I’ve been placing Operating Partners for 20 years. Over that time, I’ve worked on 250+ searches across more than 100 PE firms. When I sat down recently to count how many women I’ve placed into Portfolio Operations roles, I was disappointed.

Not because the women I’ve placed aren’t exceptional—they absolutely are. But because after two decades in this work, the number should be significantly higher.

Here are some notable placements that spring to mind:

• Karen Gordon into Providence Equity
• Suzanne Pappas into CVC
• Roanne Daniels into Hellman & Friedman
• Lauren Piec into Platinum Equity
• Ellie Humphrey into Patient Square Capital
• Mara Edgar into Riverside Company

Each of these women made a material impact on how their firms created value. They built portfolio operations capabilities, transformed underperforming assets, and returned significant capital to the investor base.

So why isn’t the list much longer?

The Numbers Haven’t Kept Pace
The Operating Partner role has exploded over the last 15 years. In 2005, most PE firms didn’t have dedicated Portfolio Operations teams. Today, nearly every firm with $1B+ AUM has built some version of this capability.

The role has gone from experimental to essential. From afterthought to competitive advantage.

But the demographics haven’t evolved at the same rate.  It’s not just my subset of placed candidates… it’s an industry wide dearth of women in the job.  

When I started this work, I told myself the pipeline issue would solve itself over time. More women in consulting. More women in operating roles. More women getting CEO experience. The talent pool would naturally expand, and the placements would follow.

But that just hasn’t happened as quickly as I would have expected.

Why the Gap Persists
I don’t have all the answers, but here’s what I’ve observed:

The “pattern matching” problem is real. When PE firms are building out Portfolio Operations for the first time, they tend to hire people who look like their existing investment team. That creates a self-reinforcing cycle.

The role is still being defined. Many firms don’t have a clear mandate for what an Operating Partner actually does. In the absence of clarity, they default to hiring people with the most traditional credentials and/or who they already know.  That cohort still skews heavily male.

The CEO pipeline matters more than it should. Too many firms still think an OP needs to have been a CEO first. That’s not true (and I’ve written about why), but it persists as conventional wisdom. And the CEO pipeline remains heavily male.

Breaking “in” when they’re younger isn’t always feasible.  The constant travel attendant to most Portfolio Operations jobs isn’t exactly conducive to starting a family.  This is an unfair generalization, but I can only report for what I practically see.  The intersection between those precious years and a VP’s entry point in Portfolio Ops can be a big inhibitor.

What Needs to Change
If you’re a GP building or expanding your Portfolio Operations team, I’d encourage you to ask yourself a few questions:

• Are you defining the Operating Partner role narrowly (former CEO only) or broadly (operators with deep functional or industry expertise)?
• When you think about your “ideal candidate,” are you pattern-matching to people who look like your deal team?
• Are you considering operators who’ve driven value creation in different contexts—not just turnarounds, but growth, digital transformation, go-to-market buildouts?

The women I’ve placed into Operating Partner roles didn’t all have the same background. Some were former CEOs. Others were COOs, CFOs, or heads of strategy. A few came from consulting. What they had in common was the ability to diagnose problems quickly, influence without authority, and drive execution inside portfolio companies.

If you’re expanding your criteria even slightly, your talent pool expands dramatically.

If You’re Considering This Path
If you’re a woman reading this and wondering whether an Operating Partner role is right for you—or accessible to you—let me be direct:

You don’t need to look like the people already in the role in order to be exceptional.

What you need is a track record of creating value inside operating companies, the ability to work across different management teams, and the intellectual curiosity to learn new industries quickly.

If you have those things, this role is absolutely within reach. And the industry needs you.

A Request
If you’re a GP and you’re reading this: the next time you’re building out your Portfolio Operations capability, broaden your aperture. Consider operators you might have overlooked.

If you’re a woman with operating experience and you’re curious about this path: reach out. I’m happy to talk through what the role actually entails, how to position yourself, and which firms are genuinely open to diverse candidates.

The list of women in Portfolio Operations should be longer. Let’s change that.