Meet Our Team

Alec Gores is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Gores Group, a global investment firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base.

Mr. Gores began his career as a self-made entrepreneur and operating executive. In 1978, he self-funded and founded Executive Business Systems (EBS), a developer and distributor of vertical business software systems. Within seven years, EBS had become a leading value-added reseller in Michigan and employed over 200 people. In 1986, CONTEL purchased EBS and Mr. Gores subsequently began acquiring and operating non-core businesses from major corporations and building value in those entities, a decision that ultimately led to the founding of what has evolved into The Gores Group today.

Under his leadership, The Gores Group has continued to acquire businesses in need of operational and financial resources, while creating value and working with management to establish an entrepreneurial environment as a foundation for sustainable growth. This philosophy has served the firm well. Since 1987 over 80 businesses have been successfully acquired. The current portfolio includes over 20 active companies world-wide with combined annual revenues of over $7 billion. 

Mr. Gores holds a degree in computer science from Western Michigan University and lives in the Los Angeles area.

Mr. Diggins is a member of Gores' investment committee. Mr. Diggins has worked with Mr. Gores for over 20 years and formerly served as President and CEO of The Gores Group. Mr. Diggins was instrumental in working with Mr. Gores to build the Firm's management team and infrastructure. In 1983, Mr. Diggins joined EBS as a sales representative. In 1980, Mr. Diggins began his career in sales management at Burroughs Corporation. Mr. Diggins earned his B.A. in Business Administration from Michigan State University.

Mr. Stone is a member of Gores’ investment committee and is responsible for alternative investments. Prior to joining The Gores Group, Mr. Stone spent nearly a decade as a Chief Executive transforming businesses across the services, industrial and technology sectors. Mr. Stone spent five years with The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”) as a member of their high technology and industrial goods practices and served in BCG’s Boston, London, Los Angeles and Seoul offices. Mr. Stone earned a B.S. in Finance with Computer Science and Mathematics concentrations from the University of Maine and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Johnson is a member of Gores' investment committee and is responsible for leading the execution and negotiation of Gores acquisitions and divestitures. Prior to joining Gores, Mr. Johnson was a Managing Director and Investment Committee member of DLJ Merchant Banking Partners III and IV, and DLJ Growth Capital Partners I. Prior to joining DLJ, Mr. Johnson worked for E.M Warburg Pincus & Co, LLC., The Boston Consulting Group, and Chevron Corporation. Mr. Johnson has a Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Pollard joined The Gores Group in 1996 and has held various finance positions within TGG and its portfolio. She has previously led the finance functions of the firm and has been involved in a significant number of Gores’ transactions, both purchases and sales, with responsibility for financial due diligence, operational oversight, deal structure and negotiation. Prior to joining Gores, Ms. Pollard spent 13 years in public accounting and was a partner with Freedman & Goldberg, a certified public accounting firm located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Ms. Pollard earned her B.S. in Accounting from Western Michigan University.

Jennifer Kwon Chou is Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer of The Gores Group. Ms. Chou oversees firm strategy and the development of new products and partnerships for the firm. She also has management responsibilities over the firm’s origination, capital raising, external communications, and corporate development functions. Since joining Gores in 2010, Ms. Chou has been responsible for raising capital across Gores’ funds.

Prior to joining Gores, Ms. Chou was a Director at Sterling Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago. Prior to Sterling, she worked in capital markets at Lehman Brothers in New York. She began her career at Public Financial Management and the Vanguard Group.

Ms. Chou currently serves as a Board Member of the Boys & Girls Club of Venice, a Los Angeles-based non-profit. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and also received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where she was a Robert Toigo Fellow.

Ted Fike is a Senior Managing Director at The Gores Group where he leads the venture and growth investment team.

Prior to joining The Gores Group, Mr. Fike was a Partner at the SoftBank Vision Fund leading growth technology investments in the consumer internet, enterprise software, agtech, logistics, and eCommerce sectors. While at SoftBank, Mr. Fike helped to lead investments in DoorDash, Rappi, GetYourGuide, Globality, Upside Foods, Globality, and Plenty among others. Prior to SoftBank, Mr. Fike led strategy initiatives at Airbnb which acquired fintech company, Tilt, where he was CFO.  Before Tilt, Mr. Fike was a founding Principal of CapitalG, Google's growth equity investment arm.  Earlier at Google, Mr. Fike was responsible for acquisitions and investments as part of the corporate development team as well as global client relationships within Google's sales organization.  Prior to joining Google, Mr. Fike worked in strategy and operations at WebMD, credit investing at Bain Capital, and strategy consulting at The Boston Consulting Group.

Mr. Fike graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics.

Mr. Freedman is responsible for portfolio company financial and operational oversight and controls as well as leading due diligence activities. Prior to joining Gores, Mr. Freedman was CFO of The Learning Company, where he helped lead a successful turnaround and sale of the company. Mr. Freedman held various financial management roles at The Learning Company, Broderbund and Mindscape from 1994 to 2002. From 1988 to 1994, Mr. Freedman held various financial management positions at Paramount Communications. Prior to 1988, Mr. Freedman spent four years in public accounting. Mr. Freedman earned a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Mr. Sprowl is responsible for leading due diligence efforts and evaluating and executing investments, divestitures and recapitalizations on behalf of The Gores Group. Since joining the firm in 2010, Mr. Sprowl has had experience across the technology, business services, industrial / building materials and healthcare industries. Prior to joining Gores, Mr. Sprowl was an investment banker with UBS where he executed M&A, equity and debt transactions for clients primarily in the technology and business services industries. Mr. Sprowl holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Corporate Finance, cum laude, from the Marshall School of Business of the University of Southern California. He was also a member of the university’s varsity baseball team.

Mr. Skarzenski works with senior M&A and Operations team members on evaluating and executing new investment opportunities and managing portfolio companies. Prior to joining Gores, Mr. Skarzenski was an investment banking analyst at Lazard Frères & Co., focusing on strategic and M&A advisory in the firm’s Healthcare group. Mr. Skarzenski holds a B.A. in Political Science (with a concentration in Game Theory and Formal Theory) and minor in Classics, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with College Honors and Highest Departmental Honors.

Ms. Calender is responsible for finance, compliance, and tax oversight for The Gores Group, including its portfolio companies, and serves as Chief Compliance Officer for the firm. She manages various finance functions and administers the firm’s compliance requirements. Ms. Calender oversees tax due diligence and structuring of acquisitions and exits. She has extensive experience with accounting and tax issues for global companies and has been involved in a significant number of transactions during her career. Prior to joining Gores, Ms. Calender was a Senior Manager at KPMG and spent 12 years advising clients on complex tax and financial matters. Ms. Calender holds a B.S. in Business Administration, major in Accounting, from Drake University and a Master of Taxation from University of Denver.

Mr. McBride has served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Tax for The Gores Group and Chief Financial Officer and Secretary for each of the Gores SPACs.  Since February 2010, he has been responsible for tax due diligence and structuring of acquisitions, compliance, planning, financial management and SPAC and portfolio company reporting. Previously, Mr. McBride worked in the High Net Worth group at Ehrhardt, Keefe, Steiner, and Hottman, P.C. and worked with KPMG, LLP, assisting international corporations with tax planning, structuring and compliance. Mr. McBride holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Notre Dame and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Colorado.

Mr. Awad is involved in many of Gores' legal functions, including the negotiation and execution of acquisitions, divestitures, debt financings, and general corporate matters for Gores and its portfolio companies. Mr. Awad earned a B.S. in Biological Science from the University of California, Irvine, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

Mr. Tin is a Vice President at The Gores Group where he is responsible for evaluating, structuring, and executing new investment opportunities. Prior to joining Gores, Mr. Tin was an Investment Vice President at SoftBank Vision Fund where he evaluated new growth equity investments across the consumer technology sector. Prior to SoftBank, Mr. Tin was a Private Equity Associate at Vector Capital where he evaluated leveraged buyouts of new platform companies and managed existing portfolio companies across the enterprise technology sector. Prior to joining Vector Capital, Mr. Tin was an Investment Banking Analyst in the M&A group at Citi where he worked on transactions across the technology, healthcare, and industrials sectors. Mr. Tin graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School with a dual concentration in Finance and Operations & Information Management.

Mr. Scully is an Associate at The Gores Group where he is responsible for evaluating and executing new investment opportunities and managing portfolio companies. Prior to joining Gores, Mr. Scully was an Investment Banking Associate at Morgan Stanley in the Mergers & Acquisitions group where he worked on transactions across the technology, consumer, industrials, services, and telecom industries. Prior to M&A, Mr. Scully was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Real Estate group where he executed M&A, equity, and debt transactions. Mr. Scully holds a B.S. in Engineering from Syracuse University.

Mr. Janitz is Chairman and co-founding Partner of Evergreen Capital Partners LLC. Mr. Janitz supports The Gores Group by sourcing investment opportunities and advising on strategy, technology, manufacturing and operations matters in the industrial sector.

Evergreen has previously been engaged by TowerBrook Capital Partners where Mr. Janitz was a member of the Management Advisory Board and by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, the Private equity arm of Credit Suisse where he held the position of Chairman – Global Industrial Partners. Prior to forming Evergreen, Mr. Janitz served as Co-Managing Principal for Questor Partners Funds, a $1 billion private equity turnaround fund. Before that Mr. Janitz was President, Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Board of Textron Inc. a NYSE-listed multi-industry company with over $12 billion in worldwide sales. Before Textron, Mr. Janitz was an Executive Vice President with TRW Inc. a multi-national company providing advanced technology products and services. In addition, he served as President of Wickes Manufacturing Company, and held a number of key executive positions with Wickes’ predecessor company, Gulf+Western Industries, Inc. Mr. Janitz began his career with Ford Motor Company.

Mr. Janitz holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University, an M.B.A. from Eastern Michigan University and is a graduate of the Harvard University Advanced Management Program.

Mr. Schiano is a Senior Advisor to The Gores Group. Mr. Schiano supports The Gores Group by sourcing investment opportunities, and providing strategic, operational and financial guidance with respect to portfolio company investments in the industrial sector.

Mr. Schiano is also the President and co-founding Partner of Evergreen Capital Partners LLC. Evergreen has previously been engaged by TowerBrook Capital Partners where Mr. Schiano was a member of the Management Advisory Board and by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, the Private equity arm of Credit Suisse where he held the position of Vice Chairman – Global Industrial Partners.

Prior to forming Evergreen, Mr. Schiano served as a Managing Director and member of the Investment Committee of Questor Partners Funds. Previously, Mr. Schiano served in various senior operating, finance and M&A roles at Textron Inc., TRW Inc., Wickes Companies Inc., and its predecessor, Gulf+Western Industries Inc. Mr. Schiano began his career at Emerson Electric Company Inc.

Mr. Schiano attended Long Island University, majoring in Finance, the University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School Management Development Program and the Northwestern University – Kellogg School Mergers and Acquisitions Program. He is a Six-Sigma Champion.