Conversations that Connect

SPEAKERS

 Cornelia Cheng  | Cornelia Cheng is the founder and Managing Partner of BCB Capital, providing strategic consulting, capital markets and M&A advisory to middle market founder and family-owned businesses. Cornelia is a Board Director and Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility Committee Chair (which has oversight over AI & Cybersecurity) with LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE: LTC), a senior housing REIT. She is the President and Board Chair of Association for Corporate Growth, Los Angeles Chapter. She is also a Global leader of 50/50 Women on Boards and Co-Chairs the Los Angeles Committee.

Previously, she was Managing Director of the Western Region for MGG Investment Group, responsible for originating, underwriting and managing investments across the MGG platform and a member of the MGG ESG Committee. Cornelia was previously Managing Director, Western Region Investments with direct lending fund Brightwood Capital Advisors, LLC. Prior to Brightwood, she was regional head of the greater Los Angeles Investment Team for Prudential Private Capital, where she spent 15 years sourcing, executing and managing a portfolio of private placement senior debt, mezzanine debt and minority equity investments in middle-market companies across a range of industries. She previously held positions at investment bank CIBC World Markets, and at First Interstate Bank. Cornelia is a former board member of the Archer School for Girls and is actively involved with several women and leadership and professional development groups focused on historically underrepresented groups.

Cornelia received her BA, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, Riverside and her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Back To Top ^^

 Jerilyn McAniff  | Ms. McAniff is a managing director and Oaktree’s Head of Diversity & Inclusion. She has served as co-head of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Council since 2017. Ms. McAniff first joined Oaktree’s U.S. High Yield Bond group in 2008, and worked on the Performing Credit team until 2021 as a senior analyst, serving a term as Co-Director of Research. Ms. McAniff is currently a Director of the Board of AltFinance, a non-profit initiative launched by Oaktree, Ares and Apollo to support students in gaining exposure to alternative investing. She is a co-founder of the Bloomberg Women’s Buyside Network California Chapter, on the ERG steering committee of the Asian American Association of Investment Managers, an Ambassador of Girls Who Invest, and a member of the AIMA Diversity Steering Committee. Ms. McAniff has led training sessions and developed curricula for valuation and M&A training programs for banks and asset management firms, and has taught classes for many universities and non-profit organizations focused on advancing diversity in the investment industry. She has a passion for teaching and co-authored The Practitioner’s Guide to Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance in 2007. Ms. McAniff started her career in the M&A Group at J.P. Morgan. She serves as a director of Hope Street Friends School and is on the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA) Committee of the Board of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. She received a B.S. degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.Back To Top ^^

 Eileen Neil  | For more than thirty years, Ms. Neill has provided a broad range of consulting services to a variety of institutional plan sponsors with respect to the successful development and implementation of their investment programs, including risk management, strategic asset allocation, manager structure analysis, investment policy development, manager selection, and the ongoing education of their fiduciaries.

Ms. Neill joined Verus in 2017 from Wilshire Associates, where she served as a senior investment consultant for 29 years. She has consulted to plan sponsors of varying sizes and complexity with assets ranging from $100 million to $200+ billion, a collection that includes public institutions, corporate defined contribution and defined benefit plans, endowments and foundations, healthcare organizations, and insurance companies. Additionally, Ms. Neill has served as a guest speaker at industry conferences on a wide range of investment topics, such as emerging manager programs, credit strategies, currency management, investment strategy implementation, performance-based fees, portable alpha, and other topics relevant to institutional investors.

Ms. Neill earned a Bachelor of Science degree (BS) in Business Administration from the University of Arizona, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis in Finance from Chapman University. She is a CFA charterholder (Chartered Financial Analyst) and is a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles. Ms. Neill has served as an advisory council member for the Women in Institutional Investments Network, as well as is currently an investment committee member for the Chadwick School Endowment Fund, and leads the West Coast Steering Committee for WAVE (Women’s Association of Venture and Equity). Ms. Neill is also a mentor for the CFALA Career Mentorship Program. She also sits on Verus’ Alternative Investments Committee. Before entering the investment consulting industry, Ms. Neill was a corporate financial analyst at a Fortune 100 company. Back To Top ^^

MODERATOR

 Momentum Partners  | Momentum Partners is a Los Angeles–based leadership development firm co-founded by Lori Tabb, CPCC, PCC and Natalie Barron, CPCC, PCC. Together, they coach bold leaders, facilitate transformational team offsites, and design curated experiences that spark connection, clarity, and confidence.

They are the creators of Bold Leaders & Bubbles—an intentional gathering series that blends conversation, reflection, and real-time coaching to help women lead with purpose and power. Lori and Natalie have worked with leaders from companies such as Amazon, CAA, Disney, and Ares, and bring deep experience across industries including finance, entertainment, marketing, and tech. Their work is equal parts energizing and strategic—and always rooted in real human connection.