an M.S.Ed. in School Counseling from Monmouth University.
Yeidaly Mejia is the Program Coordinator at LIFE. In this role, Yei offers a myriad of supports such as supporting recruitment efforts, being a first point of contact for students and volunteers, and tailoring curriculum ensuring a smooth running program. Yei has worked in the non-profit sector for almost a decade now in roles providing 1:1 support for high school and college students, program management, and currently, as a Director of Portfolio Management.
Yei earned her B.A. in Sociology and Education from Bryn Mawr College.
