The Watchtower Team

Liz Simons

Liz Simons is chair of the board of the Heising-Simons Foundation. A former teacher, Liz worked in Spanish-bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms, and subsequently founded Stretch to Kindergarten, a spring-summer early childhood education program. She currently serves as chair of the board of The Marshall Project, and on the boards of The Foundation for a Just Society, Math for America, and the Learning Policy Institute. Additionally, she volunteers at The Beat Within (a magazine by and for incarcerated youth). Liz earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s in education from Stanford University.

Liz Simons and Mark Heising founded the Heising-Simons Foundation in 2007 and joined the Giving Pledge in 2016, publicly committing the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. You can read the letter they wrote about why they joined here.

Mark Heising

Mark Heising is a member of the board of the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Heising-Simons Action Fund. Mark founded and is a Managing Director of Medley Partners, an investment firm located in San Francisco, California. Previously, he was the Founder of VLSI Cores, which designed and licensed cryptographic integrated circuits. He holds six U.S. Patents in cryptography, compression and data communications. On the non-profit side, in addition to the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Heising-Simons Action Fund, Mark currently serves as Chair of the Environmental Defense Fund and a Trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study. Mark earned a BS in Physics and a MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mark Heising and Liz Simons founded the Heising-Simons Foundation in 2007 and joined the Giving Pledge in 2016, publicly committing the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. You can read the letter they wrote about why they joined here.

John Milani

John Milani is a Managing Director with Watchtower Management Group and co-manages the firm’s multi-manager hedge fund portfolio with responsibilities for portfolio management, manager sourcing, research and diligence.

Prior to joining Watchtower in 2014, John was the Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Cavalry Asset Management, a long/short equity hedge fund manager. Prior to Cavalry, John worked as Chief Operating Officer at Elan Management LLC, a family office, and prior to that as the Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Artis Capital Management, a long/short equity hedge fund manager. Before joining Artis, John was a Partner in the Investment Funds and Advisers practice group at Shartsis Friese LLP and an associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. John earned his JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and his BA in Economics/Business from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Shahid Khan

Shahid Khan is a Managing Director with Watchtower Management Group and co-manages the firm’s multi-manager hedge fund portfolio with responsibilities for portfolio management, manager sourcing, research and diligence.

Prior to joining Watchtower in 2017, Shahid was the Senior Investment Manager and Chair of the Investment Committee for Gilder Office for Growth, a single-family office based in North Carolina. While there Shahid oversaw the firm’s investments across multiple portfolios, with a focus on public markets. Prior to joining Gilder Office for Growth, Shahid was a Portfolio Manager and Strategy Head for long/short equity at Attalus Capital, a Philadelphia-based fund of funds. Before joining Attalus, Shahid was a senior analyst at Tremblant Capital, where he oversaw the firm’s investments in their external manager portfolio, Tremblant Select. Shahid started his career at Permal Asset Management, where he was an analyst focused across strategies. Shahid received an MS from Columbia University in Financial Engineering, and a BS (with honors) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming.

Alexandra Armando

Alexandra Armando is the Director of Finance with Watchtower Management Group.

Prior to joining Watchtower in 2019, Alexandra was the Fund Accounting Manager with Medley Partners Management LLC, an investment firm located in San Francisco, California. While there, Alexandra led the firm’s financial reporting, financial compliance with GAAP and investor communications. She also directed the firm’s daily financial operations and managed the firm’s internal controls. Prior to joining Medley Partners Management LLC, Alexandra was an Associate at Ernst & Young in the Assurance Services group where she worked on financial statement audits. Alexandra earned a BA in Economics with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Maylene Fan

Maylene Fan is the Senior Accountant with Watchtower Management Group.

Prior to joining Watchtower in 2020, Maylene was the Senior Tax Associate at Andersen LLC, an accounting firm head-quartered in San Francisco, California. At Andersen, Maylene was in the Alternative Investment Fund group where she prepared tax returns for private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. Maylene earned a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mary Abrams

Mary Abrams is an Executive Assistant at Watchtower Management Group. Prior to joining Watchtower in 2020 she worked at SPO Partners, a hedge fund based in Mill Valley, CA. Mary earned her BA in Political Science from Northeastern University.

Ryan Chernus

Ryan Chernus is an Associate with Watchtower Management Group and is involved in all aspects of the firm’s investment activities.

Prior to Joining Watchtower in 2023, Ryan worked as an analyst at JPMorgan in their San Francisco office, where he was a part of the healthcare team focused on Leveraged Finance & Corporate Client Banking. Before joining the Healthcare team at JPMorgan, Ryan worked as a credit analyst in the middle market commercial banking group at the bank. Ryan earned a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and Minor in Computer Programming from the University of Southern California.