Featured Speaker(s)

Mary D. Bass
Mary Bass is based in based in Houston and her search practice focuses on board, CEO/COO, and their direct reports for growth companies nationwide. She is a member of the firm’s Boards Services Practice, a leader in the Private Equity Practice, and active in the firm’s Energy, Financial Services, Industrial and Life Sciences practices. Mary enjoys working with companies that are going through change. She has worked extensively with several prominent private equity groups (e.g., First Reserve, Texas Growth Fund, Vestor Partners, Cornerstone Ventures, Saw Mill Capital and Jordan Company), helping them recruit CEOs/COOs and CFOs for their portfolio companies and experienced investment professionals for their firms.
Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Mary had 16 years of direct investing experience with Triad Ventures, one of the leading private equity groups in Texas. Her experience working with emerging growth companies spans several industries (life sciences, telecommunications, distribution, software, specialty retail and consumer). As a venture capitalist, she participated at the board level to help build the management teams necessary to take companies public.
Mary is the past president of the Houston Venture Capital Association and is on the Steering Committee for the Dallas Private Equity Forum. She has served on the international board of the Association for Corporate Growth and is also the former international membership chairman.
Mary is director of the Texas Lyceum Association and serves on the board of the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation and the Houston Golf Association. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University, from which she earned both B.S. and M.B.A. degrees with an emphasis on corporate finance.