Level 20 plays a critical role in supporting women to thrive in private equity, and has achieved so much in this space over the last few years under the leadership of Cheryl and more recently Gurpreet. There’s so much more to be done to further embed gender diversity across our industry, and to encourage more women to pursue successful careers in private equity. I’m delighted to have been appointed Chair of Level 20 to help continue this mission.
Rebecca Gibson
New Chair
The Board of Level 20, the not-for-profit organisation established to inspire women to join and succeed in the European private equity industry is delighted to announce the appointment of Rebecca Gibson as Chair, succeeding Cheryl Potter, with effect from 18 January 2024.
Rebecca, a senior level investment professional in the industry has over 20 years of private equity investment experience. She has been an investment partner at Oakley Capital since 2014 and is responsible for managing the investment committee and the investment team, as well as leading the Stakeholder Engagement Team.
Prior to joining Oakley, Rebecca was a partner at Cinven for 12 years where she led and worked on deals in the healthcare, consumer and service sectors across Europe. Prior to joining Cinven, Rebecca spent five years working as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in the UK and South Africa.
Rebecca holds a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.
Cheryl Potter has served as Chair of Level 20 for three years and will remain on the Level 20 board having led Level 20 through a pivotal stage of growth and international expansion.
I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to serve during a dynamic period of growth and expansion for Level 20, wherein we have developed a strategic plan that will carry Level 20 into the future with a clear vision of who we are and the capabilities to achieve our mission.
The last three years, thanks to the support and contribution of the Board, Executive team, members, sponsors and volunteers have yielded phenomenal growth across our initiatives. Our European member base has doubled and we now operate across 13 European chapters. The elevation of our research capability has enabled us to publish European baseline data to support firms to measure progress and qualitative insights which amplify the voices of women working in private equity. And there is more to come.
I am extremely proud that our Level 20 mentoring programme continues to thrive, having supported over 1200 women across Europe.
What an exciting time to be a part of the growth journey of such an important organisation. Going forward, I am looking forward to supporting both Gurpreet Manku, CEO and Rebecca Gibson, Chair, as a member of the Level 20 Board.
Cheryl Potter
Outgoing Chair
Since its launch in 2015, Level 20 has made significant progress, growing its member and sponsor base, expanding its initiatives and extending its reach and engagement across the industry, with over 120 sponsor firms and more than 5,700 individual members across Europe.
We are thrilled to welcome Rebecca as our new Chair. As an experienced female senior investment professional working in private equity she not only brings invaluable experience and insight but will support Level 20 though the next stage of its growth journey.
I would also like to thank Cheryl for her stewardship over the past 3 years leading the organisation through a pivotal stage of expansion and working closely with the Board and leadership team to purposefully structure the organisation to enable it to thrive. She has amplified Level 20’s commitment to data and research resulting in leading European gender diversity data analysis as well as solution led reports including ACCELERATE.
I am delighted that she will remain on the Level 20 Board.
Gurpeet Manku
CEO
ENDS
About Level 20
Level 20 is a not-for-profit organisation formed and seeded in 2015 by 12 senior private equity professionals representing GPs and LPs. It aims to work with the leaders of the European private equity industry to attract and retain more women across the industry, such that they will account for 20% of senior professionals.
Find out more on our website @ www.level20.org
