Mark Rampolla is Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at GroundForce Capital (GFC), where he plays an active role in all aspects of the firm—but what he loves most is working directly with founders and their teams. Mark has represented GFC on boards including Vive Organic, OWYN, Liquid Death, Kinder Farms, ZICO Rising, Flying Embers, The Collaborative, Partake Brewing, and SYSTM Foods.

Prior to founding GFC, Mark was the Founder and CEO of ZICO Beverages, one of the trailblazers of today’s billion-dollar global coconut water category. Under his leadership, ZICO delivered nine years of explosive growth, becoming one of the fastest-growing beverage brands in the world before being acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 2013.

Before ZICO, Mark held various management positions at International Paper, including global marketing manager for the aseptic packaging division and managing director for the Beverage Packaging and Food Service divisions in Latin America and the Caribbean. There, he oversaw five joint-venture plants generating $100M in revenue, managing 300+ employees and customers across 20 countries.

Before climbing the corporate ladder, Mark took the road less traveled—specifically, one made of dirt, lined with banana trees, and occasionally blocked by cows—as a small-business development volunteer for the Peace Corps in Costa Rica.

With a passion for understanding what drives entrepreneurs, Mark has advised more than 100 CEOs, helped raise over $1B, and personally invested in more than 40 social-impact startups across food, beverage, technology, and energy sectors. Throughout his career, he has served on the boards of over 30 companies, organizations, and associations.

When not advising CEOs on growth strategies or major life decisions, Mark can be found in, on, or under the sea, or going up, down, or around a mountain. If forced to stay put, he’s tending his succulent garden, reading, writing, or planning his next adventure.

Mark is a graduate of Marquette University and holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, as well as a Master’s of Environmental Management from Duke. He is also the author of High-Hanging Fruit: Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else Will, a book that captures the lessons from his entrepreneurial journey and his philosophy on building businesses that matter.

Dan Gluck is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at GroundForce Capital. Having joined in January 2018, Dan decided to leverage his experience as an institutional investor, entrepreneur in the CPG food sector, and passion for health and wellness. Dan plays an integral and active role in all aspects of GroundForce Capital’s business, including, but not limited to, the overall management of all firm operations, deal sourcing, and leading deal diligence. Dan also represents GroundForce Capital on the following portfolio company boards: Miyoko’s, Zico Rising, Your Super, Thistle, Jot Coffee, and Rae Wellness.

Driven by his deep passion for physical fitness, sports, and competitive races, prior to joining GroundForce Capital, Dan was Co-Founder and Board Chairman of Health Warrior, a plant-based superfood CPG food company, which was created in 2012. The company’s debut product was a 100 calorie Chia bar which became the #1 best-selling new bar in the natural channel in 2013. Today, Health Warrior products are sold in ~13,000 stores complemented by a robust DTC platform.

Dan’s early-stage operational experience includes early trend spotting, product innovation, branding, organizational development, sales strategy, and financing. Health Warrior was purchased by PepsiCo in October 2018.

From 2001 to 2015, Dan was a Portfolio Manager, Partner, and Executive Committee Member at Weiss Multi-Strategy Partners, an investment management firm based in NYC. As a Partner and Executive Committee Member, Dan created and implemented strategic business initiatives for the firm and helped it grow from a family office to a multi-billion dollar SEC registered investment adviser. At peak, Dan was personally responsible for managing $1B of gross AUM and invested in a wide breadth of companies, across the capital structure, and with investments spanning the globe from the U.S., LatAM, Europe, Middle East, to Asia.

Dan lives in Mill Valley near GroundForce Capital's Bay Area office with his wife and two children. He spends his free time running, mountain biking, and hiking with his family. Dan graduated from Colgate University with a Bachelor of Arts in 2000.

Eric leads GroundForce Capital’s technology and services investing team, and is actively involved in shaping the strategy as well as leading the full investment lifecycle into companies enabling the CPG supply chain.  He has been a health and sustainability tech investor for over ten years and made over 25 growth investments, including in ProducePay, TemperPack, and Afresh, amongst others. As an investor and board member who enjoys collaborating closely with management teams, he is most noted for helping transform finance departments into strategic functions, along with developing customer insights, value propositions, and go-to-market strategies. With GroundForce Capital, Eric sees an opportunity to uniquely drive impact and returns across consumer driven supply chains. By leveraging deep industry expertise and differentiated technologies, GroundForce Capital can help improve alignment of incentives between mid-to-upstream stakeholders and evolving end consumer demands, thereby unlocking new levels of efficiency, sustainability, and value creation.

Prior to joining GroundForce Capital, Eric was a Managing Director at Vidavo Capital Partners, a growth equity investment firm specialized in profitable growth technology companies improving the sustainability, security, safety, and health of the agrifood system. Prior to Vidavo, Eric was a Partner at Greenhouse Capital, a growth equity investment firm specializing in B2B climate technologies. Eric helped develop Greenhouse Capital’s then unique, purpose-built strategy of investing in high-growth technology companies to drive efficiency, resiliency and new means of value creation across legacy industrial supply chains and infrastructure, including food & agriculture, energy, waste, water, transportation, and the built environment. Prior to Greenhouse Capital, Eric was an investment professional at Robin Lane Capital, a lower middle-market growth equity family office focused on the consumer goods sector.

Eric spent the early years of his career in corporate strategy and M&A consulting, where he advised strategic and financial buy-side clients on multi-billion-dollar public and private transactions across Europe and the U.S. These previous roles include CFO of MobiledgeX, a mobile-edge software platform incubated within Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners; Head of Finance and Operations at Neura, an AI behavioral intelligence platform for transportation, retail, health and other applications; Corporate Strategy Manager at Philips; and M&A Transactions Advisory Group Manager at PwC in the Netherlands.

Eric earned an MBA from the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business, and also attended London Business School.  He holds a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Arizona, and also attended Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

​Eric grew up in Arizona, and after living in Amsterdam, London, Hong Kong and Chicago, he currently lives in Mill Valley, California. An active outdoorsman, he is an avid skier and enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and going on new adventures with his two small children.

As COO and a member of the executive team, Kathryn collaborates closely with the General Partners and leadership team to manage all aspects of the firm. Kathryn brings over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, primarily in alternative investments within institutional asset management. She began her career in New York as an analyst at Bank Julius Baer, a $450 billion asset management firm and private bank, covering distressed hedge funds in the early 2000s. She later became a Senior Hedge Fund Research Analyst, responsible for investing in long/short equity and relative value arbitrage hedge fund strategies in the U.S. and Europe.

Following her tenure at Julius Baer, Kathryn spent over seven years at GAM, a $75 billion asset management firm. As Director of Institutional Sales, she was a top revenue generator on the U.S. hedge fund of fund sales team. She led the development of customized solutions and drove the marketing strategy for various products driving the firm’s entry into the U.S. institutional market and established partnerships with pension funds, foundations, endowments, and investment consultants.

She has also held Head of Business Development and Marketing roles at MTech Capital, an InsurTech venture capital firm, and Denali Advisors, a quantitative public equities firm.

Kathryn resides in Mill Valley, near GroundForce Capital’s Bay Area office. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS from the Haas School of Business and serves on the board of the Mill Valley Library Foundation.

Laura serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at GroundForce Capital where she brings over 15 years of expertise in private equity, finance, and accounting to drive strategic initiatives within the leadership team.

She began her career in PwC's Asset and Wealth Management practice where she gained experience in audit, technical accounting, automation, and consulting. In her most recent role at PwC, Laura served as an outsourced controller to an $800 billion global investment firm, demonstrating her ability to manage complex financial operations. Prior to joining GroundForce, Laura led the fund finance and management company finance teams at Top Tier Capital Partners.

A California native, Laura lives in Marin County with her husband and two daughters, Olivia and June. Outside of work, Laura is a certified yoga instructor with a deep-seated passion for wellbeing and mindfulness. Whether on her yoga mat, at the local CrossFit gym, or hiking at sunrise, Laura embraces an active lifestyle that complements her dedication to both personal and professional growth.

George leads GroundForce Capital’s investment team and is actively involved in shaping strategy, sourcing and assessing new investment opportunities, and working closely with portfolio companies to drive growth. Throughout his career, he has worked with hundreds of consumer-focused brands and organizations across a variety of advisory, operating, and investing roles. He enjoys combining his passion for creativity with building and growing great brands and businesses. In addition to serving as a member of the firm’s investment committee, he currently represents GroundForce Capital on the boards of Bobbie, SYSTM Foods, Partake Brewing, and The Collaborative.

Prior to joining GroundForce Capital, George was a Principal at Eurazeo, a global private equity firm with over $30 billion of AUM. As one of the original team members of Eurazeo’s consumer growth equity fund, Eurazeo Brands, he helped create a strategy, build a team, and invest $800 million across over a dozen businesses. Prior to Eurazeo, George began his investing career with VMG Partners, and previously held roles in corporate development at Heineken and investment banking at Rothschild.

Having moved to the U.S. at a young age, George grew up with diverse perspectives and a curiosity for all things global, leading him to study international affairs, business, and language at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. After identifying his interest in investing, he earned an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

George is an adventure-seeker both at home and in his travels. He is based in New York City and Shelter Island, NY. In his free time, he and his husband enjoy working on their 1800s house, sailing around Shelter Island, and running and biking in an attempt to wear out their field spaniel, Jasper.

As a Vice President at GroundForce Capital, Adam is a leader on the firm’s investment team and is actively involved in shaping strategy, sourcing new investment opportunities, and working closely with our portfolio companies to drive growth. His role enables him to combine his passion for strong consumer brands with his excitement to meet and learn from amazing founders and managers of businesses.

Prior to joining GroundForce Capital, Adam was an investment professional at TSG Consumer Partners, a private equity firm with $20 billion of AUM focused on partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams in the Consumer sector to accelerate growth and scale leading brands. Prior to TSG Consumer, Adam was an investment professional at Kainos Capital, a middle-market private equity fund focused on the food and beverage space. Prior to Kainos, Adam began his finance career at Perella Weinberg Partners, a leading global investment bank focusing on M&A transaction advisory.

Adam graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, where he earned a B.S. in Finance with Honors. He is originally from Texas but moved around growing up, living in Rome, IT; Vancouver, BC; Scottsdale, AZ; New York, NY and now lives in San Francisco, CA working out of GroundForce Capital’s Mill Valley office.

Adam’s favorite place to be is outside, preferably engaging in an exciting (and adrenaline-fueled) activity. In his free time, he enjoys all things outdoor from skiing and surfing to long distance running and backpacking while taking every chance he gets to explore a new country.

Graham is a Senior Associate at GroundForce Capital, where he is a key member of the investment team and responsible for sourcing new opportunities, conducting due diligence, executing transactions, and supporting our portfolio companies as they grow and reach their goals. His role allows him to couple personal interests in health and wellness with skills garnered throughout his career, all while partnering with entrepreneurs and learning from their unwavering passion and creativity.

Prior to joining the firm, Graham was an Associate at Martis Capital, a growth-oriented middle-market private equity firm focused on partnering with founder-led companies and management teams in the healthcare sector. Previously, Graham worked in investment banking at BTIG, a global financial services firm, where he advised companies across industries on M&A transactions and private placements. Graham began his career at FT Partners, an investment bank focused exclusively on the financial technology sector.

Graham graduated cum laude from Occidental College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a minor in Mathematics.

Having spent his winters on skis since he was 3 years old, Graham remains an avid skier and enjoys weekend trips to Tahoe and other skiing destinations. If there’s no snow on the ground, you can find him golfing (or at least trying to), traveling, sharing wine with friends, or searching for the next best restaurant in San Francisco.

Sarah is the Director of Marketing at GroundForce Capital, reporting to the COO. She is supporting the COO with oversight of marketing, operations, impact, as well as the firm’s growth strategy. Sarah's role at GroundForce Capital aligns perfectly with her passion for health, wellness, and sustainability, enabling her to integrate her professional skills with her personal interests.

Sarah joins GroundForce Capital from Sweetgreen where she served as the right hand to the Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer. Sarah supported Sweetgreen’s Executive team through the IPO process, and she spearheaded strategic initiatives for the Operations and People teams.

Prior to joining Sweetgreen, Sarah was an Associate on the Business Development and Fundraising team at Lone Star Funds and Hudson Advisors. Previously, she was an Investment Banking Analyst at Maxim Group where she focused on equity capital raising for public and private companies in consumer, healthcare, and technology sectors. Sarah's career started in business development at Altrum Honors, leading sales initiatives across North America.

A Toronto native, Sarah has lived in major cities across the United States, including an 8-year stint in New York City, 2 years in Los Angeles, and she currently resides in San Francisco. In her free time, Sarah is building Modern Angels, a community and database of 200+ female and non-binary angel investors.

Like many Canadians, Sarah loves the outdoors! She is a marathon runner, cyclist and loves live music. Sarah is inspired by food, fitness and travel.

Nicola D'Alton joined GroundForce Capital in 2023 as an Executive Assistant, leveraging her experience gained in the fast-paced financial industry of New York City. Nicola enjoys hiking, beach days and frequent visits to Erewhon. Nicola’s true passion is committed to climate change initiatives, health, and wellness, striving to make a positive impact on the world.

Tahra Makinson-Sanders joined the team as an Executive Assistant in 2022. Mission driven work has been at her core. After a career in journalism, working for a national park and starting her own women’s sportswear business, Tahra found GroundForce Capital to be a perfect fit. Working with a team that is passionate about fitness, healthy lifestyles and the power of food has been her dream come true.

Shawn joined GroundForce Capital as an Operating Advisor in 2024 and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the portfolio company, KinderFarms.

With a diverse and extensive background, Shawn has experience in both large global conglomerates and scaling early-stage businesses. He's worked on both the buy-side and sell-side of M&A, and has direct leadership experience across commercial, financial, and supply chain functions. Most recently, he served as President of Emerging Brands for Nestlé Health Science, where he managed a pipeline of M&A and growth strategies to expand into new categories and drive innovation and growth. He operated a portfolio of high-growth, dynamic brands post-acquisition.

Shawn initially joined Nestle Health Science through the acquisition of Vital Proteins in 2020, where he was an early member and served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. At Vital Proteins, he developed a robust scaling business model that drove category disruption and hypergrowth.

Prior to Vital Proteins, Shawn scaled another early-stage high-growth business, J. Skinner Baking, into one of the largest U.S. bakeries.  He began his career at Kellogg's, where he spent 10 years in progressively senior finance and general management roles, gaining invaluable foundational skills.

Erin Dwyer is a beauty and marketing executive with a 20-year progressive career and unique blend of experience—bridging gaps at the intersections of digital marketing, strategy, product, and brand. Erin brings over a decade of experience in the beauty industry, including leading digital at Drunk Elephant (acquired by Shiseido) and OUAI (acquired by Procter & Gamble). Most recently, she successfully launched a brand from inception to Sephora in just ten months.  Erin has successfully managed brands across all stages, from initial start-up to periods of rapid growth (+100-400%) and exit.

Prior to her executive roles in the beauty industry, Erin spent years focused on what is now defined as ‘digital’.  She began her career in online gaming in 2005, which served as a springboard for her deep expertise in CRM, development, e-commerce, social media, and performance marketing. Prior to immersing herself in the digital revolution and its transformative impact on consumer marketing and business, Erin honed her brand marketing skills at iconic advertising agencies, including DDB, Chiat\Day, and J. Walter Thompson.

Today, Erin blends her expertise in brand marketing with her digital acumen to help brands scale and reach their full potential. She brings a wealth of knowledge in digital, marketing, and technical due diligence, as well as operational leadership across marketing, digital, sales, and IT.  Her industry experience spans technology, beauty, CPG, and entertainment. Erin has also served in various advisory and board roles, passionately supporting founders and entrepreneurs in bringing their visions to life.

Originally from Buffalo, NY, Erin is, of course, a tortured Bills fan. She resides in Orange County with her two daughters and beloved dog.

Until 2024, Danielle Jezienicki was Vice President of Sustainability for Grove Collaborative, the world's first plastic-neutral retailer. As Grove's first Head of Sustainability, Danielle built the sustainability program and the industry's first plastic intensity metric (recognized for leadership in reporting around plastic use) and all measurement, managing all ESG disclosures through the company's IPO in June of 2022, as well as its move away from single-use plastic and towards Net Zero by 2030.

Prior to Grove, Danielle was the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM) where she supervised ESG reporting and sustainability initiatives for the Company and its West Coast brands including the Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma brands. Prior to her brand experience, she worked at an impact investment firm, Sonen Capital, as an Impact Analyst responsible for evaluating impact across asset classes and impact themes. She holds an MBA in Sustainable Management at Presidio Graduate School and BA (honors) in Political Science from Brown University.

Danielle recently founded her consulting practice, Impact FWD, where she supports investors and brands as a fractional head of impact and sustainability. In this role, she helps define and operationalize sustainability strategies across investments, portfolio companies, and brands. Current clients include GroundForce Capital, Nespresso, Cabinet Health, and Lulu and Georgia as well as advisory relationships with EQT Partners and rePurpose Global. Danielle has expertise in impact investment diligence as well as operating expertise across consumer products, packaging, waste/materials, circularity, and supply chain.

Adam Lowry is a former climate scientist and the founder of several mission-driven businesses, including Method Products, Ripple Foods, and Sugarbreak, all public benefit corporations.  Adam designs businesses with sustainability principles at their core, so that their growth produces positive social and environmental impacts.  His businesses have eliminated more than a million tons of GHG emissions and thousand tons of plastic waste, saved more than 100 billion gallons of water, and created hundreds of green manufacturing jobs on four continents; all while creating more than a billion dollars in shareholder value.

Adam’s companies have been named #7 on the Inc 500 list of fastest growing private companies in the US; #16 on Fast Company’s Fast 50 World’s Most Innovative Companies; and twice named to the Global CleanTech 100.  Adam has contributed countless innovations to the sustainable business space that spans from packaging to green chemistry to urban revitalization.

Adam has been honored as recipient of The Circular Economy Award from the World Economic Forum and the Global Citizen Award from the Clinton Global Initiative for his leadership in the private sector.  Adam is a Catto Environmental Fellow at the Aspen Institute and holds a B.S. Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.

André Martin, PhD, has held key C-level leadership, advisory, and board roles dedicated to employee engagement and culture in some of the biggest consumer brands in the world including Target, Nike, Google, Mars Incorporated, and Disney.

Whether his teams were unleashing the potential of Target’s 350,000 employees by helping to build a more purpose-driven culture, activating a consumer-focused digital transformation at Nike by delivering a more value-driven, leader-led culture, or building a principle-led culture at Mars that resulted in five consecutive Gallup Great Place to Work awards, André’s mission has always been to help make growth companies as engaging as the consumer brands they create.

When he isn’t helping companies thrive, Andre is a guest lecturer at top universities on culture, design thinking and innovation, a committed husband and father of two wonderful children, an owner of a sustainable mushroom farm in the Ozark Mountains, and can otherwise be found hiking the rain-soaked trails around Portland with his two English labs (Bode and the Fonz).

Rebecca Messina has been an operating advisor since 2020 and currently serves on the board of two GroundForce Capital portfolio companies: Vive Organic and Zico. She has deep experience in building global brands and teams and most recently served as Uber Technologies first ever CMO. While at Uber, Rebecca was also part of the Executive Leadership team that took the Company public in 2019.

Prior to joining Uber, Rebecca was the SVP and Global CMO at Beam Suntory, the third largest spirits company famous for brands like Jim Beam, Makers Mark, a large craft portfolio, and Japanese whisky brands like Hibiki and Yamazaki.

With more than two decades of experience in roles around the world at The Coca-Cola Company, Rebecca built a deep foundation growing global brands from the ground up. In addition to her extensive experience with the Company's biggest brands, Rebecca was also the CMO of the internal incubator, Venturing and Emerging Brands, where she led marketing for the portfolio of high-growth brands including Fairlife, Zico, Honest Tea and others.