O’Hara named President of New World Angels

New World Angels said Thursday that Stephen M. O’Hara was elected president of NWA. On April 1, O’Hara will succeed Rhys L. Williams who will transition to Chairman of NWA’s Board of Directors.

PRESS RELEASE

BOCA RATON, FL (PRWEB) MARCH 10, 2016
New World Angels (NWA), Florida’s premier structured angel investor group, announced today the election of Stephen M. O’Hara as the third president in NWA’s 13 year history. On April 1st, Mr. O’Hara will succeed Rhys L. Williams, who will transition to Chairman of NWA’s Board of Directors while managing his other business interests.
Mr. O’Hara has been a member of NWA since 2012 and has served on its Board of Directors and Investment Committee for the last three years. Before joining NWA, from 2003 until 2011, Mr. O’Hara was CEO of Angelica Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange listed company until it went private in 2008. Prior to joining Angelica, from 1998 until its merger with K-2 Corporation in 2003, he served as Chairman & CEO of Rawlings Sporting Goods, a NASDAQ listed company.
“We are delighted that Steve has agreed to step up from his position on the Board of Directors to become President. Steve’s impressive for-profit and not-for-profit leadership experiences over a successful thirty-five year career makes him the perfect leader for NWA’s next stage of development.” said Rhys L. Williams, outgoing President of New World Angels.
Speaking on his new role, Mr. O’Hara said, “I am honored to be chosen to succeed Rhys as President of NWA and build on his impressive legacy. Under Rhys’ nine year leadership term, NWA has doubled its membership to 60 accredited investors and increased NWA’s average deal size to $1MM. In 2015, NWA completed six investments, deploying over $2.8MM in new capital. This follows on NWA’s seven investments in 2014 with over $3.5MM in new capital invested. We will continue to invest in the most promising, young Florida companies and leaders and keep working closely with our portfolio companies as they grow and develop.” Mr. Williams is also credited with the early efforts leading NWA to become an entity with statewide identity and reach.
Mr. O’Hara resides in Fort Myers, Florida – midway between NWA’s South Florida and Tampa hubs. He has been married 28 years to Susan O’Hara and has two children. His son Tim is completing his MBA at Harvard and will be moving to Chicago in June to join Oliver Wyman. His daughter Christie is a program manager for the Philips Foundation in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
About New World Angels (NWA):
The New World Angels (NWA) is a structured group of private investors dedicated to providing equity capital to early-stage entrepreneurial companies with a significant presence in Florida. With members in nine Florida counties and hubs in Boca Raton, Tampa Bay, West Palm Beach, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, NWA invests typically between $500 thousand and $1.5 million initially either as the lead investor or as part of a syndicate. Members of NWA have extensive experience in founding, building, and managing companies in a wide variety of industries. In addition to providing funding, NWA members make their expertise and resource networks available to portfolio companies to help achieve growth goals.