Raul Deju

Dr. Raul A. Deju is a Cuban-born executive and investor who migrated to the United States in his early teens. A prodigious student, he earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics with highest honors from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology at age 20 and completed a Ph.D. in hydrology/geosciences there at age 23 (early 1969). He later held faculty positions at the University of California, the University of Pittsburgh, St. Mary's College, and other institutions, and is the founding director emeritus of the Institute of Entrepreneurial Leadership at John F. Kennedy University in the Bay Area.

Over a long operating career, Deju held top-level roles (CEO, COO, or division president) at a series of major companies: International Technology Corporation (now part of Chicago Bridge & Iron), URS Inc. (now AECOM), Waste Management (domestic and international), Isadra Inc. (which he founded and sold to VerticalNet), ISG Resources (merged into Headwaters), and EnergySolutions, where as President/COO he helped generate more than $1.5 billion of proceeds from its IPO and follow-on offerings. Across these roles he has been involved in monetizing over $5 billion of assets and equity capital.

Since 2015, Deju has been a Partner at Brightstar Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm that partners with closely-held and family-owned businesses across business, industrial, consumer, and government services. There he chairs/serves on the boards of several portfolio companies — including Amerit Fleet Solutions (Board Chair), Texas Water Supply Company (Chairman/Vice Chair), WindsorONE, and QualTek — while also running his own advisory and co-investment vehicle, DMA, Inc. (Deju Management Advisors).

Beyond investing, Deju has advised a former U.S. Secretary of Commerce (under Presidents Bush "41" and Clinton) and a former U.S. EPA Administrator (under Clinton), and served on the World Nuclear Association board of governors. He is a best-selling author of seven books (including *We Got Mojo!*, 2016, and *A Planet in Conflict*) and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, was named one of the "25 Most Influential Hispanics in the San Francisco Bay Area," and received the 2015 John F. Kennedy Lifetime of Entrepreneurship Award.

• Invests through Brightstar in closely-held and family-owned middle-market companies, bringing hands-on operating and turnaround expertise rather than passive capital.
• Deep conviction in water and environmental infrastructure: he argues private equity is uniquely suited to the sector because "private equity firms have the capital to invest in infrastructure — along with deep expertise in consolidating and turning around businesses," citing a rehabilitation need exceeding $1 trillion over the coming decade.
• Water strategy centers on consolidating small, underperforming water systems, upgrading treatment and distribution, and backing desalination and water-reuse technology, with an emphasis on public-private collaboration.
• As a private/angel investor and mentor, he backs and advises entrepreneurs from early concept through seed rounds, focusing on strategy, marketing, public policy, and corporate governance — including a program that has produced 100+ business-owner graduates, many of them service-disabled veterans.
• Values founders who can be coached on refining the business plan, sharpening strategy, and pitching investors — reflecting his decades of operating and board experience.