Team

Leadership Team
John M B O’Connor
Chairman & CEO
John O’Connor has served as Chairman of J.H. Whitney Investment Management, LLC since January 2005. From January 2009 through March 2011, he served as CEO of Tactronics Holdings, LLC, a Whitney Capital Partners portfolio holding company that provided tactical integrated electronic systems to US and foreign military customers as well as composite armor solutions for military vehicles through its Armostruxx division. Previously, John was Chairman of JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management, Inc. and an Executive Partner of JP Morgan Partners. He was also a member of the Risk Management Committee of JP Morgan Chase, which was responsible for policy formulation and oversight of all market and credit risk-taking activities globally. John has extensive experience in transaction leadership, structuring and portfolio management, and is a member of J.H. Whitney’s Investment Committee, contributing significant global renewable and energy investment, regulatory, and operational expertise to the Investment Manager’s team. John earned a B.A. in economics from Tulane University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Thomas Bayer
Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer
Thomas Bayer joined Whitney Strategic Services after a notable career in business and government where he led teams to deliver data analytics, and technology solutions. As the Chief Technology Officer for S&P Global, he served as a corporate officer and member of the Executive Committee. He also managed the information technology team to support the ratings group and enable employees to perform the ratings process in a globally consistent way. Before joining S&P, Thomas served as Chief Information Officer for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where he directed 1900 staff and contractors and managed a $375 million technology budget. Under his leadership, the SEC enhanced information security, leveraged cloud-based technologies, standardized its enterprise platforms and significantly reduced costs - all while improving free public access to more than 21 million corporate filings and documents. Before that, he was Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Brand Informatics and Chief Information Officer for CapitalOne’s European IT infrastructure. Earlier, he led the design, software development, deployment and operation of e-commerce consumer and corporate lending applications at Citibank. He began his career at Sprint working on strategic product development. Thomas graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Finance and Economics and later obtained a master’s degree from OSU’s Fischer College of Business. He is an Executive-on-Grounds at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, working closely with students and faculty members in the M.S. in Management of IT program.
C. Allen Parker
President
Allen Parker became a Senior Advisor to J.H. Whitney Investment Management and its affiliates after most recently serving for three years as an executive at Wells Fargo & Company, where he was Interim Chief Executive Officer for seven months and General Counsel for the remainder of his tenure.  Throughout his time at Wells Fargo, he was also a member of the Wells Fargo Operating Committee, which is the company’s senior-most business committee responsible for considering and deciding on key strategic, business, and operational matters.  Prior to his work at Wells Fargo, Allen was a partner for 27 years at the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where he was a member of the firm’s corporate governance and board advisory practice and held a variety of leadership roles, including as Cravath’s Presiding Partner, the firm’s chief executive officer.  Allen has extensive experience in matters relating to corporate governance, crisis management, financial institution regulation, financing, mergers and acquisitions, and derivative transactions in the United States and over 20 foreign countries.  Allen earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.
Bret Mahoney
Chief Operating Officer
Bret Mahoney serves as Chief Operating Officer of Whitney Strategic Services and is responsible for development of strategic and technical analysis for client programs. Prior to joining WSS, he worked in the corporate and investment banking division at Deutsche Bank AG with the industrials coverage team.  He completed multiple M&A transactions over $1 billion in enterprise value as both sell-side and buy-side advisory. Before moving to the private sector, Bret served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. In his role as an intelligence officer, LT. Mahoney served aboard multiple naval platforms as a staff officer with Commander Amphibious Squadron 4 (COMPHIBRON 4) and as a lead analyst for the Office of Naval Intelligence Special Programs division.  He and his teams received multiple individual and unit recognitions including a Meritorious Unit Citation from the Director of National Intelligence. Bret earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Finance, Accounting, and Strategic Management. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola University New Orleans.
Tilly Moross
Associate
Tilly joined J.H. Whitney in 2021 and conducts strategic assessments of financial, technological, and industrial activities across various nations and industries. Her research focuses on global developments in technology, industry, and economic competition, with particular experience assessing methods of political, economic, and technological statecraft in the People’s Republic of China.
She previously served as a research intern at American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., where her work primarily addressed the implications of the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative and the development of 5G, Smart-City and surveillance capabilities. She graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.A. in Politics & International Affairs.
Christine Bellarosa
Controller
Christine Bellarosa is the Controller for J.H. Whitney Investment Management LLC and Whitney Strategic Services LLC.  She worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers between 1992-2003 specializing in the audits of mutual funds and private hedge funds.  Christine also worked at Citigroup Asset Management from 2003-2006 specializing in legal entity accounting and reporting for management companies.  From 2006-2009 She worked at JP Morgan Hedge Fund Services managing a team of hedge fund accountants. She graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 1992 majoring in Economics/Accounting.
Natalie Corella
Head of Contracts and Compliance
Natalie A. Corella is the former Chief Compliance officer for Advanced Technology International (ATI). She has over 20 years of experience in contract management, procurement and administration. As the former executive that leads the Corporate Contracts and Procurement department, she was responsible for negotiating and overseeing all ATI prime contracts, which grew to over 1.5 billion dollars during her tenure. Natalie guides all aspects of the WSS compliance and proposal process. Natalie holds a Communications degree from University of Dayton.
Roland Trope
Legal Advisor
Roland Trope is a partner at Trope and Schramm LLP, New York City, and an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Law and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Trope has a national security practice in which he represents high tech companies, government contractors, and allied ministries of defense. He advises senior officials, officers, and Boards of Directors on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), compliance with trade regulations such as tech transfers and licensing, corporate governance and ethics, cybersecurity, defense procurements, and protection of intellectual property rights in government contracts. Mr. Trope earned a J.D. at Yale Law School, a B.A. and M.A. at Oxford University, and a B.A. at the University of Southern California.
Chris Gore
President of D4C Global, LLC
Chris Gore is president of D4C Global, LLC, a veteran-owned counterintelligence consulting firm. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer and special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). He has more than 20 years of experience planning, conducting, and leading national security investigations. He has initiated and led complex operations to thwart criminals, terrorists, hostile foreign intelligence and cyber threat actors targeting national security, military, and commercial resources and personnel. As a special agent with AFOSI, Gore led one of the most complex counterintelligence investigations in U.S. Air Force history: cyber espionage operations directed against the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. He currently provides counterintelligence training, threat awareness briefings, and specialized counterintelligence services to senior leaders in the U.S. government and Fortune 500 companies.
John M B O’Connor
Chairman & CEO
John O’Connor has served as Chairman of J.H. Whitney Investment Management, LLC since January 2005. From January 2009 through March 2011, he served as CEO of Tactronics Holdings, LLC, a Whitney Capital Partners portfolio holding company that provided tactical integrated electronic systems to US and foreign military customers as well as composite armor solutions for military vehicles through its Armostruxx division. Previously, John was Chairman of JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management, Inc. and an Executive Partner of JP Morgan Partners. He was also a member of the Risk Management Committee of JP Morgan Chase, which was responsible for policy formulation and oversight of all market and credit risk-taking activities globally. John has extensive experience in transaction leadership, structuring and portfolio management, and is a member of J.H. Whitney’s Investment Committee, contributing significant global renewable and energy investment, regulatory, and operational expertise to the Investment Manager’s team. John earned a B.A. in economics from Tulane University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Thomas Bayer
Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer
Thomas Bayer joined Whitney Strategic Services after a notable career in business and government where he led teams to deliver data analytics, and technology solutions. As the Chief Technology Officer for S&P Global, he served as a corporate officer and member of the Executive Committee. He also managed the information technology team to support the ratings group and enable employees to perform the ratings process in a globally consistent way. Before joining S&P, Thomas served as Chief Information Officer for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where he directed 1900 staff and contractors and managed a $375 million technology budget. Under his leadership, the SEC enhanced information security, leveraged cloud-based technologies, standardized its enterprise platforms and significantly reduced costs - all while improving free public access to more than 21 million corporate filings and documents. Before that, he was Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Brand Informatics and Chief Information Officer for CapitalOne’s European IT infrastructure. Earlier, he led the design, software development, deployment and operation of e-commerce consumer and corporate lending applications at Citibank. He began his career at Sprint working on strategic product development. Thomas graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Finance and Economics and later obtained a master’s degree from OSU’s Fischer College of Business. He is an Executive-on-Grounds at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, working closely with students and faculty members in the M.S. in Management of IT program.
C. Allen Parker
President
Allen Parker became a Senior Advisor to J.H. Whitney Investment Management and its affiliates after most recently serving for three years as an executive at Wells Fargo & Company, where he was Interim Chief Executive Officer for seven months and General Counsel for the remainder of his tenure.  Throughout his time at Wells Fargo, he was also a member of the Wells Fargo Operating Committee, which is the company’s senior-most business committee responsible for considering and deciding on key strategic, business, and operational matters.  Prior to his work at Wells Fargo, Allen was a partner for 27 years at the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where he was a member of the firm’s corporate governance and board advisory practice and held a variety of leadership roles, including as Cravath’s Presiding Partner, the firm’s chief executive officer.  Allen has extensive experience in matters relating to corporate governance, crisis management, financial institution regulation, financing, mergers and acquisitions, and derivative transactions in the United States and over 20 foreign countries.  Allen earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.
Bret Mahoney
Chief Operating Officer
Bret Mahoney serves as Chief Operating Officer of Whitney Strategic Services and is responsible for development of strategic and technical analysis for client programs. Prior to joining WSS, he worked in the corporate and investment banking division at Deutsche Bank AG with the industrials coverage team.  He completed multiple M&A transactions over $1 billion in enterprise value as both sell-side and buy-side advisory. Before moving to the private sector, Bret served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. In his role as an intelligence officer, LT. Mahoney served aboard multiple naval platforms as a staff officer with Commander Amphibious Squadron 4 (COMPHIBRON 4) and as a lead analyst for the Office of Naval Intelligence Special Programs division.  He and his teams received multiple individual and unit recognitions including a Meritorious Unit Citation from the Director of National Intelligence. Bret earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Finance, Accounting, and Strategic Management. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola University New Orleans.
Tilly Moross
Associate
Tilly joined J.H. Whitney in 2021 and conducts strategic assessments of financial, technological, and industrial activities across various nations and industries. Her research focuses on global developments in technology, industry, and economic competition, with particular experience assessing methods of political, economic, and technological statecraft in the People’s Republic of China.
She previously served as a research intern at American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., where her work primarily addressed the implications of the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative and the development of 5G, Smart-City and surveillance capabilities. She graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.A. in Politics & International Affairs.
Christine Bellarosa
Controller
Christine Bellarosa is the Controller for J.H. Whitney Investment Management LLC and Whitney Strategic Services LLC.  She worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers between 1992-2003 specializing in the audits of mutual funds and private hedge funds.  Christine also worked at Citigroup Asset Management from 2003-2006 specializing in legal entity accounting and reporting for management companies.  From 2006-2009 She worked at JP Morgan Hedge Fund Services managing a team of hedge fund accountants. She graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 1992 majoring in Economics/Accounting.
Natalie Corella
Head of Contracts and Compliance
Natalie A. Corella is the former Chief Compliance officer for Advanced Technology International (ATI). She has over 20 years of experience in contract management, procurement and administration. As the former executive that leads the Corporate Contracts and Procurement department, she was responsible for negotiating and overseeing all ATI prime contracts, which grew to over 1.5 billion dollars during her tenure. Natalie guides all aspects of the WSS compliance and proposal process. Natalie holds a Communications degree from University of Dayton.
Roland Trope
Legal Advisor
Roland Trope is a partner at Trope and Schramm LLP, New York City, and an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Law and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Trope has a national security practice in which he represents high tech companies, government contractors, and allied ministries of defense. He advises senior officials, officers, and Boards of Directors on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), compliance with trade regulations such as tech transfers and licensing, corporate governance and ethics, cybersecurity, defense procurements, and protection of intellectual property rights in government contracts. Mr. Trope earned a J.D. at Yale Law School, a B.A. and M.A. at Oxford University, and a B.A. at the University of Southern California.
Chris Gore
President of D4C Global, LLC
Chris Gore is president of D4C Global, LLC, a veteran-owned counterintelligence consulting firm. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer and special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). He has more than 20 years of experience planning, conducting, and leading national security investigations. He has initiated and led complex operations to thwart criminals, terrorists, hostile foreign intelligence and cyber threat actors targeting national security, military, and commercial resources and personnel. As a special agent with AFOSI, Gore led one of the most complex counterintelligence investigations in U.S. Air Force history: cyber espionage operations directed against the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. He currently provides counterintelligence training, threat awareness briefings, and specialized counterintelligence services to senior leaders in the U.S. government and Fortune 500 companies.