Ep. 53 Suzanne Yoon, Founder & Managing Partner, Kinzie Capital Partners
On this episode of Investors & Operators, Jordan sits down with Suzanne Yoon, Founder & Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners in Chicago. Together, they discuss:
- the journey of starting a firm from scratch
- the trajectory of women and POC in finance
- hitting the right balance of family + career, and making it all work
...and so much more.
SUZANNE YOON is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm that invests in lower middle market companies in the consumer, manufacturing and service industries. In 2017, she launched Kinzie as part of her long-standing vision to advance the use of technology, data analytics and innovation to help unlock value for companies. Her creative outlook on the use of technology in the Private Equity sector leads to improved operational efficiency and new avenues for growth within Kinzie’s diverse portfolio of companies and investors. Three years after its founding, Kinzie was recognized by the Private Equity Women’s Investor Network (PEWIN) as Female Founded Firm of the Year 2020.
Suzanne has over 20 years’ experience investing in and advising middle market companies. Before founding Kinzie, she served as a Managing Director of Versa Capital Management, where she led transaction development throughout North America. Prior to that role, Suzanne was a Senior Vice President of CIT Group. She also co-founded LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO’s Corporate Restructuring Group and held positions in distressed loan portfolio management and advisory at LaSalle Bank and Ernst and Young’s Corporate Finance group, respectively.
A respected leader in both the business and civic spheres, she serves on several private company boards and civic boards such as: The National Philanthropic Trust (NPT), the largest independent Donor Advised Fund manager in the world with over $14BL under management, where she serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees; The Council of Korean Americans (CKA) where she co-chairs the Finance Committee; Chicago Public Library Foundation; and HFS Chicago Scholars, an organization that serves economically disadvantaged Chicago inner-city high school students. Additionally, Yoon serves on the Steering Committees of the Private Equity’s Women Investor Network (PEWIN) and Women’s Association of Venture & Equity (WAVE.) She is also a member of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers and the Economic Club of Chicago.
Suzanne earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Iowa and is an Executive Scholar of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Last year, Mergers & Acquisitions named her to the 2020 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A and the Wall Street Journal recognized her as a top female deal maker shaping private equity’s present & future. Suzanne lives in Chicago with her husband and three children and is an outdoor and sports enthusiast who enjoys golfing and fishing with her family.
