Frontenac’s Walter Florence Honored with the IVCA Promoting Diversity Foundation Award

Chicago, IL

Frontenac’s Walter Florence has been honored by the Illinois Venture Capital Association (IVCA) with the IVCA Promoting Diversity Foundation Award.

The inaugural Foundation Award recognizes Florence’s significant contribution to the IVCA Scholars Program and his role in helping to form the IVCA Promoting Diversity Foundation, a 501c3 charitable organization dedicated to promoting awareness, supporting opportunities, and creating programs, including the IVCA Scholar Program, that lead to a more diverse private equity and venture capital community.

The IVCA Scholar Program is a 10-week summer internship program hosted by a private equity or venture capital firm. It targets college juniors from underrepresented populations and aims to create a more inclusive private equity and venture capital industry by increasing gender, racial, and ethnic diversity and offering students access and experience early in their careers to the PE/VC industry.  Christie Pruyn, Executive Director of IVCA, commented, “We can proudly point to 33 Scholar alumni working in the PE/VC industry today with 14 remaining in Illinois.”

A past Chairman of IVCA, Florence is a Managing Partner at Frontenac, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Frontenac has long supported the IVCA.  Florence commented, “This award is a wonderful way to bring attention to the IVCA Scholars Program and the programs we have established to help support it, including the IVCA Promoting Diversity Foundation and the IVCA Invitational. At Frontenac, we are big believers that people are the key to success in private equity and that diversity of backgrounds, opinions, and experiences make us more thoughtful investors. I’m proud to have helped contribute to the IVCA’s diversity programs and look forward to supporting their continued growth.”

Florence will receive his award at the annual IVCA Awards dinner on December 9, 2024.

About IVCA 

The Illinois Venture Capital Association advocates for a strong Illinois business climate for private investors in private companies by promoting a pro-growth public policy platform; facilitating member networking; introducing underrepresented groups to the business of private company investing and collaborating with organizations of mutual interest. In addition, IVCA works with entrepreneurial organizations in the Midwest to encourage a strong cycle of innovation and business creation leading to superior investment opportunities. For more information, please visit www.illinoisvc.com.

About Frontenac

Frontenac is a Chicago-based private equity firm. The firm focuses on investing in lower middle market buyout transactions in the consumer, industrial, and services industries. Frontenac works in partnership with established operating leaders, through an executive-centric approach called CEO1ST®, which seeks to identify, acquire, and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and operational excellence. Over the last 50+ years, Frontenac has built a franchise working with over 300 owners of mid-sized businesses as they address complex transition issues of liquidity, management enhancement, and growth planning. For more information, please visit www.frontenac.com.