Board of Directors

All
Board of Directors
Executive Leadership
Services Team
Staffing Team
Operations Team
Recruiting Team

Jeff Martin

Executive Chairman of the Board

Jeff Martin

Jeff Martin is the newly named Executive Chairman for the LAUNCH Board of Directors. Along with the Capitol Meridian team, Jeff will support the Company’s growth plans by helping to strengthen LAUNCH’s customer value proposition and expansion into new markets and geographies.

Recently, Jeff served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Aero Design Labs. Jeff is a 33-year aviation and hospitality industry veteran who began his career at Cessna Aircraft Corporation, followed by 6 years of Military aviation service, then joined Southwest Airlines and later held executive C-suite roles at JetBlue Airways and WestJet Airlines of Canada.

Jeff’s keen knowledge of boardroom governance, airline operations, government certification and finance has contributed to his numerous board and advisory roles. A recognized name in Washington, Jeff served as a congressional appointee to the NextGen Advisory Board and was awarded the Williams Trophy for innovation in aviation. He currently serves on the board of advisors for Aerodesign Labs and XWing. He also holds membership to The Wings Club, NBAA, AOPA, ISTAT and served as an Ops advisor to Airlines for America and the Mitre Corporation.

Jeff was fortunate to serve under the iconic airline leader Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines for 22 years. There he learned the value of people, leadership, brand and always taking care of your internal customer (the team). A contributor to Southwest’s massive expansion, Jeff was hired in 1990 to fly the 75th aircraft that SWA purchased and 20 years later he was the Vice President of OCC Operations leading across 700 aircraft, a staff of 15,000 and over 3000 daily departures.

A USAF Pilot veteran, Jeff has logged over 14,000 hours of combined military and civilian aviation flight time and remains current in numerous aircraft. He holds both a US and Canadian Airline Transport License and is type rated on the Boeing 737, Airbus 320/321, Cessna Citation and DC-10-30 aircraft.

Jeff and his wife Susan have two daughters, Hannah and Kaytlyn. When not flying, racing sailboats, or visiting their two grandchildren in Louisiana, they reside in Vero Beach, Florida.

Mike Guagenti

Advisor, Board Member, Founder

Full Bio

Mike Guagenti

Mike Guagenti serves in a key role as a LAUNCH Board member, assisting in pursuing strategic acquisitions and as a liaison with our key customers. Mike’s knowledge and passion for pursuing new investment opportunities is a key element of our future growth plans, and LAUNCH is fortunate to retain his talents.

As the former CEO and a founder of LAUNCH, Mike was responsible for building and growing LAUNCH to honor the commitment to be the most innovative, customer-driven and solutions-based firm for technical workforce solutions. During his 25-year career, he has helped lead a diverse set of companies on strategy, operations and finance. Mike has developed relationships and provided aviation-related resources to MROs, airlines, leasing companies and engineering firms.

Mike has a passion for entrepreneurship and a long history of leading his clients and employers to financial success.

Jean Rollo

Advisor, Board Member, Founder

Full Bio

Jean Rollo

Jean Rollo has an integral role at LAUNCH as a Strategic Advisor and Board Member with a key focus in assisting the Executive Chairman and Board on matters related to people, systems and operations, including acquisition integration. Jean’s unwavering passion for our people, values and quest for excellence continue their importance in her role.

As a founder and previous President of LAUNCH, Jean had high-level oversight of the companywide HR, legal, marketing and IT departments. She also helped to develop the overall market strategy for LAUNCH. Jean was selected for the prestigious 2025 Chicago Titan 100 award, a distinction honoring Chicago’s Top CEOs and C-Level Executives, demonstrating her exceptional leadership, vision, passion, and influence in her field. In her 30+ year career, Jean has gained extensive experience in executive management and ownership with multiple successful companies in technology, aviation, and other industries, providing her with a unique capability to lead LAUNCH.

Jean’s journey into the world of staffing began in the IT staffing and services sector, where she gained valuable insights into the dynamics of talent acquisition and service provision. It was during this time that she developed a deep appreciation for the importance of matching the right talent with specific industry needs and delivering services tailored to the unique requirements of businesses. Those experiences have helped shape much of LAUNCH and its continual process of refining its services to better serve the needs of our clients.

Jean is passionate about the LAUNCH values of Leading, Partnering and Caring and ensures the company stays true to those beliefs in all aspects of the business.

In addition to her work at LAUNCH, Jean is a member of Chief, a private network for women executive leaders. She is an avid mentor and coach to several young women across a variety of businesses – guiding them as they seek to become leaders themselves. Jean also devotes time as a consultant to the Executive Service Corps, aiding in the success of numerous Chicago-area nonprofit organizations.

Ian Rollo

Board Member & Founder

Full Bio

Ian Rollo

As Board Member of LAUNCH, Ian collaborates with leadership to drive the growth of the organization. He is a 30-year veteran of the aerospace industry. His extensive experience and industry contacts have taken him from executive management to ownership in multiple aviation companies with impressive success. He has a long history of experience with MROs, aviation contract labor, and aircraft interior modifications. At LAUNCH, Ian and his partners have revolutionized the technical staffing business through innovation and technology.

Adam Palmer

Board Member

Full Bio

Adam Palmer

Adam Palmer is a LAUNCH Board Member and a Founding Partner at Capitol Meridian Partners. He spent over 25 years with The Carlyle Group, most recently as Managing Director/Partner and Head of the Global Aerospace, Defense and Government Services (ADS) investment team beginning in March 2011, and additionally as Fund Head of Carlyle’s Equity Opportunity Fund I and II for the last 2 years before his departure. From the time he joined Carlyle in 1996, Mr. Palmer played an important role in a number of key investments in the ADS sector, including Aviall, Avio, Landmark Aviation I & II, Novetta, PrimeFlight, RPK Capital, Sequa, StandardAero, Titan, United Defense, U.S. Investigations Services, Vought Aircraft Industries, and Wesco Aircraft Holdings.

He currently serves as a board member of AeroDesign Labs, Clarity Innovations, Parry Labs, PrimeFlight and LMI Consulting. Mr. Palmer received a BA in International Political Economy from Duke University.

Mr. Palmer currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and is also a founding member of Halcyon Angels, a network of angel investors committed to fueling the growth of early-stage impact-focused ventures. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and twin 11-year-old children.

Michael Puopolo

Board Member

Full Bio

Michael Puopolo

Michael Puopolo is a LAUNCH Board Member as well as Managing Director at Capitol Meridian Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in companies operating at the intersection of government and commercial markets.

Prior to CMP, Michael was a Principal at Blackstone, where he helped lead its technology private equity investing activity in various end markets including government and education. While at Blackstone, he was involved in seven platform investments totaling $44bn of enterprise value and served on five boards including Ellucian, Renaissance Learning and Cvent.

Prior to Blackstone, Michael worked with the CMP team as a member of Carlyle’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services team. During that time, he was involved in Carlyle’s investments in Booz Allen Hamilton, Novetta and Sequa.

Michael received an AB in Economics and Government from Harvard College and an MBA from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and daughter.

Henry Johnson

Board Member

Full Bio

Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson is a LAUNCH Board Member and Principal at Capitol Meridian, where he focuses on originating and executing new investment opportunities and is actively engaged on value creation and monitoring for certain Capitol Meridian existing portfolio companies. Henry currently leads the day-to-day engagement with Parry Labs and PrimeFlight Aviation, where he serves as a Director.

Henry brings nine years of experience in the Aerospace, Defense and Government Services sector. Prior to joining Capitol Meridian, Henry spent three years with The Carlyle Group as an investment professional within U.S. Buyout. During his time at Carlyle, Henry played an important role on several platform investments and follow-on acquisitions, including Chromalloy, Dallas Airmotive, EB Airfoils, Loc Performance, Precoat Metals, PTS Aviation, Sequa Corporation and StandardAero. Additionally, Henry helped lead certain monetization events for Carlyle, and was actively involved in U.S. Buyout’s recruiting, hiring and training efforts.

Henry began his career with Jefferies in New York, where he focused on investment banking opportunities in the Aerospace & Aviation sector. Henry received a B.A in Economics from Wake Forest University. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife.

Andrea Fischer Newman

Board Member

Full Bio

Andrea Fischer Newman

Andrea Fischer Newman is a LAUNCH Board Member and is a distinguished professional with a multifaceted career spanning law, government, and corporate leadership. Since 2021, Ms. Newman has served as a Director for StandardAero, one of the world’s leading independent maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) providers. She also serves on the Boards of PrimeFlight Aviation, a Capitol Meridian Partners and Sterling Group backed business providing aviation services to passenger, cargo, general aviation and airports, which she joined in November 2017; and Spirit Airlines, a publicly traded Ultra Low-Cost Carrier serving the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, which she joined in 2025.

Ms. Newman served as Senior Vice President – Government Affairs for Delta Air Lines from 2008 – 2017, with responsibility for International, Regulatory, Federal, State, and Local government affairs. From 2001-2008, she was Senior Vice President – Government Affairs for Northwest Airlines and helped oversee the regulatory approvals required for the Delta-Northwest merger in 2008. Ms. Newman joined Northwest in 1995, also serving as Vice President for State & Local Government Affairs and as an Associate General Counsel.

Prior to her airline career, she was a Senior Partner at Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone a Detroit, Michigan law firm, from 1988 to 1995. Ms. Newman’s public service includes serving as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (Federal Labor Relations Authority) first appointed from 2002-2009, and reappointed in 2017, serving until 2021. Ms. Newman was an elected member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan from 1995-2019.

Ms. Newman received her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1983 and was a 1979 honors graduate of the University of Michigan.

John Smith

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