about us

Kathy Verner

Innovative and complex projects—for business or social good—are Kathy Verner’s passion. She’s been involved in high-profile organizations and investment platforms that are the first of their kind in the world, start-ups in Asia and Europe, and the integration of firms with opposing cultures.

In a 20-year international finance and real estate career with Goldman Sachs Companies, Archon Group, and ORIX she was known as an intrepid yet pragmatic executive who pushed the envelope and invoked change, despite the traditional nature of these businesses. She successfully questioned the status quo to find new strategies for achieving goals in high-stress, tight deadline environments where billions of dollars were at stake every day.

This kind of courage may be her most striking attribute. Ms. Verner asserts, “Business, especially in this turbulent environment, takes bucket loads of courage—the courage to buck the status quo; divert from the herd; be the change the solution requires; create something new; disregard fears; and most importantly, never give up!” This spirit spurred her to found  YURU, a global strategy and consulting firm.

Before founding YURU, Ms. Verner was Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of ORIX Finance, a ~$3 billion division of ORIX Corporation, the largest non-bank public finance company in Japan.  As a member of the management committee, she set strategic direction, spearheaded portfolio and company acquisitions to expand the business, and directed external financing matters.

Verner also worked for Goldman Sachs Companies for eleven years. Her last position was Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group. She held positions as Director at Archon Group Deutschland, and Director of Executive Operations for Archon Group LP, the global real estate asset management platform for Goldman Sachs and the Whitehall Funds. Her tenure with Archon Group/Goldman Sachs included multiple years working in Asia (1998 to 2000) and Europe (1997 and 2004 to 2006).

Notable projects while at Archon Group include equity and debt portfolio acquisitions at the outset of Whitehall’s investments in Asia; integration of Delmora Bank—a 2.3 billion euro NPL portfolio, workout team, and banking license—into the Archon Group Deutschland platform; and the acquisition of GSW, a 52,000 unit residential company, from The Land of Berlin.

Verner was part of the core team that formed Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, a corporate debt platform dedicated middle market companies in the US and Canada, for Goldman’s Special Situations Group.  This including the issuance and management of a $3 billion CLO funding structure.

Verner was also integral to the largest and first-of-its-kind real estate privatization transaction in the UK, with the Goldman Sachs-led consortium awarded the bid for the DSS (Department of Social Services) contract which outsourced the ownership and full-service management of the 16 million square foot, 800 building portfolio.

Verner’s success lies in her abilities to “connect the unconnectable dots,” find hidden value in uncharted territory, and pioneer what’s needed to access it.  Verner says, “The things that make most people very uncomfortable are the places where I thrive; that’s where the action and adventure lie. I like to be pushed and stretched, to be a better person, to come up with a better idea, to solve a problem in a better way, and get to a better answer at the end of the day.”

Kathy received a BS from Texas A&M University in Agricultural Economics and a Master of Real Estate from the University of Denver.  As a girl, Kathy reflects, “I started reading The Economist at age 16. My Grandmother, a remarkable woman who grew up in a small Mississippi town, and went to college only after her children were grown, read the Economist (way before it was cool). She told me it was the best magazine for learning about the world. I still read it every week, cover to cover – I’m a geek that way.”

Verner’s passion for business innovation and social change gives her the heart and power to create a barrier busting vision that catalyzes opportunities and maximizes human potential.

Jennifer Wheatley

Jennifer Wheatley is one of those people who walks a fine line between adrenaline junkie and well-adjusted adult, which makes her perfect for YURU, where we like to do things a little differently and with a lot more energy.  One minute she can yank you out of a Class V rapid and into her boat with an almost Zen-like calm and the next minute help you derive a phenomenal funding strategy for your non-profit as you continue down the river.

Jennifer has amassed a 17-year career focused domestically and internationally in adventure travel/ecotourism, conservation, non-profit development, and small business management.  Jennifer spent five years as the Executive Director of the Rogue Community College Foundation, more than doubling their contributions through a focus on alignment, collaboration and long-term integrated community relationships.  Prior to her work at the foundation, Jennifer spent most of her career as a consultant working with Rising Wolf Associates and Wheatley Consulting.  Her clients included the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Nine10Arts, the Island Foundation, American Wildlands, Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, Adventure Travel Society and the World Congress on Adventure Travel.  Jennifer has worked on projects around the world including the United States, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Honduras, and the Bahamas.

Jennifer’s strengths are quickly getting to the source of any challenge or conflict and finding the opportunity, as well as building effective non-profit boards and executive teams.  She is a master of collaboration and how to use it to promote success.

Jennifer spends a good deal of her time in the community serving on local Boards and volunteering.  She is a founding member of KidZone Community Foundation, board member of Siskiyou Community Health Center a federally qualified health center and sits on the Urban Growth Boundary Steering Committee for the City of Grants Pass, Oregon.  She has also been involved with the Earth Restoration Alliance and the River Reach Youth Initiative and is currently a member of the American Association of University Women, PEO, Rotary International and is Fellow with the American Leadership Forum.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Whitman College in Sociology and Environmental Studies and a Master of Science in Domestic and International Tourism from the University of Denver.

Jennifer can generally be found somewhere in Oregon either working, volunteering, hiking the back woods, running the river, or hanging out at home with her dog Barley.