Jason Howard is the Founder and Managing Partner at New Catalyst Strategic Partners, a majority diverse-owned and independent alternative investment firm. At New Catalyst, Jason is focused on providing strategic capital to Next Generation private market firms, helping them launch, scale, and transform their businesses. New Catalyst invests broadly across private markets and has a long-term strategic partnership with Apollo Global Management. Prior to founding New Catalyst, Jason served as a Managing Director at GCM Grosvenor and Co-Head of the firm’s Diverse Manager Private Equity practice, which committed several billion dollars to private equity investments led by women and people of color. He invested in private equity primary funds and co-investment transactions across buyout, growth, special situations and venture capital investment strategies. Throughout his tenure at GCM Grosvenor, he was responsible for sourcing opportunities to anchor new/spin-out funds, overseeing fund manager investments, assessing track record attribution, leading co-investment transactions, negotiating economic deals, and advising GPs on firm growth initiatives. Jason also worked closely with large institutional investors as he invested capital on their behalf and shared portfolio construction best practices for emerging and diverse manager investing. Jason started his career at Goldman Sachs and worked in both the M&A and Technology, Media & Telecom groups before serving as Manager in the Deal Analysis group at the Walt Disney Film Studio, where he structured film investments and talent deals. Jason also completed several media related projects as a consultant with Turner Entertainment. He currently serves on The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board and the Orange County Community Foundation’s Investment Committee. Jason has also shared investing insights as a speaker at key industry events, including the Council on Foundations’ Endowments & Finance Summit, ILPA’s Members’ Conference, NCPERS Annual Conference, the NMS Fall Leadership Forum, Pension Bridge’s PE Exclusive, the SEO Alternative Investments Conference, the Texas TRS/Texas ERS Emerging Manager Conference, and the UAW Investment Manager Conference.