Executive moves, week of Aug. 31, 2009

Leathers joins Pine Brook Road

has left Capital Z Partners after 10 years at the firm to join Pine Brook Road Partners.

The move comes several months after Pine Brook raised $1.4 billion for its debut fund, which will focus on private equity investments in the energy and financial services sectors.

Leathers joined Capital Z more than a decade ago after he spent time as an investment banking associate with DLJ. He served as one of two partners at the firm—which also has two managing partners—and he served on the boards of portfolio companies Universal American Financial Corp. and SBJ Group Ltd.

Pine Brook currently has three investments in the insurance sector: Aurigen Re Capital Ltd., Narragansett Bay Insurance Co. and Syndicate Holding Corp.

Neither Leathers nor a Pine Brook spokesperson responded to a request for comment. —Dan Primack

Dicciani joins Advent

has joined Advent International as a Boston-based operating partner, with a focus on the chemicals and materials industry. Dicciani is the former president and CEO of Specialty Materials.

Shasta names Buhr as EIR

has joined Shasta Ventures as an entrepreneur-in-residence, with a focus on online discovery and mobile opportunities. He most recently served as general manager for StumbleUpon and, before that, was senior director of corporate strategy at eBay.

Carlyle adds Pedersen

Debra Pedersen has joined The Carlyle Group as a managing director of global leveraged finance, with a focus on investor relations and fund-raising. She previously was a managing director with Plainfield Asset Management.

Nordan veers over to Venrock

has joined Venrock as a vice president. He will focus on energy, environmental and materials tech opportunities out of the firm’s Cambridge, Mass.-based office. Nordan is a co-founder and former president of Lux Research.

Rothstein joins energy council

has joined the New England Clean Energy Council as a senior vice president, where he will lead the group’s clean energy innovation consortia. He previously was an executive-in-residence with Flagship Ventures.

Bessemer snags Ron

Aran Ron has joined Bessemer Venture Partners as a New York-based operating partner focused on health care. He previously was president and COO of Group Health Inc.

Tao leaves PwC

has resigned from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was the lead partner for corporate finance in China.

Shannon joins Safeway board

, a founder of KSL Capital Partners, has joined the board of supermarket company Safeway Inc.

WL Ross names vice chairman

has agreed to join WL Ross & Co. as vice chairman, effective next month. He recently resigned as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Diversified Trust hires Womack

has joined Diversified Trust Co. as a principal in the firm’s Nashville office. She previously was managing director of private markets for Vanderbilt University’s endowment.