Arend de Jong
Arend de JongFounder & Partner
“I am passionate about working with growing small and medium sized businesses.“

While delivering solid analyses, Arend enjoys working with entrepreneurs and their teams on breakthrough strategies for growth, with real, measurable results. Arend is an MBA from the TRIUM program, hosted by NYU-Stern, London School of Economics and HEC Paris. A professionally trained finance specialist (CIMA), he learned his craft at Sony and Lucent Technologies. He was managing partner of Andersson Ellfers Felix, a leading strategy firm in the Netherlands. His 15+ years in advisory has taken him to projects across the globe.

Shane Bohbrink
Shane BohbrinkPartner
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett

Shane helps organizations navigate change—through detailed planning, critical thinking, and honest perspectives. Shane spent the first stage of his career at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants & PwC Advisory before completing a term as the Head of Finance & Operations at Naasakle International, a US-Ghana skincare ingredient supplier and retail brand undergoing significant growth. He has a degree in Finance from Indiana University, and has lived and worked in North America, Europe, and Africa. Shane helps organizations navigate change—through detailed planning, critical thinking, and honest perspectives. Shane spent the first stage of his career at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants & PwC Advisory before completing a term as the Head of Finance & Operations at Naasakle International, a US-Ghana skincare ingredient supplier and retail brand undergoing significant growth. He has a degree in Finance from Indiana University, and has lived and worked in North America, Europe, and Africa. He is also a Professional EOS Implementer®, helping business leaders run successfully on Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to clarify, simplify and achieve their vision.

Brad Merchant
Brad MerchantExpert
Brad is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and all things numbers-oriented. Beginning the foundation of his career at Enron and transitioning more recently towards impact investment in early-stage businesses operating in Africa, Brad has a wide and diverse appreciation for business challenges. His industry experience spans across energy markets as well as agriculture, infrastructure, CPG, ESG/impact, and fintech.

Previous roles were in M&A, corporate finance, investment management, and equity research with a geographic focus that includes North America, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. Brad has also gained significant transaction experience from both the buy side and sell side perspectives across a range of industries. Brad is a CFA charterholder.

Alice Lee
Alice LeeExpert
Alice activates people, power, and markets for social impact through facilitative approaches rooted in design thinking. Alice has a background in optimizing early-stage business concepts for scale in emerging markets and designing communication strategies for startups. Most recently, Alice worked at iDE, an international development nonprofit, where she focused on growing and diversifying its multimillion-dollar grant portfolio across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Alice holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and has lived and worked in numerous countries across East and Southern Africa. She is now based in the US.

Anca van Assendelft
Anca van AssendelftExpert
A seasoned executive, with 20+ years consulting and client side experience who “ignites, impacts and interlocks” with a passion for analytical rigor with around-the-corner vision. Her industry experience includes high tech, retail, CPG, financial services, and manufacturing – including hi-growth, global enterprise, and start-up environments. Her focus is on driving technology enabled change and innovative solution strategies to help companies create efficiencies & transform customer experiences.

Anca’s experience spans large scale corporate transformation, merchandising supply chain, go-to-market & customer engagement strategy, product development, and M&A in North America, Europe, and Australia. She currently works as a transformation strategy consultant and breakthrough executive coach.

Stephen Webster
Stephen Webster Expert
With over three decades of executive leadership and most importantly, real-life, in-the-trenches business experience, Stephen appreciates and understands that complexity is pervasive across all aspects of our lives and that reducing and eliminating complexity leads to increased focus and greater business success. Simplification enables results and happiness. Stephen’s “No Fear” approach enables companies to capitalize on business opportunities, solve sales and operational challenges and eliminate business complexity.

Stephen has a unique ability to get to the root cause of issues He also has coaching and leadership skills that bring out the best in people. Practical, street-savvy and realistic, Stephen’s fusion of real-life experiences and his collaborative problem-solving approach enable him to create real and sustainable change for his companies and clients.