our team
Jessica C. Kates
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Jessica co-founded Rellevant Partners with Janice Meyer in 2019. Jessica has a unique hybrid background that combines over 10 years of private equity experience with 8 years of C-level operating and management experience. Prior to co-founding Rellevant, Jessica was a Partner in TriSpan’s Rising Stars fund, a dedicated restaurant private equity fund. Earlier in her career, Jessica was the CEO of Eddie Borgo, a luxury accessories brand, and CFO of Folica, an online-consumer products retailer. Jessica began her private equity career at Catterton Partners, where she worked before business school. Jessica is from Montreal originally, and moved to New York in 2000 to work as an investment banking analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (later Credit Suisse First Boston).
Jessica holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BCom with Great Distinction/Dean’s Honor List from McGill University. Jessica serves on the Board of the Harvard Business School Women’s Association of New York, and she is a past Board Member of Rosa Mexicano, Yardbird, and Stacked.
