TEAM

Our Founders

In Seon Hwang

In Seon Hwang

Managing Partner & Co-Founder
Dr. Richard Park

Dr. Richard Park

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

In Seon Hwang

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

In Seon Hwang is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Ascend Partners. Prior to founding Ascend, Mr. Hwang was the global head of the Healthcare Group and member of the Executive Management Group at Warburg Pincus, a New York-based private equity firm that has invested more than $80 billion, including more than $12 billion in healthcare companies. He has invested over $4 billion of equity capital across over 30 companies and has served on approximately 20 boards of directors. His notable deal experience includes CityMD, Modernizing Medicine, Alignment Healthcare, Vertice Pharma, Outset Medical, SOC Telemed, Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP), Navitas Midstream, Zenith Energy, Competitive Power Ventures, and APT Power. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Mr. Hwang worked at GSC Partners, Goldman Sachs, and the Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Hwang serves on the boards of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, The Gillen Brewer School, and Hope for New York.

Mr. Hwang received a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Dr. Richard Park

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

Dr. Richard Park is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Ascend Partners. Dr. Park is the founder and former CEO of CityMD, a leading urgent care company that has treated over 4 million patients through its 120+ locations in New York and New Jersey. Under his leadership, CityMD grew successfully from a single-site startup medical office in 2010 to almost $500mm of revenues in 2019 through de novo site openings and medical practice acquisitions. Dr. Park is a board certified emergency medicine physician with deep healthcare operating experience, and is a successful serial entrepreneur and investor who has worked with companies from conceptualization through execution and multiple exits. Prior to founding CityMD in 2010, Dr. Park was an Attending Physician in the Emergency Department at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. As a physician educator, he served as Associate Program Director and was voted Teaching Attending of the Year by the residents from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Dr. Park is also a co-editor of McGraw Hill’s Intensive Review of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Park received a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Our Team

Duwain Robinson

Duwain Robinson

CFO & CCO
Bonnie Lance

Bonnie Lance

Head of Fund Administration
Joshua Zenilman

Joshua Zenilman

Principal
Gabriel Oriente

Gabriel Oriente

Principal
Hailey Salito

Hailey Salito

Vice President
James Cassidy

James Cassidy

Vice President
Adam Taitz

Adam Taitz

Associate
Lindsay West

Lindsay West

Investor Relations & ESG Associate

Duwain Robinson

CFO & CCO

Duwain Robinson is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Ascend Partners. Prior to joining Ascend, Mr. Robinson served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., (“BRS”) a lower middle market private equity firm based in New York. Before BRS, he was an audit manager at PwC New York where he worked in the Asset Management practice for over six years. Mr. Robinson is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK).

Mr. Robinson holds an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School of Heriot Watt University.

Bonnie Lance

Head of Fund Administration

Bonnie Lance is the Head of Fund Administration at Ascend Partners. Prior to joining Ascend, Mrs. Lance was employed by Warburg Pincus for 15 years. During her tenure at Warburg Pincus, she aided senior management in the formation and organization of both the financial services and healthcare and consumer groups and was a team member of the LBO and energy groups. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Mrs. Lance worked at Bear Stearns in the Wealth Management Group.

Mrs. Lance graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration, and honors in International Business from Hofstra University.

Joshua Zenilman

Principal

Joshua Zenilman is a Principal at Ascend Partners. Prior to joining Ascend, Josh worked at Cain Brothers, where he focused on M&A, capital raises and strategic advisory for healthcare services companies. While at Cain Brothers, Josh executed over 15 transactions, totaling in excess of $2.5 billion of aggregate enterprise value.
Josh holds a B.A. from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Gabriel Oriente

Principal

Gabriel Oriente is a Principal at Ascend Partners. Prior to Ascend, Gabriel held positions with Onex Partners, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, and worked in the investment banking division of Evercore. He has extensive private equity investment experience in healthcare, software, and business services.
Gabriel holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Hailey Salito

Vice President

Hailey Salito is a Vice President at Ascend Partners. Hailey previously worked at Oak Street Health, Frazier Healthcare Partners, and Deloitte where she gained extensive healthcare and technology experience, focusing on digital enterprise transformations and corporate growth initiatives.

Hailey holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

James Cassidy

Vice President

James Cassidy is a Vice President at Ascend Partners. Prior to joining Ascend, James worked in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Jefferies. During his tenure at Jefferies, James worked on a variety of M&A, restructuring and capital markets transactions. Previously, James worked in the Private Capital Advisory group at Lazard. During his tenure at Lazard, James worked on primary fundraising assignments and secondary private equity transactions.
James holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

Adam Taitz

Associate

Adam Taitz is an Associate at Ascend Partners. Prior to joining Ascend, Adam worked at Cain Brothers, where he focused on M&A and strategic advisory for healthcare services companies, with an emphasis on healthcare providers. During his tenure at Cain Brothers, Adam executed a wide variety of transactions on behalf of private equity, corporate and founder-owned clients.

Adam holds a B.S. in Finance and Operations & Supply Chain Management from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Lindsay West

Investor Relations & ESG Associate

Lindsay West is an Investor Relations & ESG Associate at Ascend Partners. Prior to joining Ascend, Lindsay attended Colgate University, where she played attack as a varsity athlete for the Division 1 Colgate Women’s Lacrosse program. Lindsay holds a B.A. in Political Science from Colgate University.