Kate Faust joined Rockwood Equity Partners’ Cleveland office in 2015  as Partner, Business development. Kate oversees new deal opportunities presented to Rockwood and assists with our Rockwood River Guide® network.  Her industry and operating experience allows us to quickly evaluate whether Rockwood may the right partner for a given opportunity.  She also consults with owners of companies in our focus areas who are looking for an investment partner.

Kate was the first female Chief Financial Officer at SIFCO Industries, a publicly traded forged components manufacturer for the aerospace and energy industries.  She also was Vice President of Corporate Strategic Planning and Manager of Finance at Argo-Tech Corp., a maker of aerospace engine fuel pumps and systems, airframe fuel pumps and systems, and ground fueling equipment for commercial and military aerospace markets before it was recapitalized by Vestar Capital and Greenbriar Equity Group and then ultimately acquired by Eaton Corp.

In addition to operating roles, Kate has held investment management positions at Greenstar Capital, a private equity firm that invests in lower-middle market companies and provides management consulting services, as well as Morningside Ventures, a family office focused on early stage healthcare and information technology investments.

She holds an MBA from Ohio State University’s Max M. Fisher College of Business and graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in economics from Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College.

Kate is currently Vice Chairman of Great Lakes Biomimicry and oversees the Caroline Kramer Faust Foundation. She was named one of Merger & Acquisition’s 2020 Most Influential Women in Mid–Market M&A.  Kate chaired the Capital Roundtable conference on Best Practices for Sourcing Private Equity Investment Opportunities.  She was also co-chair of the American Heart Association’s Circle of Red/Men Go Red committee, has served on the Board of Directors of the Junior League of Santa Barbara, was on the Alumni Board at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University, and has been an active supporter of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara and Girls, Inc.