Employee Ownership Case Studies & ROI

David Gray is the Director of Client Services at Project Equity, where he has spent many years helping businesses transition to employee ownership. His entrepreneurial experience spans founding and operating retail ventures focused on social impact, including fair-trade and sustainable business models. David has successfully launched startups, managed operations, and led business development initiatives across various sectors. Drawing from his extensive background in leadership and social enterprise, David brings his unique perspective to addressing the complex challenges businesses face when transitioning to EO. His particular focus is on expanding innovative ownership models like Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs).

In the field, David actively cultivates strategic partnerships. He is adept at fostering collaboration among practitioners, advocates, and organizations within the employee ownership ecosystem to broaden access to these emerging solutions.

Additionally, David excels in developing strategic governance plans that support organizational growth. With his extensive training and experience in conflict mediation, he facilitates difficult conversations, guiding them to creative solutions. His understanding of interpersonal dynamics helps build trust, develop leadership, and cast a vision for viable new organizational realities.

Sam Brownell, CVA, CFA, MBA has been a financial professional since 2006 and formed Stratus Capital Management in July 2013 to provide goals-based financial planning and investment management to individuals, families, and independent business owners. As the firm grew, an increasing number of independent business owners sought Sam’s advice on their short and long-term planning needs, including valuation, tax strategy, business continuity planning, and succession planning. In 2019, Sam obtained the CVA certification from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) in order to better serve the valuation and succession planning needs of his independent business owner clients.

Sam earned his BA in Economics from Loyola University in Maryland and his MBA from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Prior to forming Stratus Wealth Advisors, Sam worked in trading, valuation, and research at two investment banks, where he became a CFA Charterholder, and was an economic consultant analyzing structured financial products and other fixed income securities.

In his free time, Sam gives back to his community as treasurer of a local, DC-area non-profit focused on teaching children to swim, and he is also an avid fly fisherman. Sam and his wife, Sara, reside in Kensington, MD, with their sons Felix and Finn.