Pictured Left to Right: Carlos de Quesada, Wendy Deming (Client), and Daniel Flanagan
Our Team
VeraCruz seeks to offer maximum client value and applied expertise through an intentional client selection process to ensure that client needs can be well served. When needed, the firm's principals complement their skills and capacity by drawing on a select set of colleagues that have previously worked with the principals. We, Dan and Carlos, hold ourselves accountable for all VeraCruz client work undertaken; we recognize that professional trust is hard to gain and must be continuously earned. VeraCruz and its associates regularly facilitate board meetings, create dash-board reports, develop customized metrics, produce asset optimization plans, perform comparative analyses, and have originated, structured and closed more than $850 million in financings (both bank loans and bond issues) and interest rate derivatives for both for clients across the U.S.
Carlos R. de Quesada - Managing Member & Founder
Principal
Continuing his 25+ years of business, managerial and finance work, in October 2011, Carlos founded VeraCruz Advisory, LLC focused on providing financial advisory and strategic consulting services to non-profit institutions. Prior to this and from 2007-2011, Carlos was a Managing Director for a financial advisory and business practice consulting firm that focused on not-for-profit and faith-based entities including higher education institutions, healthcare facilities, dioceses, religious communities, foundations-endowments, and high schools. During these four years, Carlos led the origination, structuring and closing of more than $500 million in financings and interest rate derivatives for NFP clients across seven states.
Prior to working with NFPs Carlos was a Vice President and minority shareholder at the fastest growing Hispanic-owned company in the U.S., Liberty Power. While at Liberty Power Carlos helped lead the team structuring and negotiating the company’s first structured financing ($150 million) and also headed the banking and wholesale power trading and hedging relationships with banks, energy trading desks and power generation companies. Prior to pursuing his 2005-2007 entrepreneurial path at Liberty Power, Mr. de Quesada had 11 years of New York City-based international banking experience with domestic and international institutions including Citigroup, Calyon (of France), and UBS (of Switzerland). In his last banking job at Citigroup, Carlos was directly revenue-responsible as well as managing a team of 10 professionals and a personal client portfolio of over $325 million of assets under management (total team AUMs of nearly $1.0 billion).
Carlos graduated from the Florida State University in 1987 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Finance. He served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1988-1991 with duty stations and deployments to Japan (Okinawa), South Korea, the Marianna Islands, Honduras, and the Persian Gulf. Following his military service, Carlos earned an M.B.A. in 1993 from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
He has served or is active in volunteering activities with the not-for-profit Advisory Board and Steering Committee for the World Fund (http://www.worldfund.org), the Stewardship and Development Committee of the St. Francis College (Brooklyn, NY) and collaborates with the American Bible Society’s Hispanic outreach initiatives through the Latino Advisory Council advising the ABS President. From December 2011-2014, Carlos accepted an invitation to serve on the Catholic Charities Board of Venice, Florida. Current pro bono board service includes serving on the board of an immigration and exile, human services non-profit, CNC (http://cnc.org/).
Through VeraCruz Advisory, Carlos has been a Trustee level member of the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. In April 2015, Carlos completed the Gulf Coast Community Foundation-hosted BoardSource® NFP board governance training and is now part of the GCCF’s, Invest in Incredible, 15-consultant cohort in the greater Sarasota-Venice, FL area. Believing in its mission and impact, Carlos and his family are Goodwill Manasota Ambassadors. Also locally, Carlos serves or has served on his neighborhood board association (Indian Beach Sapphire Shores), a Sarasota school county youth mentoring program and on his church finance council. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Carlos is a first-generation American of Cuban parents and is bilingual (English-Spanish). Though traveling nationally, Carlos resides in Sarasota, Florida with his wife, Cynthia, of 26 years and two young children ages 13 and 16.
Daniel Flanagan
Principal
During his finance career, Daniel Flanagan has worked extensively and almost exclusively with non-profit organizations. In this capacity, he and Carlos de Quesada have been working together for more than eight years performing strategic consulting, financial transaction structuring and execution and other engagements for a range of faith-based, membership, community and national organizations. Nearly all these NFP organizations operate, own and/or finance schools, and provide direct community services. Dan has also led the credit rating process for more than $200 million in bond and bank debt issued by higher education institutions and other NFPs.
Prior to working with VeraCruz Advisory starting in September 2012, Dan was the senior analyst for a financial advisory boutique that focused on faith-based entities including Catholic dioceses, schools, and higher education institutions. In that role, he performed project management and led the analysis and financial modeling on a wide variety of consulting and financing projects, and assisted in the structuring and execution of financial transactions. In addition to his client facing roles, Dan was responsible for training analysts in financial modeling, statistical analysis, and other technical skills needed by many non-profit organizations.
Before working with not-for-profit institutions, Dan worked at Flagstar Bank in the management development program, where he assisted in management of retail branches. Dan served in the U.S. Army Reserves as a Sergeant in the 961st Engineering Battalion. During military his service, he was deployed (2003-2005) with the 488th Engineering Battalion in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.