Marshall Payne has been an active private equity investor for over 40 years, beginning his career at Cardinal Investment Company in 1983 and co-founding CIC Partners in 2004 where he currently serves as a Partner and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Payne has served on many public and private boards of CIC’s portfolio companies.

Mr. Payne and his wife Dee Ann are active in civic affairs, education, and health care initiatives. Mr. Payne currently serves on the Board of Trustees and Finance Committee of Southwestern Medical Foundation. Mr. Payne has also been an active supporter and Board Member of the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, the Library of Congress, and the Stanford University School of Humanities, Arts and Sciences.

Mr. Payne grew up in Dallas and graduated from St. Mark’s School. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and was elected to its Phi Beta Kappa chapter. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mike Rawlings is a founding partner and Vice Chairman of CIC and has maintained an active role at the firm since its inception in 2004. Mike is known for his civic engagement and believes strongly in public service, so much so that he served as Mayor of the City of Dallas from 2011 to 2019. Not a small task considering Dallas is the 9th largest city in the U.S. and during his terms as Mayor the city saw more growth than any time in its history. Prior to CIC, Mike was the President of Pizza Hut, then the largest restaurant operating company in the world. Before that he was the CEO of Tracy Locke, the largest marketing communications agency in the Southwest with notable clients that included Frito-Lay, Pepsi, Tabasco and American Airlines.

Mike is an energetic board member of numerous CIC portfolio companies as well as national and local organizations. He is a graduate of Boston College, a collector of first edition books, a lover of blues music, a doting father and grandfather and according to his wife, at times grumpy husband.

Fouad Bashour is a founding partner of CIC, its Managing Partner and has been with the Firm and its predecessor since 1999. Fouad began his career at The Boston Consulting Group and is a former director of various private companies including DynaGrid Holdings.

Fouad has served on the Advisory Board of the Duke University Kenan Institute for Ethics and the Duke Annual Fund and also served as a trustee of the Alcuin School in Dallas.

Fouad is a graduate of Duke University where he majored in economics and was an Angier B. Duke Scholar.

Amir Yoffe is a Partner of CIC and has been with the Firm since 2002. Prior to joining CIC, Amir worked in JP Morgan’s Mergers and Acquisitions group in New York, where he completed transactions in the healthcare, telecom and energy industries. Amir serves as Chairman of Keep It REAL Foods and Packline Solutions Group. He was the former Chairman of L&L Foods, board member of OmniSYS, Combs Produce and BroadJump.

In addition to his CIC activities, Amir serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Texas A&M Food Science & Technology Department and the Alternative Management Center at SMU’s Cox School of Business. Amir is a graduate with Distinction from Harvard Business School and a graduate of Cornell University.

Bayard Friedman has been with the Firm since 2010. Bayard began his career at Bain & Company and currently serves as a board member of Foundational Partners, Legacy Electric, Dispatch and RMX Resources. He is a former director of various private companies including Precision Aerospace, TriState, and Pogo Resources.

Bayard serves as a Trustee to the Mary Potishman Lard Trust and as Parents’ Council Chair-Elect to Providence Christian School of Dallas. He previously served on the Audit Committee of Cistercian Preparatory School.

Bayard is a graduate of Duke University where he majored in Economics.

Alan Buehler joined CIC Partners in 2016 as its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining CIC, Alan served for over ten years as the CFO of Dallas-based Sevin Rosen Funds.

Alan previously held financial management roles at several of Sevin Rosen’s operating portfolio companies after beginning his career with Ernst & Young. Alan holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a certified public accountant licensed by the State of Texas.

Charlie Robinson is a Principal with CIC and has been with the firm since 2012. Prior to joining CIC, Charlie worked in M&A advisory at McColl Partners in Dallas. He currently serves as a Board Member of Keep It REAL Foods, Packline Solutions Group, NADAtech, and Foundational Partners. Charlie is a CFA Charterholder and graduate of the University of Virginia.

Jessica Badarak is a Senior Vice President with CIC and has been with the firm since 2023. Prior to joining CIC, Jessica was a Senior Director at Riveron Consulting (formerly Conway MacKenzie) in their Restructuring & Turnaround Practice where she worked across several industries including food, industrial, and retail and consumer products. Jessica began her career at Ernst & Young in Assurance services and is a certified public accountant.

In addition, Jessica is actively involved in several philanthropic and networking organizations including the Junior League of Dallas. Jessica is a graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Carson Ashbaugh is a Vice President with CIC and has been with the firm since 2026. Prior to joining CIC, Carson was a Vice President at Gauge Capital where he worked on middle market private equity investments in the business services, industrials, and food sectors. Earlier in his career, Carson was an energy private equity investor at Edge Natural Resources and began his career at Barclays where he focused on M&A and capital markets transactions.

Carson received his MBA from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of The University of Texas where he earned a BA in Plan II Honors and a BBA in Business Honors/Finance.

Stuart Moss is a Vice President with CIC and has been with the firm since 2023. Prior to joining CIC, Stuart worked with Cordatus Capital, a private equity firm based in Dallas. He currently leads business development activities for CIC. Stuart is a US Navy veteran and holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business.

Paul Civello joined CIC Partners as an Associate in March 2021. Prior to CIC, Paul worked at Houlihan Lokey in the Financial Restructuring Group. Paul graduated from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, where he was a member of the EnCap Investments & LCM Group Alternative Asset Management Center.

Kendall Tucker joined CIC in late 2025 as Controller, where she oversees the firm’s accounting, audit, tax, and investor relations functions. Prior to joining CIC, she served as Chief Financial Officer at Boyd Street Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. Previously, Kendall held roles with Goldman Sachs’ Asset Wealth Management group, Riveron Consulting, Standish Management and KPMG. Kendall holds an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Oklahoma.

Ethan Andresen joined CIC Partners as an Associate in June 2025. Prior to CIC, Ethan was a Private Credit Associate at Newstone Capital Partners. Prior to Newstone, Ethan was an investment banking analyst at Deloitte Corporate Finance in the Life Sciences & Healthcare Group. Ethan graduated from Vanderbilt University.

Davis Childers joined CIC Partners as an Associate in August 2026. Prior to CIC, Davis worked at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Group. Davis graduated from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, where he was a member of the EnCap Investments & LCM Group Alternative Asset Management Center and University Honors Program.

Nicole joined CIC in August 2016 as Executive Assistant to Marshall Payne and has been his right hand ever since. She runs his calendar, travel and correspondence and makes sure nothing slips through the cracks. In 2026, Nicole added Director of Internal Operations to her title and now keeps the rest of the firm running just as smoothly. Before CIC, she spent ten years as a civil litigation paralegal, which explains her eagle eye for detail and her deep respect for a deadline.

Sandy is a founding member of CIC and knows the partners better than they know themselves. Over the years she has worn many hats at CIC, and because of her tenure she knows everyone and everybody. Sandy has been Mike Rawlings’ partner for 30 years and a former member of Pizza Hut’s Executive Team. She is fiercely protective of the CIC family, our LPs, our operators, and their customers.

Toni is a founding member of CIC Partners and has been part of the firm since day one. Over the years, she has gotten to know CIC’s LPs and portfolio company teams so well that she’s often the first call when someone needs an answer or just wants to catch up. She brings decades of top-tier executive support experience to the firm. Before CIC, she managed executive operations for American Airlines’ top leadership, including the Chairman, President and CEO. After keeping an airline’s C-suite on schedule, keeping a private equity firm on track comes naturally.