Private Equity Stakeholder Project launches inaugural advisory council to bolster private equity accountability efforts

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) today announced the formation of its first-ever advisory council, bringing together leading advocates, attorneys, and academics to strengthen efforts to hold private equity accountable.

Since its founding in 2017, PESP has served as a watchdog organization focused on the growing influence of private equity and private funds managers across critical sectors, including climate and energy, healthcare, housing, workers and jobs, and detention and surveillance. The new advisory council will provide strategic guidance, help guide research, and advocate for policy changes that regulate private equity’s unchecked influence in the U.S. and world economy.

“The growing dominance of private equity has led to rising inequality, higher costs for working families, and widespread economic instability,” said Jim Baker, Executive Director of PESP. “Creating this advisory council is an opportunity to bring together diverse expertise to counter these trends and build a financial system that prioritizes people over profit. By working with experts and organizers who are deeply connected to communities nationwide, we can elevate the voices of those most impacted and push for meaningful reforms.”

“The Private Equity Stakeholder Project has done something incredible: it’s made private equity firms worried. Because PESP has done excellent research, great organizing, and meaningful storytelling, it’s actually forcing firms to react to its work,” said Brendan Ballou, Attorney, former Special Counsel for Private Equity in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This is the first step to changing how the industry works. And PESP is leading the way.”

“The Private Equity Stakeholder Project brings transparency to a highly opaque industry and offers an effective mechanism for pressing private equity firms to do better on key issues like housing and worker rights,” Laura Campos, Senior Director of Economic Justice, Nathan Cummings Foundation. “PESP pioneered the application of active ownership strategies in the private equity space, giving workers, communities, and their allies another source of leverage in their fight against the industry’s often destructive and extractive approach to managing assets.”

“Too often, the systems that shape our communities—from housing to healthcare—operate without the transparency or accountability needed to ensure they serve everyone equitably. I believe we have a unique opportunity to work alongside investors to reimagine what responsible stewardship looks like—grounded in justice, shared prosperity, and lived experience,” said Monique King-Viehland, Consultant, former Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Development Authority. “The Private Equity Stakeholder Project plays a vital role in bridging that gap, and I’m honored to support their work in advancing more ethical, informed, and inclusive investment practices.”

“The financialization of the economy deeply affects our lives, but it’s often difficult to understand how,” said Samir Sonti, Assistant Professor at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. “PESP’s work clearly and thoroughly shows how private equity impacts our workplaces, healthcare systems, housing, and more. I’m thrilled to be working with them to help get this information out far and wide.”

The ten members of the PESP advisory council include: 

• Eileen Appelbaum, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research
• Brendan Ballou, Attorney, former Special Counsel for Private Equity in the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division
• Rosemary Batt, Alice Hanson Cook Professor of Women and Work at the ILR School, Cornell University
• Laura Campos, Senior Director of Economic Justice, Nathan Cummings Foundation
• Jeff Hooke, Senior Finance Lecturer, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
• Tamar Katz, Attorney, Fairmark Partners LLP, former Federal Trade Commission staff
• Monique King-Viehland, Consultant, former Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Development Authority
• Yashaswini Singh, Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University
• Samir Sonti, Assistant Professor at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies
• Michelle Sternthal, Director of Government Affairs, Community Catalyst

The formation of the PESP advisory council underscores the broad and growing movement to rein in private equity’s influence and protect the communities most affected by the industry’s predatory business practices. PESP deeply appreciates the support of our advisory council members, whose diverse expertise in economics, policy, and community advocacy is invaluable to our efforts to analyze private equity’s impacts and drive solutions for a more inclusive U.S. and world economy.

To learn more about the PESP inaugural advisory council members, click here.