People

ACG Boston, the Boston chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth , has appointed two new board members: Jay Hernandez, director, Boston office of Harris Williams & Co., and Kevin Kester, managing director at Siguler Guff. the firm also announced that Jack Derby, president of Derby Management LLC, is leaving his position as ACG Boston’s board chairman.

Anurag Chandra has joined NXT Capital, a Chicago-based lender focused on mid-market and emerging growth companies, as a managing director. Chandra will focus on opportunities in the tech sector. Chandra was most recently a managing partner at Gresham Partners in Atherton, Calif.

Former Small Business Investment Company program senior investment officer Kristi Craig has joined the Small Business Investor Alliance to manage business development efforts following the alliance’s recent expansion. The Small Business Investor Alliance, previously known as the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies, is an organization of lower mid-market funds and investors.

Michael Flaherman has joined New York-based investment firm Lyrical Partners as a managing director. Flaherman was formerly chairman of the investment committee of CalPERS. Lyrical Partners and its affiliates manage value-centric funds of hedge funds, multi-family housing real estate funds and value equity portfolios.

Jack Freker was named CEO of First Advantage, which is backed by Symphony Technology Group. Freker succeeds interim CEO Andy Macdonald, who will become the CEO of an STG portfolio company focused on e-discovery and legal process outsourcing services. Macdonald will also be a director of First Advantage.

Alexandre Gonthier has been appointed chief executive officer of online and mobile payments solution provider eWise. The company also named Phillip Riese chairman of the board and appointed Eric Archambeau as director of the company. eWise is backed by Wellington Partners.

Howard Gwin has joined OMERS Ventures, the investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, as a managing director. Previously, Gwin has worked as president of Solect Technology Group and as executive vice president of worldwide operations at Peoplesoft Inc.

Amanda Jackson has joined Shareholder Representative Services, a post-closing expert for private company mergers and acquisitions, as director of business development for the Northeast. Jackson, based in Boston, will closely manage SRS’ relationships with the M&A community, including private equity and venture capital clients, M&A attorneys, investment bankers and management teams that are selling or planning to sell their companies.

Chris Kolber has joined Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based buyout firm focused on the health care and life science industries, as an operating partner. Kolber was previously the president of global devices at Hospira and division vice president of licensing and new business development at Abbott Laboratories, where he spent 25 years in various roles.

Peter A. Lankau has been named executive chairman of Nautilus Neurosciences, a neurology-focused specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bedminster, N.J. Lankau will have an active role in the company and will focus primarily on business strategy and portfolio development. Nautilus Neurosciences was launched in 2010 and is backed by Tailwind Capital Partners of New York and Galen Partners of Stamford, Conn.

Robert Long has joined Boston-based Webster Capital as a senior general partner. Long worked previously to build a senior and mezzanine debt business for Allied Capital, which merged into Ares Capital in April 2010. Earlier in his career, Long worked for Montgomery Securities/Banc of America Securities and Nomura Securities.

Lisa Pavelka McAlister has joined the PwC US unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as a managing director in the firm’s U.S. Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory Services group. She will assist in driving PwC’s services to private equity and alternative investment companies. McAlister previously was senior vice president, COO and CFO of global private equity at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Kisen Nathu has been promoted to vice president at San Francisco-based Encore Consumer Capital. Nathu joined Encore in 2006 and focuses on portfolio value creation, origination of new investment opportunities, and transaction execution.

Nicole Phillips has joined global recruitment agency CTPartners as a principal in the retail and consumer practice. She specializes in the fashion, retail, consumer and beauty industry sectors, recruiting across a broad range of disciplines including CEOs, general management, marketing, sales, operations, stores, creative and merchandising.

Donald Schaeffer was promoted to managing director of CBIZ Mergers & Acquisitions Group, a division of CBIZ Financial Solutions and a subsidiary of CBIZ. Schaeffer was previously a director.

Phil Smith has joined Greene Holcomb & Fisher as managing director and senior member of the firm’s health care team, the firm announced. Greene Holcomb & Fisher is a middle-market investment banking firm with offices in Minneapolis, Seattle and Phoenix.

Jim Strang has joined Hamilton Lane as a principal in the London office. Strang was previously director and head of fund investment at Dunedin Capital Partners Ltd in London.

Vik Thadani has joined Babson Capital Management as a managing director in its mezzanine and private equity group. Previously, Thadani has worked with the equity sponsor finance group at Union Bank of California, the leveraged finance group at CIBC World Markets, and the mid-market loan syndications group at Bank of America.

James Wardlaw has joined global advisory firm Campbell Lutyens as a partner. He will head Campbell Lutyens’ specialist infrastructure practice and will have responsibility for the firm’s relationships with institutional investors in infrastructure worldwide, across the full capital structure spectrum of debt and equity, as well as having responsibility for secondary infrastructure transactions.