Kelly Cornelis

Kelly Cornelis is a Chicago-based private equity investor with more than 25 years of experience in the lower middle market. A native of Moline, Illinois, she earned a BBA from the University of Notre Dame (class of 1996) and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She began her career as an analyst at William Blair before moving to SB Partners, where she rose to vice president and closed six deals leading investment activities.

She joined LaSalle Capital in 2005 and spent roughly two decades as a Partner and Chief Operating Officer of the firm, a lower middle-market buyout fund focused on the food & beverage industry. In that role she was responsible for deal sourcing and execution, financial operations, portfolio management, and investor relations, and she led the fundraising for LaSalle Fund II while broadening the firm's base of institutional investors. She has more recently transitioned to a Senior Advisor role at LaSalle Capital.

Cornelis is a well-known advocate for women in the industry. Frustrated by the "boys' club" atmosphere at many Chicago PE firms, she co-founded the Chicago Women in Private Equity group to elevate women's participation, and she is a member of the Women's Association of Venture & Equity (WAVE) and the Private Equity Women Investor Network (PE WIN). She was named one of Mergers & Acquisitions magazine's "Most Influential Women in Middle-Market M&A" in 2018, and she has served on the boards of ACG Chicago and the Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries (MBBI).

Beyond LaSalle, Cornelis is an active board member and advisor. She has served on the boards of portfolio and operating companies including Joseph's Gourmet Pasta, B-O-F Corporation, Fresh Origins, Westminster Foods, United American Security, and Gen3 Marketing. She is a member of the Advisory Council at The Seismic Group and a strategic advisor to The Organic Pantry Co.

• Control buyouts, not seed/angel checks. LaSalle makes control equity investments in established lower middle-market companies with proven cash flow — a very different profile from early-stage angel/seed investing.
• Food & beverage specialist. The firm concentrates on value-added, premium-quality food & beverage manufacturers, specialty/unique agriculture operations, and B2B supply-chain companies within the food & beverage ecosystem.
• Size range. Targets companies with roughly $20M–$100M in revenue and EBITDA in the ~$2M–$8M+ range (third-party database figures; not officially published), with a typical 5–7 year hold.
• Hands-on, operator-respecting approach. LaSalle emphasizes a "strategic and hands-on" model that respects the knowledge of the founders/operators it backs and leverages deep industry expertise to drive growth and margin enhancement.
• Value creation through add-ons. Cornelis's track record leans on growth-through-acquisition and scaling platforms (e.g., growing a security-guard platform through 21 acquisitions).
• On networks (in her own words): "It was just a nice way to connect with other women, who are senior in private equity and are dealing with a lot of the same issues… As you get higher up in your career, you have to reach out to other firms to develop these networks."