team

As President & CEO of AltFinance, Marcus Shaw leverages his 20+ years of experience in investment management, technology, and nonprofit leadership to develop strategies for growing the talent pipeline in the alternative investment industry through mentorship, partnerships, and financial support. He has led AltFinance since its inception and has overseen the growth of the AltFinance Fellowship to more than 100 students to date, the disbursement of more than $5.4 million in scholarships HBCU students and in institutional giving to support HBCU programs, and the launch of the AltFinance Institute, a partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to bring top-tier financial curriculum, alternative investing training, and professional networking to all HBCU students and faculty across the country.

Tulani Thomas brings over 20 years of diverse experience in accounting, law, business administration, and environmental advocacy to AltFinance. As Chief of Staff, Tulani will drive AltFinance's growth by collaborating with the CEO on stakeholder development and operational management. She began her career as a Certified Public Accountant at Ernst & Young LLP in the Audit and Advisory Services group and later served as the Senior Account Manager at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, specializing in auditing companies in the retail and publishing sectors and providing financial management and strategic analysis. She also worked at Clifford Chance, focusing on Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities, and Antitrust. Before joining AltFinance, she founded TuTu’s Green World, an environmental education company partnering with municipalities, school districts, and non-profit organizations to offer holistic environmental programming for children and communities. Tulani is a Milken Scholar with the Michael Milken Foundation and serves as an advisor to the National Science Foundation’s project on Authoring STEM Stories for Climate Risk Preparedness in Black children’s media.

Rachel Ward brings more than 12 years of experience in program development and partnership management. Prior to AltFinance, Rachel worked in the Aerospace & Defense sector for more than 10 years at Raytheon Technologies Corporation. She started her career in its prestigious Operations Leadership Program, and later served in various roles across Global Supply Chain, Human Resources and Digital Technology groups. Most recently, she was Associate Director, Strategy, where she was responsible for large-scale strategy and transformation planning across the Enterprise Services organization.

John Carter is the Director of Student Success at AltFinance, where he focuses on building relationships between students and alternative investment firms, their portfolio companies and other banking or consulting firms in the alternatives career pipeline. He brings more than 15 years of experience working in the financial industry across a variety of roles including as a hedge fund portfolio manager and as an equity options trader focused on the tech sector.

Leslie Espy has worked on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives with major corporations across the hospitality, entertainment, and fintech sectors. Prior to joining AltFinance, Leslie led and scaled DE&I/CSR Content and Communications at Fiserv Financial Services & Technology, which included internal communications, social media, and digital content. She has also held strategic roles at MGM Resorts International, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Creative Artists Agency. She holds three pending patents at Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation), serves on the board of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, and has led Employee Resource Groups at three Fortune 500 companies.

Terence Thomas Jr. is an Investor-in-Residence at AltFinance, where he mentors HBCU students pursuing careers in alternative investments and leads strategic initiatives to assess the program's long-term impact. Prior to joining AltFinance, Terence spent over two years at Ares Management, evaluating private equity investment opportunities and overseeing due diligence processes. He holds a B.A. in Global Political Economy from Swarthmore College and is multilingual. Demonstrating his commitment to integrating sustainability into investment strategies, Terence previously served as the ESG Data Champion at Ares. His diverse background in finance, community engagement, and economic development positions him as a valuable leader in both alternative investments and urban economic transformation.

Derek Oliver is an Investor-in-Residence at AltFinance, where he focuses on curriculum and program development, providing mentorship and individualized coaching, and leading technical and industry-based lectures for the AltFinance Fellowship. Prior to AltFinance, Derek worked in the private equity group at Audax Group, a leading alternative asset management firm with approximately $36 billion in assets under management. Prior to that, he was with Harlem Capital, an early stage venture capital firm focused on investing in women and minorities. Derek began his investment career in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs in both New York and London, where he focused on Consumer/Retail transactions.

Herb Belton (he/him/his) is a private equity investor with more than eight years of experience in the financial services industry. As Investor-in-Residence, he supports the strategic initiatives of the organization related to curriculum and program development as well as providing mentorship and coaching to AltFinance Fellows. Prior to joining AltFinance, Herb served as an investor for Stellex Capital Management, a middle-market private equity firm with $2.6 billion of assets under management. He also worked in J.P. Morgan’s Technology Investment Banking coverage group in San Francisco. Herb graduated with honors from the Howard University School of Business in 2015 with a BBA in Finance and minor in Economics.