NEW YORK, NY – July 11, 2023 – Paine Schwartz Partners (“Paine Schwartz”), a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, today announced the addition of two new functional leads to its Portfolio Excellence Platform (“PEP”) team, with the appointments of Rachel Hurley as Head of Sustainability and Adrian Cox as Chief Transformation Officer. Additionally, Therisa George has joined the firm as a Director on the Investment Team.
Ms. Hurley brings 10 years of industry experience, most recently serving on the Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) team at Blackstone Inc. and previously serving on the ESG team at Apollo Global Management. As Head of Sustainability, Ms. Hurley will focus on driving ESG value creation across Paine Schwartz portfolio companies and lead firmwide sustainability and social responsibility strategy and initiatives.
Mr. Cox brings eight years of experience in the food and agribusiness sector, most recently leading the global citrus category and strategic supplier relations at Apeel Sciences. As Chief Transformation Officer, Mr. Cox will spearhead business transformation at the portfolio company level, with a near-term focus on enhancing value at AgroFresh.
Ms. George joined Paine Schwartz in June and has 13 years of private equity investment experience, most recently serving on the private equity team at Australis Partners (Advisers), LLC. She brings significant transaction experience and complementary skills to the Investment Team, which welcomed four new investment professionals earlier this year.
The appointments of Ms. Hurley and Ms. George represent Paine Schwartz’s continued focus on increasing the number of women and underrepresented groups in leadership roles at the firm, with seven of the last 10 senior professional hires being women.
Kevin Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of Paine Schwartz, said “The appointments of Rachel, Adrian and Therisa demonstrate our commitment to adding top talent across the firm. We are pleased to welcome these exceptional leaders to Paine Schwartz and are confident they will make significant contributions to sustainable value creation at both the firm and at our portfolio companies. We look forward to continuing to bring in leaders with strategically differentiated expertise as we build on our leadership in sustainable food and agribusiness investing and move our fast-growing team to Paine Schwartz’s new headquarters in SoHo, New York, this summer.”
About Rachel Hurley
Prior to joining Paine Schwartz, Ms. Hurley served on the ESG team at Blackstone, where she was responsible for supporting the firm’s corporate ESG strategy, as well as LP engagement on a variety of ESG topics. Prior to this role, she served on the ESG team at Apollo Global Management, where she was responsible for Apollo’s ESG Reporting Program and supported the development of the firm’s ESG strategy, while also engaging with portfolio companies on ESG-related topics. Ms. Hurley began her ESG career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison on behalf of Apollo and previously worked in asset management at Partners Group, where she focused on fund marketing. Ms. Hurley holds a B.A. in Social Entrepreneurship and Communications from New York University.
About Adrian Cox
Prior to joining Paine Schwartz, Mr. Cox led the global citrus category and strategic supplier relations at Apeel Sciences, a postharvest company that specializes in improving produce freshness and reducing waste. Before joining Apeel, Mr. Cox was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he was a leader in the firm’s Transformation practice, working across the food value chain in both developed and emerging markets. Based in the United States, Australia and South Africa, Mr. Cox partnered with management teams in more than 20 countries to deliver complex growth and operations transformations, including advising private equity clients on post-acquisition value creation. He earned a B.S. in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town.
About Therisa George
Prior to joining Paine Schwartz, Ms. George worked at Australis Partners with a focus on private equity investing and also served as a board member of various portfolio companies. Previously, Ms. George worked at Citi Venture Capital International (now part of The Rohatyn Group), where she was involved in the acquisition, management and realization of private equity investments in Latin America. She began her career as an investment banking professional at Citigroup. Ms. George holds a B.A. in Spanish Language, Culture and Society, with a minor in Economics, from Dartmouth College.
About Paine Schwartz Partners
A global leader in sustainable food chain investing, Paine Schwartz Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on investment opportunities in the fast-growing, dynamic global food and agribusiness sectors. The firm’s investment, operations and finance professionals invest throughout cycles across the food and agribusiness value chain, and bring a collaborative and active management approach to portfolio companies. For further information, please see www.paineschwartz.com.
Contacts:
Paine Schwartz Media Contact
Andy Brimmer / Aaron Palash
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
+1 212-355-4449
