United Generations (UG) brings together a team of experienced professionals with various backgrounds. We share a passion for doing the right thing and appreciate the opportunity to serve on a pro bono basis to advance UG’s cause.
Impact Investment Team
Dan Kukla – New York
Dr. Kukla is a Managing Partner at United Generations Capital (UGC), a New York based private equity firm focused on health, tech and finance. Prior to UGC, Dan sourced and executed buyouts at The Carlyle Group and was also integrally involved in the firm’s IPO ($10bn+ market cap) and other material strategic initiatives. Mr. Kukla has 20+ years experience in private equity and M&A and prior to Carlyle worked at BCG, Lazard, Citi and Commerzbank. Dan served in the German Army (Airborne), was a PhD Scholar at Columbia Business School, earned a PhD with great distinction in private equity at TU Berlin and a Diploma (MBA) at HHL (one of the world’s oldest business schools), studied at ESCP Paris, in the MBA program at Kelley School of Business (DAAD scholarship), and earned a Pre-Diploma in business informatics at Friedrich-Alexander University. Dan ran several marathons (sub 3.30), practices yoga and martial arts, plays the piano (Rachmaninoff and Queen lately), and venerates nature via scuba- and skydiving.
Mia Panzer – New York
Mia works for an early stage mission driven fin-tech start-up where she leads finance and operations. Previously, Mia was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs where she advised companies on public and private transactions, including M&A, equity and debt financings and activist defense situations. She began her career at Bloomberg where she ran a team on the equities desk.
Mia earned her BA from Middlebury College and her MBA with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Today, Mia advises start-ups and family foundations on general finance, capital raising, and impact investing related needs.
Patryk Radlowski – New York
Pat is an Analyst at Lazard, focusing on M&A advisory. Patrick's transaction experience includes the sale of Level 3 Communications to CenturyLink, Blackstone’s sale of its 21% stake in SeaWorld Entertainment and General Communication’s sale to Liberty Ventures. Prior, Patryk was at PineBridge Investments and National Securities.
Pat graduated magna cum laude from New York University, where he earned a BS in Finance and Economics from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business. After completion of his program at Lazard, Pat will join the deal team of Siris Capital, a $3bn AuM tech buyout firm based in New York.
Mark Lee – Boston
Mark is an Associate at FFL Partners, a middle market private equity firm based in San Francisco, investing out of its latest $2.0 billion fund. Prior, Mark was an Investment Banking Analyst at Lazard and RBC Capital Markets focusing on M&A transactions, corporate finance and capital structure advisory assignments in the technology sector.
Mark graduated Beta Gamma Sigma from the University of Calgary, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (First Class Honors) and a Bachelor of Commerce (with Distinction).
Senior Advisors
Marcos Blanco – New York / Washington, D.C.
Marcos is the CFO at two startup companies. Prior, Marcos was a VP at SunGard (FIS company), a Partner and CFO at BDMI (Bertelsmann VC fund), worked on M&A opportunities at Random House, was involved with the turnaround of a division of Bayer, worked for Bosch on growing the automotive franchise, and worked on supply chain optimization for Airbus.
Marcos earned his MBA at Yale, a law degree from the University of Manchester, and graduated with a dual-degree in International Business Management from the Universities of Hamburg (Germany) and Madrid (Spain). He is fluent in English, Spanish and German.
Fundraising / Operations
Steve Simone – Washington, D.C.
Steve is a VP at Carlyle, focused on fundraising for Carlyle’s Global Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Platform, including strategies focused across the energy value chain. Steve was integrally involved in the fundraising for several new strategies incl. International Energy, which raised $2.5bn, Carlyle Power Partners, which raised $2bn+ of commitments. Prior, Steve worked at Credit Suisse in the Customized Fund Investment Group.
He graduated from Hamilton College and studied at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Steve is an avid hockey fan and enjoys golf and family time with his wife and two children.
Stephan von Perger – BerliN
Stephan most recently launched Zenjob, a mobile-first staffing marketplace, grew it to six-digit monthly revenues in less than 6 months and raised €1m+ in Venture Capital from top EU and US VCs. Prior to Zenjob, Stephan worked as an early stage investor at Wellington Partners, covering deal flow and portfolio companies across Europe from Wellington's London office. Prior, he worked for mobile transit startup Citymapper, fashion e-commerce venture Stylistpick as well as McKinsey in London and Dubai.
Stephan graduated in Computer Science from The University of Oxford and studied abroad at UC Berkeley and National University of Singapore.
Legal & Compliance
Rainey Hoffman – Seattle
Rainey is a transaction attorney at Cascade Investment (controlled by Bill Gates) based in Seattle. Previously, he was a Vice President in the General Counsel's office of The Carlyle Group in Washington, DC, where he focused on corporate development initiatives.
Rainey began his legal career at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati working on M&A and corporate finance matters.
Impact Projects
Günther Laux – Nuremberg
Günther retired after 45 years in the electronics industry, most recently in management positions at Siemens, Europe’s largest manufacturing and electronics company with a mkt cap of ~$100bn. In 2013 he took over the lead for UG Theatre.
With seven other team members, all retirees who actively contribute their time, he transported over 3,000 children into wondrous fairy tales that are performed by the retirees. In addition to weekly rehearsals and regular performances, with a growing demand from nursery-school teachers, the group also writes fairy tales that promote the idea that children and the elderly are good for each other.
In addition to Dr. Dan Kukla, UG's board in Germany includes Dr. Julia Sauerbrey, Dr. Christoph Künne and Stephan von Perger.