James Castro was named one of the 2016 winners of its Emerging Leaders Awards by M&A Advisor. Castro was recognized for his transformation from outside M&A advisor to in-house leader of strategy and corporate development at Access Integrated Healthcare (AIH).

Castro joined AIH, a specialized healthcare technology company, in 2014 as EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development. With more than 17 years of diversified financial experience in investment banking and private equity, he was instrumental in its successful turnaround within a narrow two-year window. Castro was previously a director at Greif & Co. and a senior financial analyst at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin.

“James joined AIH at a pivotal time as we were simultaneously professionalizing the company, developing a long-term business strategy to create sustainable enterprise value and securing growth capital from the private equity community. His creativity combined with extensive corporate finance experience has contributed to our success in securing $60 million over the past 12 months to accelerate our exciting growth plan,” said Manel Sweetmore, CEO of AIH.

Castro will be honored on Friday, June 10 at an Awards Gala at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. The M&A Advisor created this event to promote mentorship and professional development amongst the emerging business leaders.