Bernard Aronson is a Founder and Managing Partner of ACON Investments. Prior to co-founding ACON in 1996, Mr. Aronson was International Advisor to Goldman Sachs for Latin America. From 1989 through 1993, Mr. Aronson served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs under Presidents Bush and Clinton. Following his tenure, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the State Department’s highest honor. Mr. Aronson serves on the Board of Directors of the following ACON fund portfolio companies: ACON Franchise Holdings and Sequitur Energy Resources. Mr. Aronson has previously served on numerous boards of ACON fund/investment vehicle portfolio companies, including among others, Mariner Energy (NYSE: ME) and Northern Tier Energy (NYSE: NTI). Outside of ACON, Mr. Aronson previously served on several public company boards and currently serves on the board of Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LIND). In addition, Mr. Aronson is a Director for the National Democratic Institute, The Nature Conservancy (Maryland/DC Chapter), and the Amazon Conservation Team, as well as a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomats. Mr. Aronson has published opinion pieces in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Republic and The Huffington Post, among other publications. In February 2015, Mr. Aronson was asked to serve as an unpaid consultant to the U.S. State Department on the Colombian peace process. Mr. Aronson’s role at ACON as a founding partner, member of the general partners of the firm’s U.S. and Latin American private equity funds and principal of the U.S. funds remains unchanged.

Mr. Aronson holds a B.A. with Honors in Humanities from The University of Chicago.