Bio

Carla J. Brooks is a Senior Managing Director on the Private Equity team of Commerce Street Investment Management. Ms. Brooks has been with Commerce Street since its inception. Having built a successful career over the last 30 years in bank regulation and oversight, Ms. Brooks has played an integral role in developing Commerce Street’s fund management business. She serves as an Assistant Portfolio Manager as well as a member of the Investment Committees of Commerce Street Keefe Ventures Funds III, LP and Commerce Street Keefe Ventures Funds IV, LP. Ms. Brooks is also a member of the investment committee of Commerce Street Peak Advisors, which provides solutions for 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans. Ms. Brooks held a similar position with its predecessor company, SAMCO Capital Markets, Inc., which she joined in 2002. In addition, she serves as a director of Gold Coast Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary Gold Coast Bank located in Islandia, NY. Her previous positions were with California Federal Bank, FSB, where she was First Vice President of Corporate Acquisitions in the Office of the Chairman; and KPMG, working in both the Regulatory Advisory and the Corporate Recovery Practices. Ms. Brooks spent seven years with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas where she was the manager of applications processing in the supervision and regulation department. Ms. Brooks was ranked on American Banker’s annual 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance list from 2008 to 2010. In 2009, she was selected as an honoree for the Dallas Business Journal’s Women in Business Awards as one of the region’s most outstanding women business leaders. Ms. Brooks earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business and economics from Coe College in Iowa and has a Master of Science degree in finance from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a licensed Certified Insolvency and Reorganization Accountant.