Kirk Sims heads TRS’ Emerging Manager Program. Since being established in 2005, TRS has committed $5.9 billion to one of the largest programs of its kind. An additional $4.6 billion has been invested directly with EM Program graduates. Each graduate was selected as a result of consistent outperformance among a group of more than 218 EM managers.

Sims joined the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on March 1, 2019. Before joining Texas Teachers, he was a Senior Investment Officer for the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois. Sims had oversight and management responsibility of TRS’s Emerging Manager Program, a $750 million evergreen pool of capital designed to identify and invest in emerging investment managers across all asset classes.

Prior, Sims worked at Prudential Retirement where he was responsible for a manager of manager’s retirement platform as well as an open architecture investment platform. He also has a background in asset management and has held various positions with both large and small asset managers.

Sims is a CFA charter holder and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University in Washington, DC.

Thomas Deinet was appointed Executive Director of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI), previously known as the Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) in September 2008. In 2007, Thomas joined the Hedge Fund Working Group to project manage the development of practice standards proposed by a group of 14 leading hedge fund managers that led to the establishment of the HFSB.

Before joining the HFSB, Thomas was a senior manager at Oliver Wyman, the management consulting firm, where he extensively worked with major financial institutions in Europe in both asset management as well as corporate and investment banking. He joined Oliver Wyman in 2002 after working as an analyst in energy trading for a major commodities trading firm.

Thomas is a regular speaker at hedge fund and regulatory conferences, and represents the SBAI at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

He is a holder of a Master Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany and an MSc from Purdue University, USA. Thomas Deinet is a CFA charterholder.

Sherri Rossoff is a Managing Director at RockCreek, a global investment manager headquartered in Washington, D.C. She has been responsible for many aspects of firm-wide business, serving on the Management Committee and as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. She leads RockCreek’s Inclusion and Belonging Group. Previously, she was senior counsel at the World Bank where she concentrated on managing assets as a limited partner and provided technical assistance to central banks. Ms. Rossoff serves on the Global Board of 100 Women in Finance. She has served as the Chair of the Markets Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors and has served on various working groups of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments. She is on the Board of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, one of the largest providers of services to youth in the nation’s capital experiencing homelessness. Ms. Rossoff earned her law degree from New York University School of Law and her BA in Economics and Political Science, summa cum laude, from Queens College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Neal Prunier, Senior Director, Industry Affairs at the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) is responsible for the continuing evolution and expansion of ILPA standards and best practices, as well as ILPA’s legal, government and regulatory affair efforts. Prior to ILPA, Neal spent his career at Cambridge Associates where he most recently served as Senior Director in CA’s Arlington, Virginia office. In this role, he oversaw staff across Singapore, London, and Arlington as head of a global investment operations department responsible for enterprise data management for Private Investment, Hedge Fund, and Long Only investment manager/client specific data. This work focused on serving the data needs of Research, Consulting, and Performance Reporting functions, as well as clients and the broader industry. Neal holds a BS in Finance from Elon University and an MBA from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Robert Jue is a Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Real Estate Investments, where he focuses on day-to-day decision-making, strategy, execution, and business operations.

Prior to co-founding Standard Real Estate Investments, Mr. Jue spent 14 years at CBRE Investment Management (“CBRE IM”) where he most recently served as a Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of the CBRE GI U.S. Development Partners Fund Series, Head of Development for the Americas, a member of the Americas Leadership Board and Co-Chair of the Americas ESG Committee. In addition to his experience at CBRE IM, Mr. Jue was formerly a member of the Board of Directors of Wood Partners, a national multifamily development company. Outside of work, he is an adventure sports enthusiast.

Mr. Jue received a BA in Economics from UCLA.

Ms. Norris co-founded New Heritage Capital in 2006 and serves as NHC’s Senior Partner, COO, and CCO. With 25 years in the private equity industry, Ms. Norris has extensive experience on both the investment and operations side of the business. She has served on or been an active board observer on 19 private company boards across multiple industries including healthcare services, industrial manufacturing and distribution, and business services. As NHC's COO and CCO, Ms. Norris plays a leading role in the firm's internal management, including investor relations, operations, finance, compliance, and HR.

Ms. Norris received her Bachelor of Science with Distinction degree in Business Management from Cornell University.

Khoi Tran is a portfolio manager within Public Markets at TRS and has led the development and management US and Europe small cap equity strategies since 2019. From 2017 to 2022, Khoi was a sector manager covering European Technology and Communication Services for the IDEA strategy. Khoi initially joined TRS in 2015 and covered North American Industrials for the Global Best Ideas strategy. Before coming to TRS, Khoi was a senior research analyst at long/short equity hedge funds Sycamore Lane Partners (2011 to 2015) and Elm Ridge Capital Management (2008 to 2011). From 2006 to 2008, Khoi was an investment banking analyst at UBS Investment Bank with the Technology group. Khoi began his career as a quantitative portfolio analyst at JPMorgan Asset Management in 2004. Khoi Tran received his BA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Khoi Tran is a portfolio manager within Public Markets at TRS and has led the development and management US and Europe small cap equity strategies since 2019. From 2017 to 2022, Khoi was a sector manager covering European Technology and Communication Services for the IDEA strategy. Khoi initially joined TRS in 2015 and covered North American Industrials for the Global Best Ideas strategy. Before coming to TRS, Khoi was a senior research analyst at long/short equity hedge funds Sycamore Lane Partners (2011 to 2015) and Elm Ridge Capital Management (2008 to 2011). From 2006 to 2008, Khoi was an investment banking analyst at UBS Investment Bank with the Technology group. Khoi began his career as a quantitative portfolio analyst at JPMorgan Asset Management in 2004. Khoi Tran received his BA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Burke Montgomery is GCM Grosvenor’s General Counsel and is a member of the ESG & Impact Committee and Operations Committee. He leads the firm's Legal Team and is responsible for absolute return strategies, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and other investment and client-related legal matters. Mr. Montgomery’s legal responsibilities also include the firm’s proprietary transactions, employment, regulatory, compliance, and other corporate matters. Prior to joining GCM Grosvenor, Mr. Montgomery was a corporate attorney at Sidley Austin, LLP, where he was a member of its Investment Funds group specializing in matters related to alternative asset management. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Notre Dame and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Indiana University Bloomington’s Maurer School of Law, where he served as Executive Editor of the Indiana Law Journal. Mr. Montgomery is a member of the Illinois and New York Bars..

Milton Berlinski co-founded Reverence Capital in June 2013 after concluding a 26-year career at Goldman Sachs, which he joined in 1986 and where he served as a founding member of the Financial Institutions Group in Investment Banking, focusing on banks, consumer and commercial finance companies, asset management, insurance and capital markets. He also served as Head of Strategy and Corporate Development in the period after Goldman Sachs’ IPO, assisting the Executive Office and division leaders to create and execute a strategy to build out Goldman Sachs’ global footprint. For the final 10 years of his Goldman Sachs tenure, Mr. Berlinski had global responsibility for coverage of the firm’s financial sponsor and hedge fund clients, overseeing a dramatic increase in revenue from the business and working alongside Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking team on co-investment opportunities in transactions involving the firm’s clients. Mr. Berlinski has led or executed over 250 transactions in financial services across all subsectors, including numerous strategic acquisitions by Goldman Sachs itself. Mr. Berlinski was also a member of the Operating Committee and the Compensation Committee during his time at the firm. He received a BA in engineering from California State University, Northridge, in 1978 and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. Mr. Berlinski serves on the board of directors for Russell Investments, Venerable Holdings (HoldCo), Transact, Osaic (f/k/a Advisor Group), DMG Bancshares, Ministry Brands, CAIS, SEIA, and EverBank (f/k/a TIAA Bank). He formerly served on the board of directors for Kabbage, Diamond Resorts, and Victory Capital. He also serves on the Board of the Ronald McDonald House, the Advisory Board of the Wharton School and The Mount Sinai Department of Surgery Advisory Board. He is a Board Member of the New America Alliance, supporting Latino leadership in entrepreneurship, corporate America, and public service. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), which has made a lifetime of achievement possible for nearly 20,000 talented young people from underserved and underrepresented communities around the United States.

Karl Fooks – works on the Treasury’s SSBCI outreach team where he focuses on outreach and policy related to SSBCI funded Venture Capital Programs. Prior to joining Treasury, he was the president of the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation, an agency of the State of Hawaii that partners with private sector investors to mobilize investment capital for the growth sectors of Hawaii’s economy. Karl previously worked for JP Morgan in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity