Meet Our Team

Josh is a family business advisor, helping multi-generational families and their leaders navigate the complexities of family enterprise ownership. Josh is accredited as both a Hogan and Gallup Strengths coach. His background as an investor, advisor, corporate director, and third-generation family business owner gives him a range of perspectives to draw from when advising clients. Josh focuses his time on helping family owners transition ownership and leadership from one generation to the next, coaching family members and senior leaders, building boards of directors, and supporting operating strategies across family organizations. Josh sits on the board of directors at his family’s company, Sargento Foods Inc., as well as a $700 million ESOP auto dealership group. Josh runs family executive round table groups for middle-market and large-cap family-run companies, and he is currently a part-time instructor with the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Family Enterprise Center.

Prior to starting Bench, Josh served as a Manager at Deloitte Consulting, where he focused on mergers & acquisitions as well as supporting the design of Deloitte Consulting’s global talent operations.​

Josh earned his undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Josh returned to Notre Dame following his MBA to study philosophy and theology in the seminary with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest. Josh and his wife, Meredith, have two young children, Henry and Juliette, and live in Charlottesville, VA.​

Laura manages and implements all of Bench Consulting’s technical, administrative, and operational needs, in addition to acting in a concierge capacity to Bench clients. She is responsible for coordinating and executing daily business activities, managing special projects, and supporting Bench-led initiatives.

Laura has more than 10 years of experience in various aspects of financial operations, having worked previously as an Investment Systems & Operations Analyst for a high-net-worth asset manager and trust company in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to her work in operations, Laura ran a training and development program for Legg Mason’s Technology Services.

Laura earned her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She currently lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and daughter.

Shannon partners with enterprising families to strengthen and support them on their journey to create enduring legacies.

She has spent her career at the intersection of talent and business and has worked in a variety of coaching and consulting capacities over the last ten years, including career and academic coaching, large-scale corporate transformations, and organizational and executive assessment and development. Shannon is certified in the Hogan Assessments and a Partner for The Predictive Index. She also has experience as a CEO’s Chief of Staff and understands the complex set of challenges around growing and scaling businesses from providing developmental feedback and coaching to hedge fund investors and private equity backed C-suite executives on compressed timelines.

Shannon earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame with majors in Management Consulting and Psychology. She also earned her M. Ed. from Penn State.

Daniel represents companies, individuals, and family offices on complex business transactions, corporate structures, and governance strategies designed to support long-term success. His work includes strategic investments, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, divestitures, and general commercial and contractual matters across a range of industries.

Daniel specializes in structuring and drafting governance arrangements that align the interests of multiple stakeholders—whether among founders and investors, joint venture partners, or family members. He has significant experience advising on global holding structures, shareholder arrangements, and investment platforms, including cross-border transactions in the energy, technology, pharmaceutical, and financial services sectors.

Daniel is currently Of Counsel at Woods Rogers. Previously, he practiced at Baker McKenzie in Washington, D.C., where he led complex cross-border transactions, and he also served as in-house legal counsel to a major financial institution’s commodities trading desk in London.

Daniel earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. from the University of Virginia. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Illinois.

Matt serves wealthy families, family offices, and private family trust companies across the United States, counseling them on estate and generational-wealth-transfer planning, trust and estate administration, and matters concerning the structure and operation of family offices and private trust companies. His work is focused on helping families navigate complexity and plan thoughtfully across generations.

Matt is a founding member of the boutique trusts-and-estates firm Kirkland Hochstetler PLLC. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a member of the Florida, Georgia,,and Ohio bars, and a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust &Probate Law by the Ohio State Bar Association. Matt regularly writes and speaks on tax, trust, and estate-planning matters.

Matt earned his LLM in Estate Planning from the University of Miami’s Heckerling Graduate Program, where he graduated first in his class, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Toledo College of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served on the executive board of the law review.

Carrie is an accomplished family enterprise advisor, investor, and executive recognized for her ability to help families and organizations navigate growth, governance, and generational continuity with clarity, empathy, and strategic foresight.

As the founder and President of Windy River Investments and co-founder of Avodah Group, Carrie brings extensive experience in real estate, opportunistic investing, and family office leadership. She led the strategic expansion of her family’s agricultural business into a diversified investment enterprise, creating multiple non-farm real estate verticals and consistently delivering returns that have outperformed market benchmarks. Under her leadership, WindyRiver evolved into a sophisticated family office, complete with a formal board of directors and a governance structure that aligned mission, vision, and values with the family’s collaborative business philosophy.

Carrie, mother of five boys, spearheaded a third-generation learning program to foster engagement, education, and stewardship among younger family members – ensuring a legacy of informed ownership and shared purpose. Her strategic and human-centered approach continues to define her advisory philosophy today.

A fourth-generation owner of Cunningham Sheep, a large working ranch in Eastern Oregon, Carrie is the only member of her generation to serve on the third-generation board of directors. She contributes a unique perspective on continuity, collaboration, and adaptive leadership in multi-generational enterprises.

Carrie’s expertise in family office strategy also extends to her role as a board member of Spark, where she supports the mission of creating a community that gathers to support navigating the nuances of family, wealth, and legacy.