Team

  • Founder, Managing Partner

    Austin Painter is the Founder and Managing Partner of Gray Cardinal, where he leads the firm’s investment strategy, sourcing efforts, and overall operations. He brings over a decade of experience advising and investing in founder-led and growth-oriented businesses, with a particular focus on companies operating in highly regulated and government-adjacent sectors.

    Prior to founding Gray Cardinal, Mr. Painter held senior roles across investment banking and capital markets platforms, where he worked closely with executive teams on capital formation, mergers and acquisitions, and long-term growth strategies. Throughout his career, he has served as a strategic advisor to businesses across a range of industries, helping leadership teams scale through thoughtful investment and operational discipline.

    Mr. Painter holds degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Emory University and earned his MBA from Emory’s Goizueta Business School.

  • Partner, Chief of Staff

    LCDR Keeley is a Partner at Gray Cardinal, bringing deep operational and strategic experience across defense, intelligence, and national security sectors. A decorated combat veteran, he holds the rare distinction of being commissioned into the United States Navy directly from the Royal Australian Navy. He has served in multiple combat theaters, including Afghanistan, Iraq, the broader Middle East, and the Pacific, and is recognized as a Service-Disabled Combat Veteran.

    Prior to joining Gray Cardinal, LCDR Keeley served as Chief Operating Officer of a defense-focused biosecurity company and was previously Senior Vice President at a Washington, D.C.–based private equity firm, where he led portfolio management for global clients in the cyber, intelligence, and defense sectors. His public service includes advisory roles to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and senior positions within the U.S. Senate and the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees. He has also held leadership roles across several cybersecurity and intelligence firms.

    LCDR Keeley is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval Academy and holds a BSS from Curtin University and an MA from Deakin University.

  • Partner, Head of Capital Introductions

    Alex spearheads sponsor coverage and business development, leveraging his private capital network to generate high probability mandates. Before partnering with Gray Cardinal, Alex was the Chief Operating Officer & CCO at OC Investment Management LP, a Miami-based relative-value fixed income fund. From 2019 to 2021, he served as Director of Operations at Foxhill Capital Partners in Jupiter, Florida, where he supported distressed-debt and special-situations strategies. Earlier, he spent six years as Manager of Operations at Global Credit Advisers, where he refined the firm’s middle-office architecture and led its transition to cloud-based trade processing.

    Alex began his career at GoldenTree Asset Management and PwC in New York City, where he honed his expertise in fund accounting, valuation, and Trading Ops principles. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from Stetson University, along with an MBA in Finance from Rollins College. Based in Palm Beach, Alex continues to bring strategic partnerships and eager investor groups that align with the Gray Cardinal's mission.

Advisory Board

  • Homeland Security Advisor

    Admiral Steve Abbot retired as a four star Admiral after 34 years in the US Navy. Abbot began his career as a Naval Aviator after graduating from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, and naval nuclear power training. A Rhodes Scholar and Vietnam Veteran, Admiral Abbot later Commanded the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), and the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group while assigned as Commander, Carrier Group Eight during the Gulf War. From 1996-2000, Abbot served as Commander of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and Deputy Commander in Chief, US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. In his last military assignment, Abbot oversaw the daily activities of a Unified Command with an area of responsibility encompassing 89 countries and more than 13 million square miles. In the aftermath of the 9/11 Attacks, Abbot was the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor under Governor Tom Ridge, and later Acting Homeland Security Advisor until June 2003. Today, he is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a private, non-profit aid society dedicated to assisting Sailors, Marines and their families.

  • 77th Secretary of the Navy

    The Honorable Kenneth J. Braithwaite was sworn in as Secretary of the Navy on 29 May 2020. He had previously served as the 31st U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway. Secretary Braithwaite is the first former U.S. Navy flag officer to serve as Secretary of the Navy.

    Secretary Braithwaite graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in naval engineering and political science. In 1995, he earned a master’s degree in government administration, graduating with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, Fels School of Government.

    Secretary Braithwaite designated as a naval aviator in April 1986. His first operational assignment was to Patrol Squadron (VP) 17, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, from where he flew anti-submarine missions tracking adversary submarines throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions

    Braithwaite’s active duty service ended in 1993, but he immediately joined the Navy Reserve.[6] From 1993 until 2002, he served in different roles with numerous commands, including the 6th Fleet, 7th Fleet, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Commander Carrier Group Two.

  • Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

    General Wesley Clark retired as a four star general after 38 years in the United States Army, having served in his last assignments as Commander of US Southern Command and then as Commander of US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. In 1966, he graduated first in his class at West Point and completed degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University (B.A. and M.A.) as a Rhodes Scholar. While serving in Vietnam, he commanded an infantry company in combat, where he was severely wounded and evacuated home on a stretcher. He helped write and negotiate significant portions of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement and was the principal author of both the US National Military Strategy and Joint Vision 2010, prescribing US warfighting for full-spectrum dominance. In his final assignment as Supreme Allied Commander Europe he led NATO forces to victory in Operation Allied Force, a 78-day air campaign, backed by ground invasion planning and a diplomatic process, saving 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing. General Clark is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors and commendations. General Clark is also the Founding Chair of City Year Little Rock/North Little Rock. a Senior Fellow at UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations, and Director of the Atlantic Council.

  • Medal of Honor recipient

    French-American soldier, retired United States Army officer and civilian employee of the United States Department of Defense. Born in France to an American father and Algerian mother, he became a naturalized United States citizen in 2001  He served in the War in Afghanistan where, in 2012, he was severely injured attempting to thwart a suicide bomber. On November 12, 2015, Groberg received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

    Groberg served as a PSD commander for Task Force Mountain Warrior — responsible for the safety of 28 coalition and Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel, including several principals: two brigade commanders, three battalion commanders, the brigade command sergeant major, a battalion command sergeant major and an ANA battalion commander. 

     Groberg rushed a terrorist, with a suicide vest shoved him away from the patrol.[9] Groberg, aided by fellow soldier Sgt. Andrew Mahoney, grabbed the suicide bomber and physically dragged him away from the formation.

    For his actions, Groberg received the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor in the United States. Groberg is the 19th recipient of the Medal of Honor after the Vietnam War, the first foreign-born recipient since the Vietnam War and the 10th living recipient. President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Groberg on November 12, 2015.

  • Navy Seal Foundation

    Before retiring as a career Naval Special Warfare (NSW) SEAL officer in December 2016, Vice Admiral (RET.) Pybus served multiple Joint Special Operations duty assignments in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia and later command tours in Panama, Germany and Bahrain, as well as duty as Commodore, NSW Group One, San Diego. After duty as Commodore, NSW Group One, he went on to command Special Operations in the Pacific; the NSW community; and NATO’s Special Operations Forces. Today, he is president of The Pybus Group of Odessa, FL.  In that role, he consults and advises defense and security sector organizations, providing strategic recommendations and business development steerage to C-Suite leaders.

    Pybus attended the University of Rochester where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1979.  He earned a regular Navy commission through NROTC and graduated Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in December 1979, with Class 105.  Decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (one award), Distinguished Service Medal (one award), Defense Superior Service Medal (three awards), Legion of Merit (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), and various other awards.   He is also a 1998 Distinguished Graduate of the Naval War College with a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies.

  • Commanding General, First United States Army

    Lt. Gen. Twitty is a 1985 distinguished military graduate from South Carolina State University.

    Lt. Gen. Twitty commanded 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, including during Operation Iraqi Freedom, where his battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. He served as operations officer (G-3) for 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart. At Fort Bliss, Texas, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he commanded 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, which was later reflagged as 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. He served as the Executive Officer to the Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Northern Command and as the Chief of Staff, United States Army Central, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Kuwait. He served as Deputy Commanding General (Operations) for the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, and then as Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Communications, International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom. He then served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From August 2014 to June 2016, he commanded 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss.