Our Story

Two experiences.
Same conclusion.

Our founders experienced first-hand the shift that was taking place in venture and came together with a clear view of what was needed in the industry: an institutional-grade intermediary to help investors access the opportunity presented by emerging managers, and create a way to support those managers in the process.

Our Team

Experience brought us here.
Values keep us here.

Institutionally-trained investment professionals with decades of experience supporting and investing in emerging managers in venture.

Courtney McCrea

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Courtney McCrea

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Courtney is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Recast Capital. Prior to co-founding Recast, Courtney was a Managing Director of Weathergage Capital, a boutique fund of funds that provided its clients with access to premier venture capital, growth equity and micro-VC partnerships. Venture fund commitments included both brand name funds and emerging managers. In addition to fund investment responsibilities, Courtney led the direct co- investing program at Weathergage. During her 10 year tenure at Weathergage, Courtney made commitments to 100 funds and seven direct co-investments.

Prior to Weathergage, Courtney was a General Partner with Weston Presidio, a leading diversified private equity firm based in San Francisco. After 7 years at Weston Presidio, she left in 2004 and founded Silver Partners, a private equity advisory firm where she evaluated secondary and co- investment opportunities and advised consumer growth businesses. Courtney was also a Director at Sterling Stamos, where she managed investments in buyout funds, venture capital funds and hedge funds.

Courtney has an M.B.A., with honors, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She is a member of the Kauffman Fellows Class 3. Courtney is a member of the Alzheimer’s Association Northern California and Nevada Board of Directors and the Chair of the Episcopal Impact Fund Investment Committee.

Sara Zulkosky

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Sara Zulkosky

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Sara is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Recast Capital. Prior to co-founding Recast, Sara served as a Venture Partner at Greenspring Associates (now StepStone Group), where she was responsible for sourcing and due diligence efforts across the platform, managing and supporting fund evaluation committees and existing investments, and leading the firm’s impact investing initiative.

Prior to Greenspring, Sara was as a Principal with CNF Investments, a private investment firm affiliated with Clark Enterprises, Inc. CNF focuses on venture capital and private equity opportunities (fund and direct) in technology, life sciences and energy. Before CNF, Sara participated in Foundation Capital’s Young Entrepreneurs Program, where she helped identify promising investment opportunities in the Washington, DC area. Sara was also the Director of Product Management for SkyBuilt Power, Inc., a venture-backed clean-tech company that provided rapidly- deployable renewable energy solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Intelligence Community, and telecommunications industry (domestic and international markets). She was with the business from its inception, hired as the third full-time employee, also supporting it as a Project Engineer, Project Manager, and its Director of Engineering.

Sara received a M.B.A from Georgetown University, and a M.S. in Engineering Management and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University. Sara is also a member of the Kauffman Fellows Class 23. She has served as an entrepreneurial advisor at Georgetown University since 2015.

Caroline Fernandez

Director

Caroline Fernandez

Director

Caroline has served as Recast Capital’s Director of Programming since June 2023. In her role, Caroline leads the day-to-day execution of Recast’s Accelerate and Enablement programs, and supports the overall experience design and growth strategy.

Caroline joined the firm in January 2022 as a Recast Fellow while an MBA candidate at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. As a Fellow, she worked closely on programming for three Enablement Program cohorts and designed Accelerate’s application process and candidate selection. She previously worked within the Admissions Office at Elon University, where she developed a keen eye for evaluating and identifying extraordinary candidates and focusing on the due diligence needed to properly vet them.

Additionally, Caroline was a Georgetown Angel Investor Network Fellow where she assisted with sourcing and marketing, and served as VP Operations at InSITE, a role that allowed her to partner with DC-based founders on projects to advance their strategy. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism from Elon University and MBA from Georgetown University with a certificate in Sustainable Business.

Born in Michigan and raised in Florida, she is the proud daughter of a Mexican-American father who demonstrates what it means to be a bold and brave entrepreneur.

Ava Alemazkoor

Director

Ava Alemazkoor

Director

Bio Coming Soon!

Courtney McCrea

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Courtney McCrea

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Courtney is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Recast Capital. Prior to co-founding Recast, Courtney was a Managing Director of Weathergage Capital, a boutique fund of funds that provided its clients with access to premier venture capital, growth equity and micro-VC partnerships. Venture fund commitments included both brand name funds and emerging managers. In addition to fund investment responsibilities, Courtney led the direct co- investing program at Weathergage. During her 10 year tenure at Weathergage, Courtney made commitments to 100 funds and seven direct co-investments.

Prior to Weathergage, Courtney was a General Partner with Weston Presidio, a leading diversified private equity firm based in San Francisco. After 7 years at Weston Presidio, she left in 2004 and founded Silver Partners, a private equity advisory firm where she evaluated secondary and co- investment opportunities and advised consumer growth businesses. Courtney was also a Director at Sterling Stamos, where she managed investments in buyout funds, venture capital funds and hedge funds.

Courtney has an M.B.A., with honors, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She is a member of the Kauffman Fellows Class 3. Courtney is a member of the Alzheimer’s Association Northern California and Nevada Board of Directors and the Chair of the Episcopal Impact Fund Investment Committee.

Sara Zulkosky

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Sara Zulkosky

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Sara is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Recast Capital. Prior to co-founding Recast, Sara served as a Venture Partner at Greenspring Associates (now StepStone Group), where she was responsible for sourcing and due diligence efforts across the platform, managing and supporting fund evaluation committees and existing investments, and leading the firm’s impact investing initiative.

Prior to Greenspring, Sara was as a Principal with CNF Investments, a private investment firm affiliated with Clark Enterprises, Inc. CNF focuses on venture capital and private equity opportunities (fund and direct) in technology, life sciences and energy. Before CNF, Sara participated in Foundation Capital’s Young Entrepreneurs Program, where she helped identify promising investment opportunities in the Washington, DC area. Sara was also the Director of Product Management for SkyBuilt Power, Inc., a venture-backed clean-tech company that provided rapidly- deployable renewable energy solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Intelligence Community, and telecommunications industry (domestic and international markets). She was with the business from its inception, hired as the third full-time employee, also supporting it as a Project Engineer, Project Manager, and its Director of Engineering.

Sara received a M.B.A from Georgetown University, and a M.S. in Engineering Management and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University. Sara is also a member of the Kauffman Fellows Class 23. She has served as an entrepreneurial advisor at Georgetown University since 2015.

Caroline Fernandez

Director

Caroline Fernandez

Director

Caroline has served as Recast Capital’s Director of Programming since June 2023. In her role, Caroline leads the day-to-day execution of Recast’s Accelerate and Enablement programs, and supports the overall experience design and growth strategy.

Caroline joined the firm in January 2022 as a Recast Fellow while an MBA candidate at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. As a Fellow, she worked closely on programming for three Enablement Program cohorts and designed Accelerate’s application process and candidate selection. She previously worked within the Admissions Office at Elon University, where she developed a keen eye for evaluating and identifying extraordinary candidates and focusing on the due diligence needed to properly vet them.

Additionally, Caroline was a Georgetown Angel Investor Network Fellow where she assisted with sourcing and marketing, and served as VP Operations at InSITE, a role that allowed her to partner with DC-based founders on projects to advance their strategy. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism from Elon University and MBA from Georgetown University with a certificate in Sustainable Business.

Born in Michigan and raised in Florida, she is the proud daughter of a Mexican-American father who demonstrates what it means to be a bold and brave entrepreneur.

Ava Alemazkoor

Director

Ava Alemazkoor

Director

Bio Coming Soon!

Recast Fellows

Fellows are students that are an integral part of the Recast team.

Elisabeth (Lissa) Villani

Recast Fellow

Elisabeth (Lissa) Villani

Recast Fellow

Lissa joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in June 2024. She is an MBA candidate at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Lissa is committed to supporting underrepresented emerging managers to drive impactful economic change throughout their networks.

At Booth, Lissa is a co-chair of the Booth Racquets Club, leading all things squash, and is an active member of Booth’s Entrepreneurship/Venture Capital Club, Giving Something Back, and Chicago Women in Business. She also participated in Booth’s PE/VC Lab, interning at Morgan Street Holdings, a Chicago-based firm focused on investments in direct private equity and other funds in Consumer and B2B services for five months. Prior to Booth, Lissa worked for an early-stage HR tech startup as a Product Manager, where she led the redesign of a subsidiary product focused on building community in the HR executive space and designed an invoice management system, resulting in a 3x increase in payment. She also worked for a brand strategy firm directly for the CEO, co-authoring an article on constructive communication in healthcare. During her pre-MBA summer, she interned for a recent Booth graduate pursuing ETA and learned far too much about the port-a-potty industry.

Lissa has an undergraduate degree in Computer and Information Science and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. While at Penn, she walked onto the Women’s Varsity Squash Team, founded a scholarship for women in computer science to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration, and taught computer science to high schoolers from West Philadelphia every Saturday. Raised in the suburbs of New York City, Lissa is passionate about running (preferably in a park or by water), cooking, and exploring cities on foot.

Ethan Finkelstein

Recast Fellow (Alumnus)

Ethan Finkelstein

Recast Fellow (Alumnus)

Ethan joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in December 2022. He is an MBA candidate at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Ethan is committed to bringing capital to underinvested communities and is excited to contribute to Recast’s mission to invest in and support underrepresented emerging managers.

In addition to his role at Recast, Ethan is also an Impact Investing Fellow, working with Halcyon Fund to support social impact entrepreneurs; a Social Business Fellow conducting research on the financial returns of impact focused venture capital investments; and a Jennifer and Matthew Meyer Endowment Fellow Merit Scholar. He also proudly serves as the Co-President of the Jewish Business Alliance and is an active member of Out@MSB. Prior to starting his MBA, Ethan worked in philanthropy for a foundation called Comic Relief US where he managed a grant investment portfolio of $30-$40M/year focused on child poverty alleviation and entrepreneurship as a tool for economic empowerment. He currently serves on the Board of a social enterprise nonprofit based in New York City called Drive Change.

Ethan has an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Development Economics from Tufts University. Born and raised in New York City, Ethan is passionate about cooking, traveling, urban exploration, and history.

Cassandra Duchan Saucedo

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Cassandra Duchan Saucedo

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Cassandra joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in 2021. She is a concurrent MPP-MBA candidate at Harvard Kennedy School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. During and after her time in school, she plans to pursue a career fortifying Black and Brown communities through sustainable investments. She is excited about creating financial tools and systems to achieve racial equity and dignity for workers.

Cassandra is a Harvard Zuckerman Fellow and a Latinx Leadership Initiative member. Currently, she is on the HKS Equity Coalition Coordinating Team, is COO for Black Policy Conference, and co-chairs the Latinx Caucus and the Progressive Caucus. In addition to Recast Capital, Cassandra most recently interned with Impact Capital Managers and Cleo Capital. She previously worked as a social impact founder and operator, as a Federal Reserve Board of Governors researcher, and as a survey methodologist at the Center for African American Health. She has an undergraduate degree in economics with honors from the University of Colorado Boulder.

She was born and raised in Colorado, the proud working-class daughter of a Black American father and a Mexican American mother. She enjoys camping, hiking, botany, and nature photography.

Lina Kacyem

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Lina Kacyem

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Lina joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in 2021. Over the past five years, she has served as an advisor to start-ups in North America and in Africa, and she is passionate about driving more funds towards underfunded and underrepresented entrepreneurs. Whether it is through the Yale Office Cooperative Research, TSAI City or independently, she works closely with entrepreneurs. Her work with them focuses on fundraising, growth, product-market fit, team design and marketing. At the Yale School Of Management, she co-launched the Yale Africa Startup Review, a student-led publication featuring founders and startups shaping the future of Africa with entrepreneurship.

Lina worked for a decade in the financial industry, specifically Property & casualty insurance. Throughout her career she led various operational teams, on both the underwriting and claims side of the insurance industry.

She holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School Of Management. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with a minor in International Business from the Smeal Business College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Spanish from the College of Liberal Arts. She also obtained her CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) Designation.

She’s a native of Pennsylvania, USA who grew up in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Elisabeth (Lissa) Villani

Recast Fellow

Elisabeth (Lissa) Villani

Recast Fellow

Lissa joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in June 2024. She is an MBA candidate at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Lissa is committed to supporting underrepresented emerging managers to drive impactful economic change throughout their networks.

At Booth, Lissa is a co-chair of the Booth Racquets Club, leading all things squash, and is an active member of Booth’s Entrepreneurship/Venture Capital Club, Giving Something Back, and Chicago Women in Business. She also participated in Booth’s PE/VC Lab, interning at Morgan Street Holdings, a Chicago-based firm focused on investments in direct private equity and other funds in Consumer and B2B services for five months. Prior to Booth, Lissa worked for an early-stage HR tech startup as a Product Manager, where she led the redesign of a subsidiary product focused on building community in the HR executive space and designed an invoice management system, resulting in a 3x increase in payment. She also worked for a brand strategy firm directly for the CEO, co-authoring an article on constructive communication in healthcare. During her pre-MBA summer, she interned for a recent Booth graduate pursuing ETA and learned far too much about the port-a-potty industry.

Lissa has an undergraduate degree in Computer and Information Science and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. While at Penn, she walked onto the Women’s Varsity Squash Team, founded a scholarship for women in computer science to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration, and taught computer science to high schoolers from West Philadelphia every Saturday. Raised in the suburbs of New York City, Lissa is passionate about running (preferably in a park or by water), cooking, and exploring cities on foot.

Ethan Finkelstein

Recast Fellow (Alumnus)

Ethan Finkelstein

Recast Fellow (Alumnus)

Ethan joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in December 2022. He is an MBA candidate at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Ethan is committed to bringing capital to underinvested communities and is excited to contribute to Recast’s mission to invest in and support underrepresented emerging managers.

In addition to his role at Recast, Ethan is also an Impact Investing Fellow, working with Halcyon Fund to support social impact entrepreneurs; a Social Business Fellow conducting research on the financial returns of impact focused venture capital investments; and a Jennifer and Matthew Meyer Endowment Fellow Merit Scholar. He also proudly serves as the Co-President of the Jewish Business Alliance and is an active member of Out@MSB. Prior to starting his MBA, Ethan worked in philanthropy for a foundation called Comic Relief US where he managed a grant investment portfolio of $30-$40M/year focused on child poverty alleviation and entrepreneurship as a tool for economic empowerment. He currently serves on the Board of a social enterprise nonprofit based in New York City called Drive Change.

Ethan has an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Development Economics from Tufts University. Born and raised in New York City, Ethan is passionate about cooking, traveling, urban exploration, and history.

Cassandra Duchan Saucedo

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Cassandra Duchan Saucedo

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Cassandra joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in 2021. She is a concurrent MPP-MBA candidate at Harvard Kennedy School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. During and after her time in school, she plans to pursue a career fortifying Black and Brown communities through sustainable investments. She is excited about creating financial tools and systems to achieve racial equity and dignity for workers.

Cassandra is a Harvard Zuckerman Fellow and a Latinx Leadership Initiative member. Currently, she is on the HKS Equity Coalition Coordinating Team, is COO for Black Policy Conference, and co-chairs the Latinx Caucus and the Progressive Caucus. In addition to Recast Capital, Cassandra most recently interned with Impact Capital Managers and Cleo Capital. She previously worked as a social impact founder and operator, as a Federal Reserve Board of Governors researcher, and as a survey methodologist at the Center for African American Health. She has an undergraduate degree in economics with honors from the University of Colorado Boulder.

She was born and raised in Colorado, the proud working-class daughter of a Black American father and a Mexican American mother. She enjoys camping, hiking, botany, and nature photography.

Lina Kacyem

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Lina Kacyem

Recast Fellow (Alumna)

Lina joined the firm as a Recast Fellow in 2021. Over the past five years, she has served as an advisor to start-ups in North America and in Africa, and she is passionate about driving more funds towards underfunded and underrepresented entrepreneurs. Whether it is through the Yale Office Cooperative Research, TSAI City or independently, she works closely with entrepreneurs. Her work with them focuses on fundraising, growth, product-market fit, team design and marketing. At the Yale School Of Management, she co-launched the Yale Africa Startup Review, a student-led publication featuring founders and startups shaping the future of Africa with entrepreneurship.

Lina worked for a decade in the financial industry, specifically Property & casualty insurance. Throughout her career she led various operational teams, on both the underwriting and claims side of the insurance industry.

She holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School Of Management. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with a minor in International Business from the Smeal Business College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Spanish from the College of Liberal Arts. She also obtained her CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) Designation.

She’s a native of Pennsylvania, USA who grew up in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Values are everything.

The word “values” today is used too loosely. It’s been watered-down. But for Recast – our team, the funds we support, and the investors we represent – values are everything.

Recast’s core values go beyond what we would call foundational principles – integrity, trust, honesty, dependability and determination. While those are imperative, we also believe:

  • Every. Voice. Matters.
  • Be authentic to our mission
  • Bring your true self
  • Be a net positive
  • Pay it forward