Dena Frith Moore

I have been privileged to have done a number of interesting things during my career.  I am most proud of having been one of the first employees at Harris Williams & Co., which during my tenure grew into one of the largest middle-market mergers and acquisitions firms in the country.   The Harris Williams team worked really hard to make this happen, and we learned  A LOT along the way.

My first 13 years as an investment banker were spent consulting with business owners who wanted to sell their companies.  This advisory work allowed me to see inside so many different businesses, learn about the strategic decisions they made (some successful and some less so), evaluate the strength of various management teams and leadership styles, consider external factors impacting companies, and dig deeply into each organization's operations and financials.

The following 10 years, I served as Harris Williams & Co.'s Chief Operating Officer, a position that had not existed prior to my stepping into this role.  I loved the steep learning curve involved in figuring out what it meant to actually run a business...and boy was there a lot to learn.  Finance, Legal, Regulatory, Operations, Human Resources, and IT all became my responsibility.  During my time as COO, Harris Williams & Co. grew from two offices and approximately 50 employees to seven offices, including one in London, England, and close to 200 employees.  That's a lot of offices opened, people hired, customers served, growth ideas vetted, and decisions made!

In 2011, I chose to retire from Harris Williams & Co. in order to spend more time with my husband and children.  In thinking about what I might want to do next, I kept coming back to this idea that given my experience, perhaps I could be useful to leaders of privately-held companies and nonprofit organizations as they tackle the inevitable challenges and opportunities that come with running a business.  I started DFM Advisory, LLC in 2012 with that as my mission, and here I am!

 

Other Info:  

Board Service

I have been involved with a number of nonprofit and governmental organizations as a Board member, including CARITAS (Chair), St. Christopher's School and St. Christopher's Foundation (Chair), Virginia Resources Authority, Greater Richmond SCAN, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and St. James's Episcopal Church (Senior Warden).  

On behalf of these Boards, I have chaired or served on many committees including:  Executive, Endowment, Finance, Marketing, Recruitment, Earned-Income Enterprises, Investment Committee, Risk Management, Personnel, Outreach, and Strategic Planning.  I have also served on the Community Impact/Distributions Committee of Community Foundation for a greater Richmond and on the Investment Committee for the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church USA.

In addition, I have served on four corporate boards with a wide array of committee involvement there as well.  

As a result of this Board service, I have a good sense for the dynamic between Board members and management teams, both in the nonprofit and the for-profit sector.

 

Education

I have a B.S. in Business Administration with Distinction from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University.  

 

Personal

I have a wonderful husband, Chris, who is a writer, a photographer, and an in-demand nonprofit board member.  Together, we have two sons, Ben and Sam, who are successfully adulting! We are a family who loves to travel, loves to eat (fortunately, I love to cook), and loves to laugh.