Anastasia Titarchuk

Joe Dawson

Sylvester McClearn

New York State Common Retirement Fund

The New York State Common Retirement Fund’s (CRF) diverse manager efforts began in the early 1990s when the state’s first Black Comptroller was elected. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, since his election in 2007, has taken the program to an entirely different level and through his leadership and staff (three consecutive female chief investment officers). Anastasia Titachuk is currently CIO and she has built on the success of Raudline Etienne and Vicki Fuller and has preserved the fund as the leader in diverse and emerging manager investing. As of March 2023, minority and women-owned firms managed more than $31 billion for the CRF. The CRF has had a substantial impact on diverse firms in private equity where over $12 billion has been invested with minority and women-owned firms. Joe Dawson is the Director of Private Equity. He is responsible for facilitating the management as well as strategic planning and development of the private equity portfolio across all sub-asset classes, including primary funds and co-investments. He has been instrumental in growing and expanding the private equity portfolio to become one of the largest in the industry, equating to approximately $35 billion in total value. Dawson has overseen the introduction of new initiatives across the organization, including strategic partnerships and economic participation transactions. Sylvester McClearn is the Director of the Emerging Manager Program. He works closely with its internal investment staff, asset class program partners and affiliate organizations on all aspects of the Emerging Manager Program. With more than two decades of Wall Street experience, McClearn has also held various leadership positions at CastleOak Securities, Loop Capital Markets, Topeka Capital Markets and Citi Institutional Client Group.