Laura A. Ekas

Moody's Investors Service, Inc. is a credit rating and investment research firm headquartered in New York City. They are a subsidiary of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO). The firm performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities and provides a variety of analytic tools for assessing credit risk. Their clients include creditors, investment banks and commercial banks.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a registered broker-dealer subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the US. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1987 and provides debt and equity services including underwriting, M&A advice, securities dealing and brokerage and trade execution. Their client base ranges from large global institutional investors to hedge funds at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry.

Barclays Capital, Inc. is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1997 and is a subsidiary of Barclays Group US, Inc., ultimately owned by Barclays plc (LON: BARC) in Great Britain. Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients a full spectrum of prime brokerage services which includes equities and fixed income financing, OTC Clearing, Futures and Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage and access to industry insights and analytics from their Strategic Consulting team.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC provides assurance, tax and advisory services. Its services include audit and assurance, consulting, deals, human resources, legal, tax, and family business. The firm also offers accountability, risk management, structuring, mergers and acquisitions, and performance and process improvement. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Buffalo, NY.

Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (Broker) (CGMI-Broker) is the broker/dealer division of Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., an investment bank headquartered in New York City with additional offices across the US. The firm was founded in 2004 and is a subsidiary of Citigroup Financial Products, Inc., ultimately held by Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C). CGMI-Broker covers all market capitalizations of the major global indices and provides macro and quantitative analysis of global markets and sector trends. Their core focus of the group is to help investing clients make informed decisions by providing value-added, independent, insightful analysis.

Founded in 1986, Merriman Capital, Inc. is an SEC-registered broker/dealer and investment banking firm headquartered in San Francisco. The firm is a subsidiary of Merriman Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MERR), a financial services firm that focuses on fast-growing companies and their institutional investors. Merriman provides advisory and investment banking, equity research, institutional services, corporate services and venture services primarily to corporate clients. Merriman Capital provides research, brokerage and trading services primarily to institutional clients. The firm offers a full range of specialized and integrated services including: equity research, specialized trade execution, equity capital markets, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, sales and trading, market making, corporate and venture services, restructurings and strategic advisory services. Merriman Capital employs bottom-up, fundamental analysis of small-cap companies in select industries including clean technology, healthcare, technology and consumer/Internet/media. The firm also has expertise in emerging markets, with emphasis on emerging markets in China. Merriman Capital is known to engage in shareholder activist investment strategies. Merriman Capital is a member of the NASD, the SIPC and FINRA. The firm serves as an introducing broker/dealer for Pershing LLC. They do not hold or maintain funds or securities or provide clearing services for other broker/dealers.

Cowen & Co. LLC is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 2004 and is a subsidiary of Cowen Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE: TD) in Canada. Cowen & Co. offers industry-focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies, domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading platform for institutional investors. Their institutional sales and trading business serves both equity and fixed-income clients. Sales and trading execution platform is structured around the following key verticals: (1) healthcare (2) technology, telecommunications and media (TMT) (3) REITs and financials (4) aerospace and defense (5) consumer and (6) alternative energy.

The Carlyle Group LP (Global Private Equity) is a private equity firm founded in the year 1990 by William E. Conway, Jr. and Daniel A. D'Aniello. The firm is headquartered in Washington DC.

Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. (DBSI) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1971 and is a wholly-owned investment banking and brokerage arm of DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB, FRA: DBK) in Germany. DBSI provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services to domestic and international private clients and institutions. They are also a primary dealer in US government securities as designated by the Federal Reserve.

Northwestern University is a private institution founded in 1851 to serve the Northwest Territory, an area that now includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. Northwestern has three campuses

Thomas H. Lee Partners LP (Thomas H Lee Partners) is a private equity subsidiary of Thomas H. Lee Advisors LLC founded in 1974. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Founded in 1958, Merrill Lynch Piece Fenner & Smith, Inc. is an SEC registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of BAC North America Holding Co. and their ultimate parent is Bank of America Corp. (NYSE BAC).

Chardan Capital Markets LLC is a registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by Kerry Propper and Steve Urbach in 2003. The firm offers a range of services which include capital raising, merger and acquisition advisory, strategic advisory, equity research, corporate access and institutional trading to institutional clients.

Founded in 1970, Bradley Woods & Co. Ltd. is a broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm's research focuses on forecasting the impact of U.S. federal governmental policy on the U.S. equity and fixed-income securities markets. They offer a variety of products and services that help clients understand and measure the impact of legislation and regulation on U.S. companies and markets. Bradley Woods & Co. provides macro-oriented analysis. In addition, the firm offers intelligence about specifically defined issues in the areas of telecommunications, healthcare, energy and defense. Bradley Woods also offers a continuous analysis of U.S. foreign policy ranging from the Middle East to Asia.

UBS Securities LLC is an investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 as UBS Warburg LLC. They are a subsidiary of UBS Americas Holding LLC, ultimately held by UBS Group AG (SWX: UBSG, NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. UBS Securities is a primary dealer in US Government securities and provides a full range of investment banking services which includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, trading and sales, fixed-income, equity research, private banking, underwriting and prime brokerage operations. The firm also provides advisory services and access to capital markets for corporate, institutional, intermediary and alternative asset management clients.

JPMorgan Securities LLC (JPMS) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1985 and is a subsidiary of JPMorgan Broker-Dealer Holdings, Inc., ultimately held by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Inc. (NYSE: JPM). JPMS provides research on fixed income, credit, derivatives, emerging markets, foreign exchange, structured finance, technical analysis and bond indices. Their equity analysts cover equities throughout North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and the emerging markets. The firm's fixed income team formulates trading and portfolio recommendations for investors in global bonds and other fixed-income markets based on valuations, analytics and market dynamics.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Credit Suisse Securities USA) is the broker/dealer division of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, an investment banking company headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse (USA), Inc., ultimately owned by Credit Suisse Group AG (SWX: CSGN) in Switzerland. Credit Suisse Securities USA offers a suite of equities, solutions and credit products and services which includes global securities sales, trading and execution, prime brokerage and comprehensive investment research. Their clients include financial institutions, corporations, governments, institutional investors, such as pension funds and hedge funds, and private individuals around the world.

Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. (Broker) (Oppenheimer-Broker) is the global full-service brokerage division of Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., an investment boutique headquartered in New York City with additional offices nationwide. Founded in 1975, the firm is owned directly by Viner Finance Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OPY). Oppenheimer-Broker offers a full array of brokerage services to retail, institutional, and corporate clients.

Guidepoint Global LLC provides research services to investors. Its services include phone consultations, events, surveys and data insights. The company was founded by Albert Sebag in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Part of Raptor Technologies LLC, SchoolPass, Inc. is a K-12 platform that helps schools manage attendance, campus movement, and campus wellness in the cloud. The company is based in Gaithersburg, MD. The company partners with student information system (SIS) platforms such as PowerSchool, Blackbaud, Veracross, Senior Systems, and many others to seamlessly sync parent, student, and attendance data. The company was founded by Mark Ruiters, who has been the CEO since incorporation. SchoolPass, Inc. (Maryland) was acquired by Raptor Technologies LLC on April 25, 2023.

Columbia Management Investment Advisers LLC (CMIA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP). The firm was formed in 2010 due to Ameriprise Financial Services' (AFS) acquisition of the long-term asset management business of Columbia Management Group (CMG) from Bank of America. AFS merged CMG's long-term asset management business with their subsidiary, RiverSource Investments LLC, under the name Columbia Management Investment Advisors. CMIA offers equity and fixed-income retail and institutional investment products for various types of clients.

Deloitte & Touche LLP engages in the provision of audit, advisory, financial advisory, tax, and consulting services. The company was founded on March 7, 1995 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Founded in 2004, TD Securities (USA) LLC is a broker/dealer located in New York City with additional offices in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, London, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. The firm is a subsidiary of Toronto Dominion Holdings (USA), Inc. and their ultimate parent is Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD). TD Securities (USA) provides a wide range of capital market products and services to corporate, government and institutional clients in five areas of finance including: investment banking, debt capital markets, institutional equities, foreign exchange and money markets. Their services include the underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues, providing advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures and executing daily trading and investment needs. The equity group provides research coverage of media and communications, technology, financial services, oil and gas, mining and metals, industrial products, forest products, technology, utilities and power, real estate, biotechnology, consumer products and merchandising and quantitative analysis strategy. The fixed-income group provides a full range of underwriting sales and trading products for Canadian, U.S. and European debt issuers and investors.

Kingdon Capital Management LLC (Kingdon) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor and alternative investment management firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by Mark Kingdon in 1983. Kingdon provides investment advisory services to pooled investment vehicles sponsored by Kingdon or third parties.

Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (dba Schwab Asset Management®) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 1989 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW). Schwab Asset Management is the investment adviser for Schwab Funds, Schwab ETFs, and separately managed account strategies.

Tamir Biotechnology, Inc. engages in the discovering and developing of new class therapeutic drugs for the treatment of cancer and other pathological conditions. The firm's proprietary drug discovery program is also the basis for the development of recombinant designed RNases for chemical conjugation and fusion products with various targeting moieties, such as monoclonal antibodies, growth factors, and cytokines. The company was founded on August 24, 1981 and is headquartered in Short Hills, NJ.