Private Equity Fast Pitch

MAY 14, 2026

Advice to Young Professionals and College Students

60 MIN

APR 30, 2026

Harvard Alumni on Private Equity Fast Pitch® - Career Advice For Private Equity & Investment Banking

69 MIN

APR 16, 2026

Ignacio Jayanti - Corsair Capital

Ignacio Jayanti is the Chief Executive Officer of Corsair and serves as Chairman of the Buyouts Investment Committee and as a member of the Infrastructure Investment Committee. He joined Corsair in 1993 when the first Corsair fund was launched and is based in New York. Ignacio is a director of Corsair portfolio companies IDnow and ZEDRA. Prior to spinning off Corsair as an independent business from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in 2006, Ignacio played a key role as a senior member of the investment team of the predecessor Corsair funds and also was responsible for managing the operations of the Corsair business from 1994 onwards. From 1994 to 1999, Ignacio was also a senior member of the Investment Banking Department of J.P. Morgan, where he headed the Emerging Markets Financial Institutions group. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Ignacio worked at Credit Suisse First Boston in the Financial Institutions group both in New York and London. His investment banking experience includes complex advisory assignments in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Ignacio holds both a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics from Queens' College, Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Ignacio is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hotchkiss School, a member of the RAND Global and Emerging Risks Advisory Board, and a member of the International Advisory Board of British American Business.

39 MIN

APR 2, 2026

Omar Jaffrey - Palistar Capital

Omar Jaffrey has been involved in technology, media and telecommunications ("TMT") investments, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, public and private capital raises, restructuring and bankruptcies for over 30 years. Mr. Jaffrey founded Palistar Capital (formerly, Melody Investment Advisers, "Palistar") in 2019 as a specialist digital infrastructure investor as his go-forward investment platform and created Symphony Wireless, an affiliated easements origination platform ("Symphony"). The team successfully raised a $2 billion dedicated digital infrastructure fund at the end of 2021, has built out a specialist team with deep investment and operating expertise and has invested in a number of macro tower investments including Harmoni Towers, Parallel Infrastructure, CTI Towers, and an easements and tower portfolio originated by Symphony. Prior to Palistar, Mr. Jaffrey co-founded Melody Capital Partners ("Melody") in 2012 where he was also a Managing Partner. The team at Melody raised two fund families – a Structured Credit platform with $1 billion assets under management ("AUM") and a digital infrastructure platform with $700 million AUM ("Melody Wireless Infrastructure"). Mr. Jaffrey crafted the strategy, built Melody Wireless Infrastructure as its CEO and successfully exited Melody Wireless Infrastructure in 2021. Melody is now actively harvesting its remaining investments and is no longer making new investments or fundraising. Prior to Melody, Mr. Jaffrey was a Managing Director of UBS Investment Bank, most recently serving as Americas Co-head of the Special Situations Group. Mr. Jaffrey was an advisor to some of the leading telecommunications and technology companies globally covering over 50 global clients in the TMT space for their strategic and financing needs. Mr. Jaffrey also helped build UBS's Telecommunications Media and Technology Investment Banking practice and was Global Head of Satellite Investment Banking while specializing in the convergence of TMT sectors between 2003 and 2009. Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Jaffrey was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch where he built the Global Satellite Investment Banking practice. In the early 1990s, Mr. Jaffrey helped build Bear Stearns' Investment Bank in Asia, and was a founding member of Bear Stearns' Telecommunications sector Investment Banking practice. Mr. Jaffrey holds a BS magna cum laude in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford University, and is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies.

45 MIN

MAR 19, 2026

Daphne Dufresne - Awani Capital

Daphne Dufresne is the Founder and Managing Partner of Awani Capital. She leads the firm's strategic direction, investment decisions, and value creation initiatives across the portfolio. With over 25 years of private equity experience, Daphne has a long-standing track record of building scalable businesses in the business and industrial services sectors. She plays an active role in all phases of the investment process—from deal sourcing and thesis development to portfolio company growth and exit strategy. Before founding Awani, Daphne was a Managing Partner at GenNx360, a $2.2 billion middle-market private equity firm based in New York. She served on the investment, valuation, and exit committees, and led direct investments in GenServe, Precision Aviation Group, Aero 3, and Whitsons Culinary Group, completing 31 add-on acquisitions across these platforms. Daphne was also a founding Managing Director at RLJ Equity Partners. Earlier in her career, she also held senior roles at Parish Capital Advisors, Weston Presidio, and the Bank of Scotland's Structured Finance group, and began her career at Accenture. Daphne is on the board of directors of NYSE (UNFI) where she chairs the Compensation Committee. Daphne earned a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

38 MIN

Private Equity Fast Pitch

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