Mr. Corpening is an accomplished private equity investor with decades of Wall Street and private equity experience. He has demonstrated skill in sourcing, financing, and executing M&A transactions and managing complex corporate relationships successfully at a board level. 

Most recently, Mr. Corpening served as Sr. Managing Director and Head of Investments Team for Ariel Alternatives and Project Black. Ariel Alternatives is a private equity firm formed in 2021 to create Minority Business Enterprises of scale with revenues from a minimum of $100 million to +$1 Billion in partnership with the Fortune 500 focused upon dramatically increasing their spend with diverse Tier 1 vendors. Prior to joining Ariel Alternatives, Mr. Corpening founded Joshua Partners to focus upon lower middle-market private equity opportunities. Before Joshua, he was a longtime partner with Citigroup Venture Capital (CVC) and led the Industrials effort for Court Square Capital Partners. Prior to joining CVC, Mr. Corpening was a private equity executive with The Rockefeller Group and Roundtree Capital, after beginning his career as an investment banker with PaineWebber in the M&A and Merchant Banking groups.

Mr. Corpening is a graduate of Princeton and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. He currently serves as on the board of directors of Action Resources. Mr. Corpening previously served on the board of directors of public companies such as Chase Industries, Kemet Corporation and DAVCO Restaurants (the largest Wendy’s franchisee); and, private companies with public indebtedness such as Sorenson Communications, FastenTech, Inc and Royster-Clark, Inc. In addition, Mr. Corpening recently served as Chairman of the Trustee Board of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens.