Leadership Team
John Banks - Founder and Managing Partner
John Banks is the founder and Managing Partner of JEB Capital Partners ("JEBCP"). Prior to founding JEBCP John was an investment professional at Ninth Street Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. Prior to Ninth Street, John worked as a management consultant for Oliver Wyman specializing in providing leading companies and executives across the country strategic advice and the non-profit Teach for America where he served two years as a corps member working with students on Chicago's South Side.
John attended Judson University on a full scholarship for baseball and his team achieved top #25 in the nation honors while John graduated with honors and received a BS in Accounting, Finance, and History. John also attended the University of Oxford, where he played varsity rugby and received an Oxford shield of distinction for being voted "Man of the year" by his teammates, and University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he earned a Master's in Business Administration ("MBA").
John resides in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago where he and his wife, who've been together since they were 15, enjoy spending time with their family, taking bike rides and runs along the lakefront, and supporting philanthropic efforts. John has a particular passion for childhood education and the small-businesses community. John serves on the Advisory Board of the Academy of Urban School Leadership and High Jump
Chris McGowan - Board of Advisors
Chris is the general partner of CJM Ventures, a private equity firm focused on buyouts, growth equity and venture capital investments in companies located near Chicago and London. Chris also serves as an Adjunct Professor at The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and as an Investor-in-Residence and Faculty Advisor to Booth’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. At Booth, Chris teaches the Private Equity and Venture Capital Lab, Sterling Partners (Private Equity) Investment Thesis Challenge and the Private Equity Case Challenge. Prior to CJM, Chris worked at Madison Dearborn Partners, where he served as a managing director and co-headed their basic industries practice. Chris serves on over 20 boards including portfolio companies, VC funds, and PE funds. Chris received his BS in theoretical mathematics from Columbia University and his MBA from Harvard Business school.
Dan Shellenbarger - Board of Advisors
Dan is a Partner at Oliver Wyman, a leading global management consulting firm, where he leads the North American Provider practice. His work focuses on transforming incumbent health care businesses to survive/thrive in the post-ACA and pandemic ecosystems. Prior to Oliver Wyman, Dan spent 10 years working on strategic commercialization issues in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors with ZS Associates. Through engagements with clients in the US as well as Europe, South America and Asia, Dan has become a trusted advisor to executive teams and boards across the globe. He holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Duke University.
Dennis Chookaszian - Board of Advisors
Dennis Chookaszian is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of CNA Insurance Companies.
Mr. Chookaszian served as CNA’s chairman and chief executive officer from 1992 until 1999. He also served as chairman of the executive committee of CNA from 1999 to 2001. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Chookaszian served as CNA’s president and chief operating officer, with responsibility for all property and casualty, life, health, and investment operations. Mr. Chookaszian joined CNA in 1975 and served as chief financial officer until 1990 when he was named president. He also served as chairman and CEO of mPower Inc, an internet financial advisory service, from 1999 to 2001. Prior to joining CNA, he was a management consultant with Deloitte for eight years working on various financial and systems related assignments.
Mr. Chookaszian served as chairman of FASAC (Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council) which provides guidance to the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) on accounting matters for five years and completed his term in 2012. He was also a member of the FCAG (Financial Crisis Advisory Group) which was the international commission that was created to develop recommendations to solve the financial reporting problems associated with the financial crisis of 2008.
During his career, he has served as a director on the boards of thirteen publicly traded corporations and seventy private corporations. He is currently a director of three public companies including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the world’s largest financial futures and derivatives exchange, Perdoceo Education, a private post-secondary education provider, and Pillarstone Capital, a real estate investment trust. He also serves as a director of twenty private corporations and has served as an arbitrator in twelve diverse cases and as an expert witness in thirteen cases.
Mr. Chookaszian is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and teaches courses in Corporate Governance. He also teaches a course in International Corporate Governance at Cheung Kong University in China, Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance in China, and at IIPM in India.
Mr. Chookaszian is a trustee of Northwestern University, a member of the advisory board of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a member of the advisory board of Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is also a member of the national board of the Boy Scouts of America, a director of Northwestern Memorial Foundation and president of the Foundation for Health Enhancement.
Mr. Chookaszian has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business, and a master of science degree in economics from the London School of Economics. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Global Management Accountant, Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, and a Certified Management Consultant as well as a member of the directors’ table of Beta Gamma Sigma, an honorary fraternity. In 2010, Mr. Chookaszian received the Outstanding Director Award from the Financial Times Outstanding Directors Exchange.