Investment Team

Nat Henshaw founded CEI Ventures, a for-profit venture capital subsidiary of CEI in 1993. As president, he directs the investment of community development venture capital into progressive companies in Maine and New England. Under his leadership, CEI Ventures has raised over $67 mission in funds from a mix of impact investors including individuals, foundations, community economic development entities and banks motivated, in part, by Community Reinvestment Act credit. Nat and his team have invested in 67 companies across five funds, helping to create 2,800 new jobs in geographic regions and with demographic populations often overlooked by traditional venture capital investors. He serves or has served on over 32 boards of directors. Previously, Nat worked as a loan and investment officer at CEI. In that capacity, he made loans to over 125 companies. Prior to CEI, Nat worked at Intersouth Partners (NC), Kitty Hawk Capital (NC) and Chemical Venture Capital (NYC). Nat holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. from Duke University.

Chandler Jones joined CEI Ventures in 2012. Prior to CEI Ventures, he worked as a financial associate at a specialized financial services firm in Portland. In addition to his work at CEI Ventures, Chandler assists CEI’s loan department with credit analysis and creative debt/equity financing structures. He earned a B.A. in psychology from Saint Michael’s College, and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Southern Maine.

Thao supervises the tax, accounting and administration of 3 active venture funds and their management company, CEI Ventures Inc. Her many responsibilities include: budgeting, annual audit preparation, account reconciliations; monthly, quarterly and annual reporting;  monitoring idle cash investments, managing accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll functions, and maintaining the Funds’ portfolios.  Prior to joining CVI, She worked in Workers’ Compensation at University of Maine and Refugee Immigration at Catholics Charities Maine.  She received a B.S. in accounting from the University of Maine.