Big business resources for small and mid-sized companies who want to grow faster with less risk.
Shore Capital Partners created Shore University as part of our commitment to provide outsized resources to microcap and lower mid-market companies to expedite and de-risk your growth. As our talent development strategy, Shore University provides a competitive advantage on multiple levels by helping attract, retain, and grow talented team members across our portfolio.
For Shore University, this means:
Grow Yourself:
We as individuals must grow faster than our company.
Grow Your Team:
We scale our impact by leading through others.
Grow Your Business:
Growing businesses create opportunities for growing people.
Shore University’s Professional Learning Principles (5 P’s):
Purpose:
Our Belief:
Professionals learn for two reasons: 1. There is something they want to know or 2. There is something they need to know.
Our Commitment:
At Shore University, we design curricula and experiences to help you identify your key areas of growth and where those meet the needs of a growing company.
Previous Experience:
Our Belief:
As a professional, you come with the knowledge and wisdom of first-hand experience.
Our Commitment:
At Shore University, our goal is to help deepen your understanding and learning from your prior successes and failures and prepare you to capture more from future ones.
Peers:
Our Belief:
Professionals learn best when they understand how their experiences and responses relate to those of their peers.
Our Commitment:
At Shore University, we leverage the value and learning of the entire Shore Capital portfolio to identify patterns in management and leadership. We gather peers from diverse companies to learn and share together.
Problem-Centered:
Our Belief:
Professionals are juggling a lot so their learning priorities should relate directly to the real-world challenges of their work.
Our Commitment:
At Shore University, we understand the challenge of prioritizing professional development in the midst of the daily grind. We provide varied and flexible offerings along with customized experience to meet this reality.
Practice:
Our Belief:
Professionals learn by putting ideas into action, reflecting, and getting feedback.
Our Commitment:
At Shore University, we emphasize taking small but meaningful steps to improve and implement ideas so that we can take healthy leadership risks and build momentum for the growth we seek.
Michael Burcham
Chief of Strategy and Talent Development
Michael is an entrepreneur, investor, executive coach, and healthcare strategist with 30 years’ experience leading technology-enabled healthcare organizations. Michael is an Executive Partner with Shore Capital. He began working with Shore Capital in 2011.
Michael also serves on faculty at Vanderbilt University where he teaches Healthcare Innovation and Launching New Ventures in the Owen Graduate School of Management. Previously, Michael led 3 PE backed companies – Narus Health (2014- 2019), ParadigmHealth (2000-2007), and Theraphysics (1993 – 1998).
Michael served as the Co-Chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Obama from 2014-2016. Michael began his career at Hospital Corporation of America after graduating from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1983.
Michael also holds an MBA from Belmont University and a Doctorate in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Anderson Williams
Principal, Talent Development
Anderson is an entrepreneur, writer, educator, and artist with 20 years of experience in building purpose-driven organizations and diverse teams. He serves as the Principal of Talent Development at Shore Capital.
Previously, Anderson was the founding chief operating officer of BOS Framework, an award-winning cloud engineering platform that was part of the internationally recognized technology accelerator Techstars. Prior to BOS Framework, Anderson co-founded Zeumo, a mobile healthcare technology platform that was acquired by The Advisory Board Company, where he spent three years in healthcare product development. For nearly a decade, Anderson worked with education, nonprofit, and philanthropy organizations as a founder, executive, and consultant dedicated to building high impact teams and effective organizations.
Anderson is a member of the Nashville Healthcare Council Fellows class of 2023. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University, earned his MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art.
John Murdock
Principal, Strategic Planning
John Murdock is the Principal, Strategic Planning at Shore Capital. Prior to joining Shore, John served as President of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, Nashville’s central Entrepreneur Support Organization, helping entrepreneurs create, launch, and grow businesses. John joined the founding team of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center in its first year of operations. In more than 11 years at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, John supported, built, and led programming to optimize strategic planning for more than 10,000 entrepreneurs across a wide variety of industries, stages, and business models.
Prior to joining the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, John served as the Airport Manager of the PTI Airport for Enterprise Holdings, Inc., where he successfully led the pilot merger of three distinct rental brands and had full P&L responsibility for $10M in annual revenue and 50 employees.
John graduated from Wake Forest University, magna cum laude, with a major in Business Administration and minors in both Mandarin Chinese and Global Trade and Commerce Studies. John earned his MBA at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, graduating first in his class.
Sarah Giblin
VP, Executive Development Institute
Sarah is the Director of Strategic Planning at Shore Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm focused on partnering with companies that have between $1-10 million of EBITDA. Sarah is responsible for helping the SCP portfolio companies to architect strategies for growth and value creation by facilitating strategic dialogue, identifying innovation opportunities, developing points of differentiation, and gaining alignment of management and the Board of Directors on the company’s key strategic objectives.
Prior to joining Shore, Sarah served as the Chief of Schools for Valor Collegiate Academies, the top performing network of charter schools in Tennessee. During her tenure Sarah helped to launch, run and grow the organization, including building three school campuses, growing from 20 to 250 employees and 150 to 1800 students. As Chief of Schools, Sarah was responsible for managing campus principals, Special Programs, Talent, and day to day operations of all campuses. Over her 10 years at Valor, she helped lead Valor schools to top 5% achievement and growth, led Valor campuses to be named as Reward Schools, and as a middle school principal, led her campus to the highest literacy growth in the state of Tennessee. For her exceptional leadership, Sarah was named Tennessee Charter School Administrator of the Year in 2018.
Before joining Valor, Sarah launched a single-site elementary school in Chicago where she served as Director of Academics. She’s also served as an instructional coach, literacy interventionist, and summer school principal.
Sarah was a 2005 Teach For America Miami-Dade Corps Member, graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and completed graduate coursework at Dominican University.
Austin Johnson
Director, Media Assets
Austin Johnson is the Director of Media Assets at Shore Capital, overseeing media development and promotion for the Strategy and Talent Development team. He leads the creation of podcasts, educational content, and marketing materials while exploring innovative multimedia opportunities.
Previously, Austin was the Senior Manager of Special Projects at Laserforce International, where he led global strategy, R&D, and market expansion efforts for the North American office. He also brings entrepreneurial experience from founding a digital marketing consultancy, where he developed content strategies, optimized brand growth, and enhanced online presence for clients across various industries. This role sharpened his skills in creative asset development, audience engagement, and data-driven marketing.
Austin holds a B.A. in Economics from Penn State and an MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, with concentrations in Finance, Operations, and Strategy.
Jackson Sprayberry
Director, Talent Development
Jackson is the Director of Talent Development at Shore Capital Partners, where he is responsible for leading talent development initiatives across Shore University and optimizing leadership development strategies for Shore’s portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Shore, Jackson was the Founding Head of School at Valor College Prep, where he launched a top-ranked public high school that was recognized in the top 1% nationally and the top 0.1% in Tennessee by U.S. News & World Report. In this role, Jackson oversaw strategic planning, team development, and program execution, growing the school to 100 staff serving 850 students.
Jackson was a 2011 Teach For America Memphis Corps Member, earned a Master of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Lipscomb University, where he served as Student Body President. He was recognized as a Nashville Emerging Leader Finalist by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce for his contributions to education and leadership development.
Lisa Ladd
Director, Talent Development
In her role as Director of Talent Development, Lisa leads talent initiatives across Shore University. This includes the design and delivery of high-impact learning experiences for portfolio company teams and ownership of the strategy and content within Shore University’s world-class learning management system.
Prior to joining Shore, Lisa was the Founding Director of Operations at Valor College Prep, a top-ranked public high school that was recognized in the top 1% nationally and the top 0.1% in Tennessee by U.S. News & World Report. In this role, Lisa scaled systems for student safety, budget & procurement, vendor management, data & analytics, and staff onboarding for 100 team members and 950 students.
Lisa was a 2014 Teach For America Corps Member during which time she also served as a founding team member at KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Human & Organizational Development in 2014 from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated summa cum laude.
Ben Gilbert
Associate, Executive Development Institute
Ben is a Talent Development Associate at Shore Capital, a microcap private equity firm focused on partnering with companies that have between $1-10 million of EBITDA. He has been with Shore since 2021 and enjoys being on a fast-paced, growth-oriented team in Shore’s Nashville office.
Ben oversees Shore’s Learning Management System and is responsible for engaging learners and optimizing the system for adult learning. He also helps develop new learning content including media assets and supports other Shore University programs.
Ben is an Eagle Scout and has lived in Tennessee and Kentucky. He earned his B.H.S. in Clinical Leadership and Management from the University of Kentucky.
Dane Drobocky
Associate, Strategic Planning
Dane is an Associate, Strategic Planning at Shore Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm focused on partnering with companies that have between $1-10 million of EBITDA. Dane is responsible for helping the SCP portfolio companies to architect strategies for growth and value creation by facilitating strategic dialogue, identifying innovation opportunities, developing points of differentiation, and gaining alignment of management and the Board of Directors on the company’s key strategic objectives.
Prior to joining Shore as an Analyst, Dane worked in NYC as a brand manager for a wine company that sold to Constellation Brands.
Dane received a B.A from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he also played football for four years, and a Master’s in Marketing from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
Adam Shibley
Associate, Strategic Planning
Adam is a Strategy Analyst at Shore Capital, a lower-middle market private equity firm focused on partnering with companies that have between $1-10 million of EBITDA. Adam is responsible for helping SCP portfolio companies architect growth and value creation strategies by facilitating strategic dialogue, identifying innovation opportunities, developing points of differentiation, and gaining alignment from management and the Board of Directors on the company’s key strategic objectives.
Before joining Shore, Adam worked as a Fellow in the Office of the Commissioner at the Big Ten Conference in Chicago. Prior to joining the Big Ten, Adam founded The Uniform Funding Foundation (TUFF) to provide uniforms, equipment, and mentorship to underserved youth athletes and still actively serves as a member of the executive team.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Adam received his Master’s in Management from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and his B.A. from the University of Michigan while simultaneously competing as a football student-athlete at both institutions.
Trey Finison
Analyst, Strategic Planning
Trey Finison is an Analyst of Strategic Planning at Shore Capital Partners, where he supports portfolio companies in driving growth and value creation initiatives. He works closely with executive leadership teams and board members to conduct market research, develop strategic insights, and help execute key operational and expansion initiatives across the firm’s portfolio.
Prior to joining Shore Capital, Trey was an Investment Associate at Marcus & Millichap, specializing in multifamily real estate investment sales. In that role, he led business development outreach to thousands of property owners, underwrote investment opportunities, and provided strategic guidance on property valuations and market dynamics. His experience strengthened his analytical skill set and ability to identify value creation opportunities across complex investment landscapes.
Trey holds a B.S. in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University and an MBA in Finance from Louisiana State University, where he also competed as a Division I football student-athlete.
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