Andrew Wisniewski
Associate
AWisniewski@winforest.com LinkedIn
Better
together.
About
We are a purpose-built and network-driven private investment firm focused on investing in leading private equity managers and in co-investments alongside our partner funds.
Our team, our Founding Investors and our Limited Partners are comprised of highly-accomplished c-level corporate executives and leaders from across private equity, investment banking and asset management.
Our team has earned access to top-performing and difficult-to-access private equity managers through decades of work and relationships.
Force Multiplier
WinForest Partners was originally formed by a group of long-time friends and colleagues (the “Founding Investors”) with extensive experience in the private equity channel. The original idea was based on trust and a shared belief in the power and impact of networks, and the opportunity to be Better Together. We continue to build on that foundation today. Our investors leverage and extend our collective personal and professional networks and include highly successful corporate executives, service providers to the private equity channel and professional investors. We call this group our Force Multiplier as we are fortunate to be able to draw on the collective strength of this group to amplify our impact with the investments we make and the efforts we support.
Where We Invest
Leading private
equity managers
Primary Evaluation Criteria
- Track record of returns
- Consistency of team and investment approach
- Strength of relationship
- Thematic investing
- Differentiated sourcing
- Ability to improve performance of portfolio companies
- Opportunity to co-invest
Co-investments alongside
our partner funds
Primary Decision Criteria
- Ability to generate alpha beyond expected fund return
- Alignment with core expertise of lead investor
- Availability of fulsome diligence package
- Situations where WinForest can be value-add
Health Care
Technology
Services
What We Offer our Partner Funds
We seek to be a valuable resource to the Funds we invest in.
Engagement
- Committed to partnership
- Available for deep dives on specific opportunities and board service
Connectivity
- Extensive network of clients, funds, management teams, service providers, Board members and strategic buyers
Resources
- We have direct access to leading service providers across investment banking, capital providers, law and diligence
- Events, content and specialists
Advice
- Real-time market intelligence
- Independent sounding board on capital raising, M&A and market conditions
Capital
- Fund and Direct Investments
- Expertise and access across the private and public capital markets
Values
Better Together Our team, our investors, our funds and our community partners are all elevated by our working together.
Sustained Effort We value consistently showing up and making things happen for the long haul.
Aligned We embrace stewardship and seek to collaborate and align interests with our partners to achieve mutual success.
Integrated We have integrated our networks, relationships, investments, lifestyles and causes.
Dynamic We seek to be nimble, energetic, creative, solution-oriented and decisive.
High Standards We seek excellence in ourselves and our partners in all that we do.
Joy We get enjoyment and satisfaction from our purposeful endeavors with partners for whom we have so much respect.
Team
Fund Commitments
Representative Fund Commitments
We seek to partner with top performing and capacity-constrained Private Equity firms.
Representative Co-Investments
We co-invest alongside our partner funds and other leading investors.
Community
One of the primary objectives, beyond generating attractive returns, of creating WinForest Partners II LP has been to bring together a network and create community among successful, high-achieving limited partners to amplify the benefits to our Partner Funds, WinForest and our investors.
Communication
- Highly accessible GP (we want to engage with our LPs)
- Frequent cadence of communication
- In person and virtual LP introductions and meet and greets
- Transparency on investments and rationale
- Direct asks of Partner Funds on how LPs can be incorporated
Events
- Annual LP Meeting
- Topical Retreats
- Ad hoc dinners / lunches / meetings on our travels
- Community office space in Chicago area for local LPs
- Conference invites from our various platforms
- Guest Speakers (virtual)
Information
- Content sharing
- Research reports
- Book recommendations
- Vendor/service provider recommendations (personal and professional)
- Surveys
Topics of Shared Interest
- Private equity investments
- Personal finance
- Family
- Charitable giving
- Cyber
- Health and Wellness
We are actively engaged in our communities. Organizations we admire and highlight include:
Brett Paschke had the privilege of introducing Admiral Bill McRaven at the launch event for School.House,
a unique invite-only platform designed for national security start-up founders,
sponsored by Bravo Victor Venture Capital (BVVC).
Contact
Please reach out to us:
- WinForest Partners
- 207 E. Westminster,
- Suite 205 Lake Forest, IL 60045
- (312) 952-5245
- bpaschke@winforest.com
- jdimberio@winforest.com
Andrew Wisniewski
Associate
Andy Wisniewski joined WinForest Partners in 2024 as a Private Equity Analyst and member of the Investment Team. Andy supports WinForest's investment activity including manager research, due diligence, underwriting and portfolio monitoring.
Prior to joining WinForest, Andy worked at William Blair as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Consumer & Retail group, where he focused on M&A advisory and capital raising transactions.
Andy holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and is originally from South Bend, Indiana.
Education:
Brett Paschke
Founding Investor and Managing Partner
Brett Paschke is a Founding Investor and Managing Partner at WinForest Partners. Brett helps set strategy and vision for WinForest, works closely with our service partners, helps maintain L.P. and G.P. relationships, and serves on the Investment Committee.
Prior to WinForest, Brett spent 27 years at William Blair, a leading investment bank focused on serving high growth companies and their investors, most recently as Vice Chair of Investment Banking. Brett focused on serving William Blair's corporate clients and their financial sponsors through the value creation process by delivering the full spectrum of services, experts and resources of the firm. Brett led the Equity Capital Markets Group from 2009 to 2020. During that period, Blair was an underwriter on almost 800 equity offerings raising a cumulative $200 billion. Brett chaired the Commitment Committee, the group that determines which deals Blair was going to underwrite. Brett also served on the WilBlairco Committee, which selected private equity fund and co-investment opportunities to make available for investment by the partnership. Prior to leading the Equity Capital Markets team, Brett was Group Head for Business and Financial Services Investment Banking.
Brett is a policy leader on topics related to capital formation. Brett chaired the SIFMA Regional Capital Markets Committee on Policy and Regulation. He served as an expert witness at the U.S. House Financial Services SubCommittee on Capital Markets. Brett served on the Capital Markets Committee of the American Securities Association. Brett served on the IPO Task Force with the US Treasury which produced the recommendations that became the basis for the JOBS Act.
Brett serves on the Board of Directors of PRA Group (NASDAQ: PRAA), a global financial and business services company operating in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Australia and throughout Europe. Brett serves on the Audit Committee and the Compensation Committees. Brett also serves on the Board of Duluth Trading (Nasdaq: DLTH) a lifestyle brand serving the self-reliant consumer and serves on the Audit and Nominating and Governance Committees. Brett is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Brett serves as a Senior Advisor to Bravo Victor Venture Capital (BVVC), a defense technology-focused venture fund. Brett is Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board for Broom Ventures, a venture fund that invests in early-stage technology companies alongside top tier VCs.
Prior to joining William Blair, Brett worked in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs and for KPMG. While at KPMG, Brett spent three years working on privatization transactions in the former Soviet Union.
Brett is involved with a number of non-profit and civic organizations, with primary interests including creating opportunity, conservation and supporting our veterans. Brett and his wife Shelley live in Lake Forest, Illinois and are the proud parents of five adult children. Shelley is the founder and principle at Shelley Johnstone Design.
Brett has an A.B. from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Past Experience:
Education:
Joe Dimberio
Managing Partner
Joe Dimberio is a Managing Partner at WinForest Partners. Joe has been directly involved with middle market lending and private equity for most of his career. He shares responsibility for all aspects of the Firm's investment activities including serving on the WinForest Investment Committee.
Joe was formerly a Partner at Twin Bridge Capital Partners where he led investments in both funds and co-investments. While at Twin Bridge Joe helped to commit over $2B to 60 fund sponsors and invest over $1B in over 90 direct equity co-investments alongside 50 unique sponsors. Prior to Twin Bridge Joe was formerly a Senior Partner of PPM America Capital Partners, where he also led investments in both middle market funds and co-investments. Prior to PPM America, he worked for Heller Financial, underwriting debt investments in sponsored leveraged buyouts. Joe started his career with Citicorp Diners Club.
Joe has previously served on many middle market fund advisory boards of directors as well as board level involvement in numerous equity coinvestments. He is also a board member of HFS Chicago Scholars which helps underserved Chicago high school students flourish in and out of the classroom. Joe and his wife Amy live in Glenview, IL and are the proud parents of three teenage children.
Joe received his MBA from the University of Notre Dame and graduated with a BA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.
Past Experience:
Education:
Patrick Ryan
Principal
Patrick Ryan is a Principal at WinForest Partners. Patrick helps lead our investment activities including portfolio composition, manager selection, due diligence and portfolio monitoring for private equity fund investments and co-investments. He also supports our broader firm building activities.
Patrick was formerly a Vice President at Mesirow Private Equity where he invested in funds, co-investments and secondaries across buyouts, growth equity and venture capital. While at Mesirow, he was an integral part of the investment team that committed over $1.7 billion to 30 fund sponsors and over $1 billion in over 45 direct equity co-investments during his seven years with the firm. Prior to Mesirow, Patrick began his career at RCP Advisors where he primarily focused on making fund commitments and co-investments alongside lower middle market buyout fund sponsors.
Patrick currently serves as a mentor with Horizons for Youth where he helps promote opportunity for Chicago youth. He and his wife Meghan live in Lincoln Park with their two boys.
Originally from Fort Wayne, IN, Patrick graduated with a BA in Public Policy from The University of Chicago.
Past Experience:
Education:
Jen Nalli
Office of the CFO
Jen Nalli joined DeLuca Financial Services in September 2023. Jen is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Master of Science in Accountancy. After graduate school, Jen spent 13 years at Ultimus LeverPoint Private Fund Solutions. In her first 6 years, Jen was promoted from a Fund Accountant to Senior Fund Accounting Manager where she focused on managing a team of 4 people and preparing and reviewing fund of funds, private equity, venture capital, and hedge fund financials. This involved responsibilities such as staying current with technical accounting standards, implementing policies and procedures, reviewing fund organizational documents, assisting the audit team, preparing GAAP financials, and calculating calls/distributions/carry allocations/performance metrics. Jen also was involved in various special projects including new client implementations, system migrations, interim CFO engagements, annual and quarterly SEC filings (10q and 10k), and SPAC reporting.
In 2018, Jen's family started to grow, and she decided to take on a more flexible role at Ultimus as Financial Reporting Manager. Jen managed the process to ensure deadlines were met for over 150 audited financial statements of fund of funds, private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. In addition, she was involved in either the preparation or review of each of these entities' annual GAAP financial statements.
Jen was born and raised in Chicago. Her and her husband have 4 daughters which keep them very busy when they are not working! Jen loves spending time with her family and friends, exploring downtown Chicago, and getaway weekends to Wisconsin and Michigan.
Lori DeLuca
Office of the CFO
Lori DeLuca is the founder and owner of DeLuca Financial Services (DFS), established in 2018. DFS offers part-time CFO/Controller services to venture capital fund managers, private equity and fund of funds, which includes managing accounting, human resources, finance and treasury functions for their clients. In this role, DFS serves as a strategic business partner to the fund management team.
Her accounting career spans over 20 years with experience in public accounting, and private companies in the venture capital and renewable energy space.
Prior to DFS, Lori spent almost 10 years at Invenergy, a renewable energy company located in Chicago. Her most recent role was the Controller and VP – Accounting, where she was responsible for the accounting, financial reporting and settlements departments. In this capacity, she specialized in technical accounting, and reporting the company's financial results in accordance with US GAAP. This included managing over 40 people and overseeing the accounting for over 500 legal entities domiciled in the US and internationally, and over 65 annual financial statement audits.
Earlier in her career, Lori was a Senior Manager in the audit practice at Deloitte, where she began her career. She is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and a Master of Science degree in Accounting from Texas A&M University. Gig 'em!
Lori is originally from Texas and moved to Chicago in 2003, where she met her husband. Now she a busy mother of 3 children, loves to cook, entertain, and spend time with her family.
Ryan Langborg
Analyst
Ryan Langborg joined WinForest Partners in 2025 and is a Private Equity Analyst on the Investment Team. Ryan supports the Investment Team with manager research, due diligence, and portfolio monitoring as well as assisting with Investor Relations.
Prior to the Private Equity Analyst role, Ryan was a part of the WinForest Fellowship Program where he worked alongside the Investment Team for 10 months.
Ryan holds an AB in Economics from Princeton University and an MSA from Northwestern University.
Doug Grissom
Founding Investor
Doug Grissom is a Founding Investor of WinForest Partners and serves on the Limited Partner Advisory Council (LPAC). Doug has spent nearly 25 years at Madison Dearborn Partners and is a Senior Advisor on the Technology and Government Solutions investment team. Prior to joining Madison Dearborn, he was with Bain Capital in private equity, McKinsey & Company in consulting, and Goldman Sachs in investment banking. Doug has served on the Board of Directors of numerous Madison Dearborn backed companies, including @stake, Aderant, Asurion, BlueCat Networks, Cbeyond, CoVant Technologies, Fieldglass, Fleet Complete, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, Intelsat, LGS Innovations, Lightspeed Systems, LinQuest Corporation, and Neoworld. He also serves on the Board of Churchill Downs Incorporated.
Doug and his family live in Louisville, KY, after many years in Chicago, and he is active civically. Doug is currently a Board Member at Amherst College, Endeavor Louisville, Harvard Business School Fund Council, James Graham Brown Foundation, Louisville Collegiate School, and METROSquash. While in Chicago, Doug served on the Boards of the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the University of Chicago Laboratory School.
Doug graduated from Amherst College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Past Experience:
Education:
Scott Patterson
Founding Investor
Scott Patterson is a Founding Investor at WinForest Partners. He serves on WinForest's Investment Committee.
Prior to WinForest, Scott was a member of the Investment Banking Department at William Blair & Company for 35 years between 1989 and 2023. Scott was a Partner for 24 years from 1995 through 2018, a Senior Director from 2019 to 2023 and a member of Blair's commitment committee during 2023. He served as either the Head or Co-Head of the Business Services Group between 2000 and 2012.
Scott has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions and public equity financing for a wide range of business services focused clients. While at Blair, he worked on 50+ closed M&A transactions and 100+ equity offerings (Blair served as a lead manager on over half of those equity offerings). Scott has a particular expertise working with professional services and consulting businesses.
Prior to joining Blair, Scott spent a year as an IT Systems Consultant at Arthur Andersen.
Scott graduated with an English and Economics degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Rice University and received his MBA in Finance (With Distinction) from Northwestern University.
Scott served on the Board of Directors of Bernie's Book Bank from 2019 to 2022 and he continues to support their mission of improving children's literacy.
Scott and his wife Alisa live in Deerfield, Illinois and are the proud parents of three adult children.
Past Experience:
Education:
Matthew Litfin
Founding Investor
Matt currently is Executive Vice President, Investments and Development, at Fellowes Inc, a privately held provider of workplace solutions. Prior to this role, Matt held various senior Portfolio Management, Director of Research, and Equity Research Analyst roles at William Blair & Co. LLC, Columbia Threadneedle Asset Management, and Nuveen. Matt has extensive experience and expertise in securities analysis and selection, portfolio construction and management, asset allocation, risk management, manager evaluation and selection, and team leadership.
Previously Matt has also served as an adjunct professor, teaching undergraduate business strategy and valuation classes at Wheaton College (IL).
Matt graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (summa cum laude). He holds a Master's of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.
Matt serves on the board of directors of OWP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is also a board member of ROW Global Health, a public charity bringing epilepsy treatment to under-resourced areas of the world.
Matt and his family reside in Wheaton, IL.
Past Experience:
Education:
Terms and Conditions of Use
This website is operated by WinForest Partners LLC (referred to in these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy as “WinForest”, “we”, “us” or “our”). Please carefully review these Terms and Conditions of Use and our Privacy Policy “Terms of Use” or “Terms”). These Terms of Use govern your use, access, and browsing of this website, including any mobile site, blog, app, email, social media, feature, software, product, service, information, or content made available, displayed, or offered by or through WinForest (collectively, this “Site”). By using this Site, you acknowledge that you understood, accepted, and agreed to be bound by these Terms of Use, whether or not you have read them and whether you are a casual visitor, licensee, or recipient of our email newsletter. If you do not agree with these Terms, you are not permitted to use or access this Site.
I. Description of Services
The Site contains material about WinForest and its various products. Certain sections of the Site are intended for particular audiences including WinForest's employees, customers and shareholders, and the general public. Please feel free to browse the Site, as appropriate. Your access to and use of the information on the Site is subject to these Terms and all applicable laws. By accessing this Site, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms and acknowledge that it supersedes any other agreement between you and WinForest with respect to access and use of this Site.
II. Changes to the Terms
WinForest reserves the right to change these Terms at any time and for any reason, in its sole discretion. We will notify users of any changes to these Terms. Notification will either be made by way of an e-mail or by posting of the changes on the Site. Changes to these Terms will be effective 30 days following constructive notice. Your continued use of the Site after any change has become effective will constitute your acceptance of those changes.
III. Registration
We may require you to create an account with us in order to access certain features on this Site, such as the Investor Portal.
When registering for your account or for certain events or features of this Site, you agree that you will provide WinForest with accurate, truthful, complete, and updated information. Failure to do so shall constitute a breach of these Terms of Use, which may result in suspension or termination of your account or your denial from such events or features. We, in our sole discretion, reserve the right to refuse or cancel registration.
When you open an account to use or access this Site, you may be asked to provide a username and password. You agree that we may store and use any registration data, including your user name and password, you provide for use in maintaining your account. We may require you to periodically change your password.
You agree to use your best efforts to maintain the security and confidentiality of your username, password, and account (collectively, a “User ID”). You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your User ID, whether or not authorized by you. You may not use the User ID of someone else at any time. You may not sell or transfer your account, or otherwise allow any third party to use your account for any purpose. You agree to notify WinForest about any unauthorized use of your User ID or any breach of security related to your use of the Site. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer.
You further agree that WinForest shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of, or related to, your use of your User ID by you or by any other party, either with or without your knowledge. You may be held liable for any losses incurred by WinForest, including its subsidiaries, entities owned, related to or controlled by WinForest, its employees, staff, officers, directors, consultants, agents, suppliers, contractors, and representatives, due to someone else's use of your User ID.
IV. User Information
Information you provide to WinForest (your “User Information”) may be required to provide the Site and provide other services. Your User Information also includes data from using the Site, which may include information you provide (including any account information). You consent to us using your User Information to create an account that will allow you to access and use our Services and our Sites. Our collection and use of your User Information is as provided in our Privacy Policy located at Illinois. IN CONSIDERATION OF YOUR USE OF THE SITE, YOU GRANT WINFOREST A NON-EXCLUSIVE, WORLDWIDE, PERPETUAL, IRREVOCABLE, ROYALTY-FREE, TRANSFERABLE, SUB-LICENSABLE (THROUGH MULTIPLE TIERS) RIGHT AND LICENSE TO EXERCISE THE COPYRIGHT, PUBLICITY, AND DATABASE RIGHTS YOU HAVE IN YOUR USER INFORMATION, AND TO USE, COPY, PERFORM, DISPLAY AND DISTRIBUTE SUCH INFORMATION TO PREPARE DERIVATIVE WORKS, OR INCORPORATE INTO OTHER WORKS, OR INTO ANY MEDIA NOW KNOWN OR NOT CURRENTLY KNOWN. WinForest does not assert any ownership rights over your User Information; rather, as between you and WinForest, you retain full ownership of all of your User Information and any intellectual property rights or other rights associated with your User Information.
V. Third Party Content
This Site may contain links or references to other Internet sites or products or services of third parties over whom we or nor our affiliates have no control (“Third Party Content”). WinForest does not verify, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, authenticity, appropriateness, completeness, reliability, safety, or privacy practices of Third Party Content. WinForest makes no representation concerning, and is under no obligation to prevent, the downloading, distribution, linking to, or re-posting of Third Party Content. Inclusion of, linking to, or permitting the use of any Third Party Content does not imply our approval, sponsorship, or endorsement thereof. WinForest does not make any representations or warranties as to the security of any information (such as financial and other sensitive information) you might give on any third party site.
WinForest will not in any manner be liable for or responsible for any loss or damages that may arise from your dealings or interaction with third parties, including your use or reliance on any Third Party Content found on our Site. You expressly waive any and all claims you may have against WinForest and release WinForest from any and all liability arising from or related to the Third Party Content, whether or not authorized by WinForest.
If you decide to leave this Site and access or use third party sites, you do so at your own risk and you should be aware that our Terms of Use no longer govern. You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any third party website to which you navigate from this Site.
VI. Forward-Looking Statements
You acknowledge and agree that any reliance on Site shall be at your sole risk. You are cautioned not to make any decisions based on the Site and not to place reliance on forward-looking statements reflected on the Site. The access to or use of the Site is no substitute for and does not replace professional advice. You should obtain professional advice if you have a particular question at hand. All content on the Site is based on knowledge and facts available at the time of publication. WinForest undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statements.
VII. Prohibited Use of the Site
You agree to not use this Site in the following ways:
(1) for any purpose that is unlawful, improper, or prohibited by these Terms;
(2) to conduct yourself in any way that may be construed as threatening, harmful, abusive, harassing, stalking, defamatory, libelous, vulgar, profane, obscene, offensive, objectionable, pornographic, obscene, unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, tortuous, giving rise to civil or criminal liability, invasive or in violation of another's right of privacy or publicity, hateful, bigoted, racially or ethnically offensive, in violation of an applicable local, national or international law, including but not limited to laws related to copyrights, trademarks, patents, or trade secrets, or otherwise objectionable as determined by us in our sole discretion;
(3) to promote information that is known to be, inaccurate, misleading, or false;
(4) to advertise or otherwise solicit funds, goods, or services, such as through contests, sweepstakes, barter, pyramid schemes, or other form of unauthorized advertising or commerce, without our prior written consent;
(5) to express or imply that any statements you make are endorsed by WinForest without our specific prior written consent;
(6) to forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or other communication, send unsolicited, altered, deceptive, or false source-identifying email or other communications, including, without limitation, junk mail, spam, and chain letters;
(7) in a manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our (or our third party providers') server or the networks connected to any our server;
(8) to collect or harvest any information about other users or to attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, computer systems, or networks associated with any WinForest's servers, data not intended for you, or otherwise violate any security features of this Site, through hacking, password mining, or any other means;
(9) to distribute or facilitate the distribution of viruses, corrupted data, trojan horses, spiders, bots, keystroke loggers, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or computer code that are intended to and/or actually damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or mine, obtain unauthorized access to, scrape or expropriate any system, software, data or personal information;
(10) to attempt to modify, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reduce or attempt to reduce to human-perceivable form any of the source code used by WinForest in providing this Site, or attempt to discover any underlying source code, ideas, algorithms, file formats or programming interfaces, or create derivative works based on the Site;
(11) adversely affect the enjoyment and availability of Site resources to other users (e.g., excessive shouting (use of all caps), flooding (continuous posting of repetitive text), or excessively large embedded images); or
(12) copy, distribute, rent, lease, lend, sublicense or transfer the Site, or make the Site available to any third party, including your affiliates, parents or subsidiaries, without WinForest's specific prior written consent;
(13) any violation of system or network security may subject you to civil and/or criminal liability.
VIII. Feedback Submission
Users may submit feedback regarding WinForest and this Site. However, any comments, notes, suggestions, review, ideas, suggestions, concepts, services, feature, program, product, software, application, tool, or other communications (“Feedback”) sent to WinForest shall be and remain the exclusive property of WinForest. Your submission of any such Feedback shall constitute an assignment to WinForest of all worldwide rights, titles and interests in all copyrights and other intellectual property rights in the Feedback. WinForest will be entitled to use, reproduce, disclose, publish, and distribute any material you submit for any purpose whatsoever, without restriction and without compensating you in any way. WinForest will be under no obligation to keep your Feedback confidential or to otherwise protect your Feedback.
For this reason, we ask that you not send us any comment that you do not wish to assign to us, including any confidential or proprietary information or any original creative materials such as stories, product ideas, computer code, or artwork.
IX. Minors
The site is not aimed at any person under the age of 18 years old. If you are under the age of 13 years old, you may use the Site only under the supervision of a parent or guardian.
X. Limitations of Liability
You acknowledge that your use of this Site is at your sole risk, and that we will not be held liable in any way. Under no circumstance and under no legal or equitable theory, whether in tort, contract, strict liability, or otherwise, shall WinForest or any of its employees, OWNERS, SHAREHOLDERS, staff, directors, officers, consultants, agents, suppliers, contractors, or representatives be liable to you or any other person for any direct, indirect, general, special, incidental, compensatory, consequential, or exemplary damages, injury, or losses of any nature arising out of or in connection with the use of this Site. This includes, but is not limited to, bodily injury, emotional distress, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, personal property, or other intangible losses, accuracy of results, computer failure or malfunction, even if an authorized representative of WinForest has been advised of, or should have known, the possibility of such damages, resulting from (i) the use of, or the inability to use, this Site, (II) your communications or dealings with other users of this site or persons you meet through this site (Iii) unauthorized access to or alteration of your data transmissions, (iv) statements, representations, or conduct of any third party using this Site, or (v) any other matter relating to this Site.
XI. Disclaimer of Warranty
This Site and Service are provided to you on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We disclaim all warranties and representations of any kind, either express or implied, not expressly set out in these terms, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, title, fitness for a particular purpose, custom, trade, quiet enjoyment, system integration, freedom from computer virus, and non-infringement of rights. We make no warranty or representation that any part of the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, virus-free, safe to download, timely, secure, accurate, complete, adequate, useful, reliable, physically safe, or of any quality or that the defects will be corrected.
UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN WRITING, THE CONTENT ON THE SERVICE IS STRICTLY FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES. NO INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR, EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE, JOINT VENTURE, PARTNERSHIP, OR AGENCY RELATIONSHIP EXISTS BETWEEN YOU AND Winforest AS A RESULT OF THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE.
You acknowledge and agree that your sole remedy for any problems or dissatisfaction with the sites or the services, beyond submitting feedback, is to terminate your account and to discontinue all use of the site.
XII. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless WinForest and any other party involved in creating, producing, delivering, or maintaining this Site and each of their respective owners, representatives, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, shareholders, contractors, advertisers, partners, related parties, licensors, licensees, suppliers, and co-branders from and against all claims, demands, damages, costs, losses, and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising out of or related to (i) your use of this Site, (ii) your breach of these Terms of Use, or (iii) any claim that User Content or third party content, or any reliance thereof, caused damage to your or a third party.
XIII. Use License
Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the content (information or software) on this Site for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not: (1) modify or copy the content; (2) remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the content; (3) use the content for any commercial purpose; (4) publish, publicly display, or otherwise distribute the content, including via the Internet, any social media platform or network, or any intranet or extranet side, for any commercial or non-commercial purpose; (5) attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on this Site; (6) use any data mining, robots, scraping, or similar data gathering or extraction methods to obtain the content; (7) transfer the content to another person or “mirror” the materials on any other server. No right, title or interest in any downloaded materials is transferred to you as a result of any such downloading.
This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions. We reserve the right to suspend or deny at any time, in our sole discretion, your access to all or any portion of this Site.
XIV. Intellectual Property
Unless otherwise explicitly specified, all materials that are included in or are otherwise a part of the Site are copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade dress and/or other intellectual property owned, controlled, or licensed by WinForest, its owners or by third parties who have licensed their materials to WinForest. You may not reproduce or use WinForest's trademarks or trade dress without the prior written permission of WinForest. Nothing contained on this Site should be understood as granting you a license to use any of the trademarks, trade names, trade dress, service marks, taglines, or logos owned or licensed by WinForest or by any third party.
If you believe that your intellectual property has been used in any way that could be considered a copyright infringement or a violation of your intellectual property rights, please contact us in writing at the contact information provided on the site. You agree that, in the event we receive a written demand from a third party alleging that any User Content infringes upon, dilutes, tarnishes or otherwise violates its trademark or trade secret rights, we may in our sole discretion, remove or disable access to such User Content. In an effort to protect the rights of intellectual property owners, we maintain a policy for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of user accounts of this Site who repeatedly infringe the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others.
XV. Reservation of Rights
All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved to WinForest and its licensors. The use of our rights and property requires our prior written consent. By making this Site available to you, we are not providing you with any implied or express licenses or rights, and you will have no rights to make any commercial use of this Site without prior written consent.
XVI. Termination and Investigation
WinForest reserves the right to suspend or terminate your use of this Site for any or no reason, in its sole discretion. You agree that WinForest or its representatives may access your account and records to investigate complaints or allegations of abuse, infringement of third party rights, or other unauthorized uses of this Site. WinForest does not intend to disclose the existence or occurrence of such an investigation unless required by law, but WinForest reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account or your access to this Site immediately, with or without notice to you, and without liability to you, if WinForest believes that you have violated any of the Terms of Use, furnished WinForest with false or misleading information, or interfered with the use of this Site by others.
YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS WINFOREST FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY WINFOREST DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND/OR FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER WINFOREST OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
XVII. Accuracy and Completeness
Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published information on or through this Site, you understand that the materials appearing on this Site could inadvertently contain technical, typographical, or photographic errors or may expose you to content that you find undesirable, objectionable, or offensive. Neither WinForest nor any author or supplier contributing to this Site is responsible to you in any way for any content displayed on this Site, nor for any error, revision, or omission in any information provided or the results obtained from your use of such information.
All data, information, definitions and other material described on the Site are for informational purposes only. This material is for your convenience and WinForest is not rendering legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, financial, and tax advisors on all matters pertaining to such subjects.
WinForest may amend, modify, discontinue, suspend, or terminate the Site, or any materials contained on the Site at any time without notice. While we will make every effort to keep content on this Site current, we do not guarantee it is the most up to date information available. For up-to-the-minute information on the Site, contact information, and any other information regarding WinForest, its operations, programs, and offers, please contact WinForest at [●].
Certain portions of the Site may be subject to additional terms and conditions specified by WinForest from time to time. Your use of the Site is subject to those additional terms and conditions, which are incorporated into these Terms by this reference.
XVIII. Governing Law
These Terms shall be governed by and construed under the laws of the State of Illinois without regard for conflicts of law principles. You agree that jurisdiction over and venue in any legal proceeding directly or indirectly arising out of or related to this Site or the use or access thereof shall be in the state or federal courts located in Illinois The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly disclaimed.
XIX. Severability/Waiver
If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid, void, unlawful, or for any reason unenforceable by any court having competent jurisdiction, then the provision shall be deemed severable from the Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of these Terms of Use.
The failure of either party to assert any right under these Terms of Use will not be considered to be a waiver of that party's right, and the said right will remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such terms and condition or any other term or condition. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify the Terms.
XX. Statute of Limitations
You agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action that you may wish to assert related in any manner to this Site or its services must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause arose notwithstanding when you become aware of a potential claim or cause, or the said claim or cause will be forever barred, without regard to any contrary legislation.
XXI. Assignment
We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms of Use without notice to one or more third parties. In this event, WinForest will be relieved of any further obligation. You may not assign these Terms without WinForest's specific prior written consent, and any attempt by you to assign, delegate, or transfer these Terms without WinForest's consent is null and void.
XXII. Entire Agreement
Except as provided in these Terms or other terms incorporated by reference into these Terms, these Terms supersede all prior and contemporaneous proposals, statements, sales materials, presentations, or agreements, oral and written. No oral or written information or advice given by us, our agents, or our employees will create a warranty or in any way increase the scope of the warranties or obligations under these Terms.
XXIII. Privacy Policy
Please refer to our Privacy Policy which is incorporated herein by reference. Your assent to these Terms of Use includes your assent to our Privacy Policy.
XXIV. Last Modified Date of these Terms of Use
July 19,2024
WinForest Privacy Policy
Last Updated and Effective Date: July 26, 2024
This WinForest Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how WinForest Partners LLC (“WinForest,” “we,” or “us”) collects, uses, and discloses personal information about you and your data privacy rights. Personal information is sometimes also referred to as personal data, personally identifiable information or other like terms to mean any information that directly or indirectly identifies you or is reasonably capable of being associated with you or your household. This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we collect when you use our website at WinForest.com interact with us to conduct business dealings, including the personal information we obtain from business partners and vendors who provide us certain business services (“B2B Dealings”) (collectively, our “Services”).
Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to any information we collect from consumers or customers that is covered by the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“Financial Privacy-Covered Data”). For Financial Privacy-Covered Data, please see our privacy policy.
We may provide different or additional notices of our privacy practices with respect to other personal information collection practices not within the scope of this Privacy Policy, in which case this Privacy Policy will not apply.
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We may also provide you with an additional notice (such as by adding a statement to the Services or sending you a notification), in connection with making material changes to this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.
Please note that our Services and this Privacy Policy are directed only to users in the United States.
- NOTICE AT COLLECTION
- Collection of Personal Information
- Personal Information You Provide to Us
- Personal Information We Collect Automatically
- Personal Information We Collect from Other Sources
- Personal Information We Derive
- Purpose and Use of Personal Information
- Disclosure of Personal Information
- Retention of Personal Information
- ADVERTISING AND ANALYTICS
- TRANSFER OF INFORMATION TO THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES
- YOUR CHOICES
- Account Information
- Cookies
- Communications Preferences
- CHILDREN
- ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
- “Do Not Track” Requests
- California “Shine the Light” Law
- CONTACT US
I. NOTICE AT COLLECTION
This Notice at Collection describes how we handle personal information collected about you when you engage our Services.
A. Collection of Personal Information
1. Personal Information You Provide to Us
We may collect personal information you provide directly to us. For example, we may collect information directly from you when you provide your personal information on our websites, conduct B2B Dealings with us or contact us when you engage our Services. The types of personal information that we may collect directly from you include the following:
- Identifiers and Contact Information: We collect certain identifiers and contact information from you when you utilize our Services, such as name, phone number, mailing address, email address, and other similar identifiers.
- Services Information: We collect certain information in connection with your use of the WinForest investor services, such as Social Security Number, Taxpayer Identification Number, and login information for our investor portal.
- Business-to-Business Information: We collect certain contact information in relation to our B2B Dealings, such as name, title, company, address, email address and phone number.
2. Personal Information We Collect Automatically
We may automatically collect certain personal information about your interactions with us or our Services, including:
- Activity Information: We may collect information about your activity on our Services, such as your use of our websites or other online Services.
- Device and Usage Information: We may collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as your hardware model, operating system version, mobile network, IP address, unique device identifiers, and browser type. We also collect information about your activity on our Services, such as access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and the page you visited before navigating to our Services.
- Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: We and others that control collection of personal information may use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to collect information about you. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular, and count visits. Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are electronic images that we use on our Services and in our emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, see Your Choices below in Section IV.
3. Personal Information We Collect from Other Sources
We may obtain personal information from other sources. For example, we may collect information from data analytics providers, operating systems and platforms, mailing list providers, and social networks. This information includes your contact information and usage data collected through cookies and other trackers described in Advertising and Analytics in Section II below.
4. Personal Information We Derive
We may derive personal information or draw inferences about you based on the information we collect. For example, we may make inferences about your approximate location based on your IP address or infer that you are interested in certain services based on your use of our websites.
B. Purpose and Use of Personal Information
We may use the categories of personal information identified in Collection of Personal Information in Section I.A above for the following business or commercial purposes:
- Provide, maintain, and improve our Services;
- Conduct B2B Dealings with our partners or vendors;
- Send you customer experience surveys;
- Personalize and improve your experience on our Services;
- Send you technical notices, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
- Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
- Communicate with you about products, services, and events offered by WinForest and others and provide news and information that we think will interest you (see Your Choices in Section IV below for information about how to opt out of these communications at any time);
- Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services;
- Personalize the advertisements you see on third-party platforms and websites (for more information, see Advertising and Analytics in Section II below);
- Personalize the advertisements you see when you use our Services based on information provided by our advertising partners;
- Detect, investigate, and prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protect the rights and property of WinForest and others;
- Debug to identify and repair errors in our Services;
- Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and
- Carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected.
C. Disclosure of Personal Information
We disclose personal information in the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this policy:
- Our Vendors: We may disclose personal information to vendors who provide us services, such as IT, web hosting, financial and administrative services, cloud storage, web hosting and similar services.
- Legal Disclosures: We may disclose personal information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. We may also disclose personal information if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of WinForest, our users, the public, or others.
- Disclosed to Advisors and Lawyers: We may disclose personal information with our lawyers and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our business interests.
- Disclosed During Change of Ownership: We may disclose personal information in connection with, or during negotiations concerning, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.
- Among Our Family of Companies: Personal information may be disclosed between and among WinForest and our current and future parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries and other companies under common control and ownership.
- With Your Consent: We may disclose personal information with your consent or at your direction.
- Disclosure of Non-Personal Information: We may also disclose aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you. When doing so, we publicly commit to maintain and use the information in an aggregated or de-identified form and not attempt to re-identify the information, unless permitted or required by law.
D. Retention of Personal Information
We store personal information for as long as necessary to carry out the purposes for which we originally collected it and for other legitimate business purposes, including to meet our legal, regulatory, or other compliance obligations.
II. ADVERTISING AND ANALYTICS
We allow others to provide analytics services and serve advertisements on our behalf across the web and in mobile apps. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites and applications, including your IP address, web browser, mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages or in mobile apps, links clicked, and conversion information. This information may be used by us and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests on our Services and other websites, and better understand your online activity. For more information about interest-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices.
III. TRANSFER OF INFORMATION TO THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES
WinForest is headquartered in the United States, and we have operations and vendors in the United States and other countries. Therefore, we and our vendors may transfer your personal information to, or store or access it in, jurisdictions that may not provide levels of data protection that are equivalent to those of your home jurisdiction. We will take steps to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it.
IV. YOUR CHOICES
A. Account Information
You may update and correct certain account information at any time by logging into your account and working with our investor portal administrator. Please note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for our legitimate business purposes.
B. Cookies
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually adjust your browser settings to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.
C. Communications Preferences
You may opt out of receiving promotional emails from WinForest by following the instructions in those communications. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about our ongoing business relations.
V. CHILDREN
Our websites are not intended for or directed at children under the age of 18. In addition, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18.
VI. ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
A. “Do Not Track” Requests
Some browsers have incorporated “Do Not Track” features. Most of these features, when turned on, send a signal or preference to the websites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Because there is not yet a common understanding of how to interpret the do not track signal, we currently do not respond to the browser do not track signals.
B. California “Shine the Light” Law
California law permits residents of California to request certain details about how their information is shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please contact us at (312) 952-5245 or bpaschke@winforest.com.
VII. CONTACT US
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at (312) 952-5245 or bpaschke@winforest.com.