Women in Private Equity 2026

Who are some of the most prominent or up-and-coming women in private equity?

Here is an overview of our highlight Women in Private Equity 2026.

1. Marcie Frost, CEO at CalPERS

   Marcie Frost started out as a teenage mother with a temp job as a typist. She would rise to become the CEO of the largest public pension in the US.

2. Jennifer Davis, partner at Bain Capital

   Davis spent her first 10 years at Goldman in the bank’s Industrials Group before moving over to the consumer sector, which she heads up at Bain. “I knew more about bulldozers and draglines than I did consumer brands.”

3. Jennifer James, COO & head of investor relations & marketing at Thoma Bravo

   The veteran software investor last year raised a combined $34.4 billion for three funds – all of them oversubscribed. She was hired by Bravo in 2015 to effectively build an IR function from scratch..

4. Katrina Liao, investment partner at Coller Capital

   Liao never expected to be at the same firm for 15 years, but she has used her time well, originating and executing some of Coller’s largest GP-led and single asset deals.

5. Christen Paras, partner at MiddleGround Capital

   Hired by MiddleGround in 2019, Paras was impressed by the firm: “I found the operator-led model to be a unique value proposition in industrials mid-market M&A. They were not afraid to do things differently, and I thought, ‘This will be fun.’ I’ve never looked back.”

6. Cathrin Petty, co-head of North American private equity at CVC Capital Partners

   Petty studied science in college, but a summer job at JPMorgan drew her to finance. “I discovered pretty quickly I was never going to be Marie Curie and was too impatient to stay in the lab.”

7. Silvia Oteri, partner & head of healthcare at Permira

   Oteri started out in consulting, but when she went to grad school everybody was talking about private equity. “I was curious and decided to give it a try.”

8. Ellie Rubenstein, co-founder & managing partner at Manna Tree

   The daughter of David Rubenstein, co-founder of Carlyle Group, she grew up watching her entrepreneurial parents create things, and she has followed in their footsteps: “I’ve always been the builder.”

9. Yangge Seaman, head of private investments at Children’s Health Foundation

   Seaman’s career path started when she journeyed from her home in China to study at Notre Dame. “I became interested in endowments because I wanted to know where my scholarship money was coming from.”

10. Julia Wittlin, partner at RedBird Capital Partners

    Wittlin has had investment oversight responsibilities in deals for investments such as Fenway Sports Group, Alpine and Dream 11. She also is one of the leads in RedBird’s college sports efforts.