Mary Josephs of Verit Advisors named to 2020 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A

Describe a recent accomplishment.
Verit Advisors’ past year in business has been transformational. We employed business models and capital structures that we have been incubating for a decade. More innovative than traditional employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) structures frequently used by manufacturing, construction and engineering companies, they involved different forms of employee ownership that we applied to private equity, nonprofit, and business services clients – all of which are confronting the war for talent and seeking to enhance employee engagement. Again this year we helped many family businesses restructure using ESOPs.

How are you a champion for change?
Strong governance is the secret to managing risk, and good risk controls, in turn, produce operational and competitive benefits. Having advised hundreds of private and family-ownedcompanies, I’ve seen their fortunes often sour when governance is weak. For that reason, we urge them to formalize a good governance philosophy and structure with annual governance and risk checkups, and also to establish a well-functioning board, including independent members who can help them navigate conflicts of interest, evaluate strategy and address anticipated and unanticipated risks.