Mergers & Acquisitions names the 2023 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A, including William Blair’s Solange-Marie Velazquez.

Describe a recent dealmaking accomplishment.
While 2022’s dealmaking environment differed greatly from the frenzy of 2020 and 2021, the transportation technology sector had a fair share of visible transactions. I’m proud of the work executed by my team at William Blair on several of them.

The one that stands alone was the sale of Spireon to Solera. In addition to bringing together two sophisticated providers of transport tech, further streamlining operations and delivery of digital-first programming for connected vehicles, it brought together leading private equity firms Greenbriar and Vista Equity to deliver valuable market insights and management team support.

How are you advancing the state of women?
Along with two of my colleagues, together with our partner Hollie Haynes, founder and managing partner of Luminate Capital, I organized the first-of-its-kind event: “Tech Connect: Women in Private Equity Summit.” Bringing together more than 85 senior-level women from the technology investing universe, our event received strong reviews.

Our investment banking team is committed to recruiting women in college, offering a path to the financial services sector, and exploring unique ways to attract and retain top women in the sector. In addition, as part of my role to empower members of the investment banking group, I champion and mentor women moving up in their career with networking opportunities, advancement guidance, and valuable insights on things like client service, work/life balance and, in my specific case, the tech sector.

For the full list of 2023 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A, see here.