Rufus H. Rivers
Managing Director

Mr. Rivers joined RLJ Equity Partners from The Carlyle Group, where he was a Managing Director and Co-founder of Carlyle Mezzanine Partners, L.P., a $436 million investment fund. Prior to founding Carlyle Mezzanine Partners, Mr. Rivers was a Senior Vice President and Principal at TCW/Crescent Mezzanine, LLC, an investment firm with $4 billion of assets under management. Prior to TCW/Crescent Mezzanine, Mr. Rivers served as the Group Credit/Investment Officer of Heller Financial, Inc. Mr. Rivers received his B.A. from Morehouse College and his M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

Daphne J. Dufresne
Managing Director

Ms. Dufresne joined RLJ Equity Partners from Parish Capital Advisors, where she was a Venture Partner managing the direct investment and co-investment program. Formerly, Ms. Dufresne was a Principal at Weston Presidio Capital, a private equity organization with $3.4 billion of assets under management. She also served as Associate Director in the Bank of Scotland’s Structured Finance Group. Ms. Dufresne received her B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

R. Kenneth Bryant
Managing Director

Mr. Bryant joined RLJ Equity Partners from The Wicks Group of Companies, a private equity firm focused on investments in middle market media companies with nearly $1 billion of assets under management, where he was a Principal. While at Wicks, Mr. Bryant focused on investments in education, publishing and business services. He also was a Director at Enron Corp. and a Project Manager at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Bryant earned an A.B. from Harvard College, an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.