Mr. Donaldson has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2018. Mr. Donaldson is a Retired Partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, a global law firm, where he started in 1985. Mr. Donaldson served as Pillsbury’s Chief Operating Officer and a member of the firm’s Executive Team from June 2006 until July 2017. Mr. Donaldson also served as a member of Pillsbury’s Board of Directors from May 2006 until May 2015. Mr. Donaldson has a long affiliation with the Capitol team. From September 2007 until its merger with Two Harbors in October 2009, Mr. Donaldson served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol I. From March 2013 until its merger with Lindblad Expeditions, Mr. Donaldson also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol II. From September 2015 until its merger with Cision in June 2017, Mr. Donaldson also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol III. From June 2017 until its merger with Nesco, Mr. Donaldson served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol IV. Mr. Donaldson currently serves on the Board of Directors of Arizona Cardinals Holdings, Inc. From June 2000 to August 2001, Mr. Donaldson served as Managing Director of Venturehouse Group and he has served as a member of its Board of Directors since June 2000.
He previously served on the Board of Directors of Greater DC Cares and the Board of Directors of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. Mr. Donaldson received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1982 and a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School in 1985.
Mr. Calcano has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2018. Mr. Calcano is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Institutional Capital Network, Inc. (or iCapital Network). Mr. Calcano began working with iCapital shortly after its 2013 founding to lead key strategic and business development initiatives. iCapital is a technology platform for the alternative investment marketplace that currently has about $63 billion of assets operated and managed on its platform. Throughout Mr. Calcano’s tenure, iCapital has completed seven acquisitions and has also grown significantly on an organic basis. Mr. Calcano has a long affiliation with the Capitol team. From September 2007 until its merger with Two Harbors in October 2009, Mr. Calcano served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol I. From March 2013 until its merger with Lindblad Expeditions, Mr. Calcano also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol II. From September 2015 until its merger with Cision in June 2017, Mr. Calcano also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol III. From June 2017 until its merger with Nesco, Mr. Calcano served as a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol IV. From 1990 to June 2006, Mr. Calcano was affiliated with Goldman, Sachs & Co., most recently serving as the co-head of the Global Technology Banking Group of the Investment Banking Division, prior to which he headed the firm’s east coast technology group and was the co-Chief Operating Officer of the High Technology Department. From 1985 to 1988, Mr. Calcano was an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Calcano was named to the Forbes Midas List of the most influential people in venture capital in 2001 (the inaugural year), 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Mr. Calcano received a B.A. from College of the Holy Cross, and attended the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College from 1988 to 1990, graduating as a Tuck Scholar.
Mark Ein is an investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, who has created, acquired, invested in and built a series of growth companies across a diverse set of industries over the course of his 30-year career. During this time, Mr. Ein has been involved in the founding or early stages of six companies that have been worth over one billion dollars and has led over $3 billion of private equity, venture capital and public company investments.
Mr. Ein is the Chairman and CEO of investment firms Capitol Investment Corp, Leland Investment Corp and Venturehouse Group that create, invest in and build growth businesses in a range of industries. Among the current companies in the portfolios are Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ:LIND), a global leader in expedition travel, where he serves as Co-Chairman, and majority-owned Kastle Systems, the country's leading provider of proptech and security systems for commercial real estate, where he serves as Executive Chairman. Mr. Ein is also currently a member of the board of Soho House & Co. (NYSE:SHCO) and Custom Truck One Source, Inc. (NYSE:CTOS).
In February 2023, Mr. Ein was nominated by President Biden to be Chairman of his President’s Export Council.
In July, 2023, Mr. Ein was one of the founding partners that help lead the acquisition of the Washington Commanders NFL franchise.
Mr. Ein is also the Founder and Owner of MDE Sports, which owns the Mubadala Citi DC Open tennis tournament in Washington, D.C. (the world's first and only combined ATP/WTA 500 tennis tournament), the Washington Justice esports franchise in the Overwatch League, and the Washington City Paper, the renowned local media company serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since 1981.
A native of the Washington area, he actively supports many community, charitable and cultural organizations and currently serves on the boards of the DC Public Education Fund (as Chairman since 2010, the Fund has raised $200 million of philanthropic support for D.C. Public Schools), DC College Access Program (DC-CAP), and DC Policy Center (Co-Founder). He currently serves as a Presidential Appointee to the Board of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), having previously served on the board from 2012-2018 (serving as a Vice President of the Board from 2016-2018). Mr. Ein has been a member of the World Economic Forum since 2016, and the Gridiron Club, the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, DC.
He has won numerous awards, including the Washington Business Hall of Fame, Washington, D.C. Business Leader of the Year from the Chamber of Commerce in 2011 and 2019, the Jefferson Award (the nation’s highest honor for public service), Washington Business Journal Top Corporation for Philanthropy (Small Companies), Washington Business Journal Power 100, Entrepreneur of the Year Awards from Ernst and Young and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). In September 2009, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty presented Mr. Ein with the Key to the City, highlighting his Washington Kastles success on the court and, “for their commitment to the District’s communities and our youth.”
Prior to starting his firm, Mr. Ein worked for The Carlyle Group, Brentwood Associates, and Goldman Sachs. He received a B.S. in Economics with a concentration in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Mr. Dryden has served as our President, Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since our inception. From May 2017 until it completed its business combination with Nesco in July 2019, Mr. Dryden served as President, Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Capitol IV. Mr. Dryden currently serves as Co-Chairman of Nesco and has been a member of the Board of Directors since its business combination with Capitol IV. From July 2015 until it completed its business combination with Cision in June 2017, Mr. Dryden was the President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Secretary and a Director of Capitol III. From the closing of the business combination until the sale of the company January 2020, Mr. Dryden served as a Director of Cision. From March 2013 to July 2015, Mr. Dryden served as the Chief Financial Officer and a Director of Capitol II. In July 2015, Capitol II completed its business combination with Lindblad. Mr. Dryden has continued to serve as a Director of Lindblad since the closing of its business combination. Mr. Dryden is also the founder of Dryden Capital Management, LLC, a private investment firm that invests in and builds private companies, and has served as its President since March 2013. Mr. Dryden has also been Vice Chairman of CDS Logistics Management, Inc., one of the largest providers of home improvement product delivery services in the United States, since 2009. From August 2005 to February 2013, Mr. Dryden worked in Citigroup’s Investment Banking division in New York, most recently as a Managing Director where he led the coverage effort for a number of the firm’s Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications clients. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Dryden held the titles of Associate and Vice President at Jefferies & Company, a middle market investment banking firm. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Dryden worked in the investment banking group at BB&T Corporation. Mr. Dryden is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Washington E-Sports Ventures, LLC, founded to purchase an Overwatch League Team and build other esports teams that will represent the capital region from Baltimore to Richmond including Washington, D.C. and all of Maryland and Virginia. Mr. Dryden holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a dual concentration in finance and management from the University of Richmond.
Ms. Saemundsson has served as our Executive Vice President and Secretary since October 2017. From July 2017 until its business combination in July 2019, Ms. Saemundsson was Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Secretary of Capitol IV. From October 2015 to June 2017, Ms. Saemundsson served as vice president of Capitol III. From May 2013 to July 2015, Ms. Saemundsson served as a consultant to Capitol II and has continued to serve as a consultant to Lindblad Expeditions since the closing of its business combination with Capitol II supporting the company’s financial planning and analysis, corporate development, capital raising and investor relations activities. From November 2011 to May 2013, Ms. Saemundsson was a vice president with Quadrangle Group LLC, a private investment firm focused on the communications, media and information sectors. Prior to joining Quadrangle, Ms. Saemundsson held the role of Vice President in Citigroup’s investment banking division in New York where she covered the media and telecommunications sectors. Previously, Ms. Saemundsson was an Analyst with British Sky Broadcasting in London. Ms. Saemundsson also previously served on the Board of Directors of NTELOS Holdings Corp. Ms. Saemundsson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management where she was a Silver Scholar. Ms. Saemundsson is a CFA charterholder.
Mr. Parnell has served as our Vice President since August 2019. Mr. Parnell previously served as a consultant for Capitol IV from July 2017 until its business combination with Nesco in July 2019. Since the business combination, Mr. Parnell has continued to serve as a consultant to Nesco supporting the company’s financial planning and analysis, corporate development and investor relations activities. Mr. Parnell also serves as Vice President of Business Development for Washington Esports Ventures, Mr. Ein and Mr. Dryden’s esports investment platform. Previously, Mr. Parnell was a consultant for Capitol III from February 2016 until its business combination with Cision in June 2017 and continued as a board observer until the company was acquired in December 2019. Prior to Capitol III, Mr. Parnell worked in the Media and Telecommunications investment banking group at Citi, where he covered a wide array of media and telecom clients and was involved in advising multiple transactions, including Capitol II in its business combination with Lindblad Expeditions. Mr. Parnell graduated cum laude from New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and accounting with a minor in politics.
Ms. Andresen has served as the Chief of Staff to Capitol V’s Chairman and CEO since September 2019. Previously, she served as Special Assistant to Capitol’s Chairman and CEO since September 2017. Prior to joining Capitol IV, Ms. Andresen served as the Executive Assistant to the President of Opower, which was acquired by Oracle in 2016. From 2009 to 2014, Ms. Andresen worked as a Senior Associate at the Glover Park Group, specializing in high-level executive support and strategic communications. Ms. Andresen is a certified Project Management Professional and graduated from the University of Virginia, where she received a B.A. in American Politics.
Ms. Kline has served as Special Assistant to Capitol V’s President and CFO since January 2018. Prior to joining Capitol IV, Ms. Kline served as the Assistant to our CEO, Mark Ein, at Venturehouse Group – a D.C.-based Venture Capital firm. Before moving to D.C., she held a position as the Assistant to a private family (hedge fund Co-Founder) in New York City. Ms. Kline has a diverse background in high-level executive support, project management, and event planning. Ms. Kline graduated from the University of Mississippi, where she received a B.A. in Art and English.