Management Team

J. Drexel Knight, Principal
(410)616-1181

Prior to establishing Parkway Capital Investors, LLC in 2000, Drex was the Mid Atlantic Credit Products Executive for Bank of America. Prior to 1994, he held numerous Executive positions in the various subsidiaries of MNC Financial. Drex has served on numerous Corporate Boards and presently serves on the Boards of Mercy Health Services and The CollegeBound Foundation. Drex received his BS from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Christopher A. Pope, Principal
(410)616-1180

Prior to co-founding Parkway, Chris focused on the middle market, in corporate finance, client management, and credit policy roles at Bank of America and predecessor banks. He has served on numerous Corporate Boards. He is a current member of the Boards for American Dryer Corp., and Westone Laboratories, Inc., The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and the current Chair of the Trustees of the Odyssey School. Mr. Pope received his BA from Johns Hopkins University.

Noel J. Lassise, Managing Director
(410)616-1183

Before joining Parkway in 2001, Noel spent more than 17 years in the commercial finance industry. From 1997 to 2001, she was Regional Manager for Summit Business Capital Corp., predecessor to Bank of America. Prior to joining Summit in 1997, Noel held various managerial positions in the Business Credit and Credit Risk Management Divisions of Signet Bank, now Wells Fargo Bank. Noel serves on the Boards of Spencer N. Enterprises and Pinnacle Products International. Noel obtained her CPA after graduating from Towson University with a BA in Accounting.

Jeffrey M. DeJesus, Principal
(312)924-2802

Jeff has been involved in mezzanine and private equity transactions for over 13 years in addition to 7 years of middle market lending experience. At Parkway, Jeff is responsible for investment origination, deal structuring, negotiation, due diligence, and portfolio management. Prior to opening Parkway’s Chicago office, Jeff was a partner at a Midwest-based mezzanine fund and a commercial banker at Bank of America and American National Bank (now part of J.P. Morgan Chase). Jeff graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BS in Finance and received an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management with concentrations in management and strategy and finance.

M. Brandon Bridges, Associate
(410)616-1185

Brandon joined Parkway in 2007 after graduating with honors from Towson University where he received his BS in Business Administration with a Finance concentration. Among his prior work experiences, Brandon completed internships with Parkway and Blue Point Financial Management. At Towson University, Brandon was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, an international business honor society.

Christine E. Dunn, Senior Analyst
(410)616-1184

Christine joined Parkway after graduating magna cum laude from Loyola University Maryland in the spring of 2010 with a BBA with a concentration in finance. At Parkway, Christine’s responsibilities include portfolio management, financial modeling and analysis, and research for due diligence. Prior to interning with Parkway, Christine held internships at Fox Chase Bank and Citigroup Smith Barney in Philadelphia. Christine remains an active member of Loyola Sellinger Scholars Alumni community.