Session Details
Date:
11:15 AM
Where:
Main Stage
More Information
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Speaker Bios
Brent Baxter, CEO of ACG
As Chief Executive Officer at ACG, Brent oversees all aspects of the organization's operations and plans for strategic growth.
He has a long career in middle market M&A, with more than 25 years of sell-side and buy-side advisory experience, closing more than 200 transactions with a combined value of more than $1 billion. He also has a long and dedicated history supporting ACG in a volunteer capacity, serving in multiple positions on the ACG Board of Directors, and was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 DealMAX event.
Brent has been an active participant in numerous chapter leadership events for 20+ years, forming deep connections with ACG's chapter network. He has attended more than 250 ACG events throughout the U.S. and has been a key member of his local ACG St. Louis chapter, serving in multiple positions including Board President, Membership Chair, Chair of the Corporate Peer Group, as well as Chair of a key multi-chapter Midwest event, the Growth Conference.
Immediately before joining ACG, Brent served as Managing Director at Nolan & Associates, a leading boutique investment banking firm with a focus on the middle market.
Prior to joining Nolan, Brent spent 18 years as Managing Director of a St. Louis independent investment bank. He also has extensive experience growing private companies through acquisitions, serving as CEO of a food manufacturing company that more than quadrupled its sales in eight years, and continuing to serve on the boards of several privately held companies.
Brent and his wife, Celeste, have two sons, and when he is not attending ACG events or board meetings, he enjoys traveling, reading and cooking, which he developed a passion for while working in an Italian restaurant in college.
Malia Cohen, State Controller of the State of California
State Controller Malia M. Cohen was elected in November 2022, following her service on the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), the nation’s only elected tax commission responsible for administering California’s $100 billion property tax system. She was elected to the BOE in November 2018 and was Chair in 2019 and 2022. As Controller, she continues to serve the Board as its fifth voting member.
As chief fiscal officer of the world’s fifth-largest economy, Controller Cohen’s primary responsibility is to account for and protect the state‘s financial resources. Controller Cohen also independently audits government agencies that spend state funds, safeguards many types of property until claimed by the rightful owners, and administers the payroll system for state government employees and California State University employees. She serves on 70 boards and commissions with authority ranging from affordable housing to crime victim compensation to land management. Controller Cohen chairs the Franchise Tax Board and serves on the boards of the nation's two largest public pension funds, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Boards, which have a combined portfolio of $750 billion. The Controller is one of eight statewide constitutional officials who are elected every four years in California.
As the BOE Board Member for District 2, she represented 10 million constituents living in all or parts of 23 counties extending from Del Norte County in the north to Santa Barbara County in the south. As Chair of the BOE, she led the effort to modernize California’s property tax system, provide guidance to the 58 county assessors on remote assessment appeals board hearings, and utilize property tax abatements to stimulate affordable housing.
Prior to being elected to the BOE, Controller Cohen served as President of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco. As a Supervisor, she served as Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and the Audit and Oversight Committee. During this time, she also served as President of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS), which at the time was a $23 billion pension fund.
Controller Cohen has championed policies and programs that protect public health, foster economic development, promote new affordable housing, and create good jobs through protecting and expanding San Francisco’s manufacturing base. She has dedicated her career to public service, focusing on making public dollars work for all Californians.
