Michael is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Big Path Capital, a leading boutique impact investment bank focused on providing Corporate Finance, M&A, and Placement Agent services to impact companies and funds globally.  Big Path has worked with over 120 impact and sustainable companies and funds, more than any firm in the sector. In 2007 the old economy driven by the single gear of profit maximization reached a dead end in the financial crisis. It was a moment of reckoning during which Michael left his fifteen-year career in private equity to form Big Path Capital with his partner, Shawn Lesser, leveraging the engine of capitalism to build an expansive economy founded on natural, social, and financial capital.  Recognizing that impact investing isn’t just a different way of investing but a superior way of deploying capital, Michael is committed to challenging the status quo and to raising the expectation of capital.  In this vein, Big Path has created a number of first-in-class initiatives demonstrating SmarterMoney+:  Maximize impact, Maximize return. These include the Five Fund Forum, Impact Capitalism Summit, and Impact & Sustainable Trade Missions. Michael received a BA summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Michael is an advisory board member of the Croatan Institute and the Babson Center for Global Commerce and is a member of the Social Venture Network and Net Impact.Michael Whelchel is a Registered Representative of Finalis Securities LLC Member FINRA/SIPC.