ABI Leadership Profile: Melissa Kibler Knoll (Vice-President - Membership)
Melissa Kibler Knoll is the feature of our third ABI Leadership Profile column. Melissa is a Senior Managing Director with Mesirow Financial Consulting, current Vice-President-Membership of ABI and, most importantly, up until several years ago, a co-chair of the Young and New Members Committee. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor and a Certified Turnaround Professional. In her spare time, Melissa serves as a member of the board of directors of the Chicago Children’s Choir and serves as First Vice Chair on its Executive Committee. Melissa earned her Bachelor of Business Administration summa cum laude from Texas A&M University and earned her M.B.A., graduating first in her class, from Southern Methodist University. She was named as the 2003 CIRA Gold Medal Winner and as one of the Crain’s Chicago Business 2004 “40 Under 40.”
What do you do?
I am a Senior Managing Director with Mesirow Financial Consulting. I provide financial advisory services to companies, unsecured creditors, secured lenders and other parties in bankruptcies, restructurings, turnarounds and related litigation. My work includes addressing a variety of financial, accounting, valuation, operational, liquidity and leverage issues in formal proceedings under chapter 11, out-of-court workouts, receiverships/trusteeships and other related forums.
What are some of the more recent cases that you have been involved in?
Enron (banks – solvency expert), Engineered Plastic Products (unsecured creditors’ committee), Kmart Corporation (unsecured creditors’ committee and creditor trust), Bethlehem Steel Corporation (unsecured creditors’ committee), BMK (company), The Warnaco Group (pre-petition bank group), Capital Consultants LLC (receiver), The Singer Company (unsecured creditors’ committee and creditor trust) and Iridium (debtor).
When did you become a member of ABI?
I have been an active member since 1996.
Describe your past and current involvement in ABI.
I was the co-chair of the Young & New Members Committee from September 2000-05. I served as the ABI liaison to IWIRC from 2003-04 and facilitated the initiation of IWIRC’s meeting held in conjunction with the ASM. I have spoken on numerous panels on topics such as asset sales, complex lending, DIP and exit financing, distressed valuation, ethics, first day procedures and the future of manufacturing. I developed the financial and accounting portions of the Nuts & Bolts course and taught it several times from its inception in 2003. I was invited to joined the ABI Board of Directors in 2004 and was named Vice President-Membership in 2005. I served on the ABI Fee Study Practitioners’ Panel from 2005-07. I was a judge at the 2005 Corporate Restructuring Competition and chaired the related networking dinner in 2007.
During my tenure as VP-Membership, membership accomplishments have included establishing the Ambassador Program to better integrate new members into ABI, holding several local networking receptions and educational programs, instituting a downtown Chicago networking dinner in conjunction with the Corporate Restructuring Competition, establishing an international membership, initiating a consumer Webinar series and, most recently, revising guidelines and process for member committees to enable broader participation by ABI’s members.
How did you first get involved in ABI?
One of my early mentors, Bettina Whyte, took me to my first ABI conference, the Annual Spring Meeting, in approximately 1994. Thereafter she encouraged me to attend conferences, get involved and join a committee. My first committee meetings were the Young & New Members committee meetings.
How did you advance in ABI?
I began to attend each of the national conferences and go to committee meetings during those conferences. Keith Shapiro appointed me as a co-chair of the Young & New Members Committee, and it was off to the races from there. I was offered a number of opportunities by successive ABI presidents, Sam Gerdano and other members of the ABI staff to get involved in different ABI activities.
What advice do you have for young or new members who want to get more involved in ABI?
Attend conferences when you can, both nationally and regionally. While many of ABI’s benefits can be accessed remotely, ABI’s education is second to none, and face-to-face interaction will facilitate forming relationships and friendships that you will have for years to come. Get to know people, and always look to broaden your network of ABI contacts. Join committees and seek opportunities to contribute to their newsletters, speak on their programs and get involved with their activities. Be proactive in looking for ways to become involved in ABI and identifying new projects for ABI to undertake—don’t wait for opportunities to find you. And when someone asks you to volunteer, say yes.
What was your biggest life event?
My biggest recent life event is the birth of my son Cody, now 16 months old, who joined his now four-year-old big brother, Alex.