Greenbelt hires ops leaders to scale energy investments after 1bn

Greenbelt Capital Partners has strengthened its senior bench with a quartet of hires as the private equity firm shifts into the next phase of deployment after closing its latest vehicle. The firm said it has appointed Katie Kiersey as Chief of Strategy and Operating Partner and named Erika Mapes Managing Director, Austin Major Principal and Elouise Roche Vice President.

The arrivals coincide with the formal launch of Greenbelt’s new Value Optimization unit, a dedicated in-house team designed to accelerate operational and commercial improvements across the firm’s portfolio. Greenbelt closed $1 billion for Greenbelt Capital Partners III L.P. earlier this year and indicated the hires will support active deployment into middle-market companies focused on grid resilience, new power sources and carbon competitiveness.

Katie Kiersey brings a decade of consulting experience from Bain & Company, where she served as a partner advising private equity sponsors and industrial clients. At Bain she led numerous commercial diligence projects and several post-close value-creation programs centred on go-to-market repositioning and operational uplift. Kiersey will be based in Texas and lead Greenbelt’s Value Optimization agenda, working directly with management teams to lift growth and margins.

Erika Mapes, returning to Greenbelt’s orbit after an earlier stint at the firm, joins from Onex Partners where she was a Principal; she also held a senior role at Oaktree Capital Management. Mapes started her career in natural resources at Barclays and will operate from Greenbelt’s New York office. Her background reinforces the firm’s focus on energy and industrial platforms.

Austin Major arrives from Blackstone, bringing experience across principal investing and leveraged finance, with prior roles at Vista Equity Partners and Morgan Stanley. Major holds an MBA from Wharton and will be based in Texas as Greenbelt expands deal sourcing and portfolio oversight in the central U.S. market. Elouise Roche, who joins from Goldman Sachs’ private equity arm where she worked on sustainability and energy-transition investments, strengthens the firm’s transaction and sector expertise out of New York.

Looking ahead, Greenbelt said the new hires will support accelerated investment pacing and deeper value-creation work across its portfolio companies. With a governance and operating playbook now staffed by seasoned practitioners, the firm is positioning itself to compete for higher-conviction deals in a market where LPs increasingly demand measurable sustainability and resilience outcomes alongside financial returns.