Meet the Dakota Team

Dan has been with Dakota since 2008 and serves as President, overseeing day-to-day operations, product development, and sales strategy for all partner engagements. Beyond leadership, Dan remains an active member of the investment sales team, maintaining direct relationships with institutional consultants, independent broker-dealers, banks, and RIAs. He brings deep experience in both capital raising and compliance, having managed the firm's regulatory infrastructure alongside its commercial growth. Dan brings the operational rigor that keeps The Dakota Way functioning at scale — building systems, setting standards, and holding the team accountable to the process every day.

Jerry Kling brings decades of the highest-level institutional investment experience to Dakota. He is the Co-Founder and former Managing Director of CBRE Clarion Real Assets Securities, one of the leading real asset securities investment management firms in the world, where he served as a Principal and member of the Management Committee. Jerry's career spans investment banking in New York in the 1980s through senior leadership at one of the most prominent institutional investment firms in the country. As Vice Chairman, Jerry brings strategic guidance, institutional relationships, and industry gravitas that serves as a significant asset for Dakota's most senior partner engagements.

Tracy Rogers serves as Chief Administrative Officer, overseeing the organizational and human capital infrastructure that allows Dakota's sales team to operate at full capacity. With a background spanning financial services, healthcare operations, and human resources leadership, Tracy brings a rare combination of operational depth and people-first leadership. She has served in SVP and Chief Integration Officer roles at major health systems and in senior HR leadership at leading organizations, giving her the institutional experience to build and sustain the kind of high-performance culture Dakota is known for. Tracy is an essential force behind Dakota's team stability, career development philosophy, and operational excellence.

Tim Brown serves as Dakota's Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the firm's financial operations, reporting, and strategic financial planning across both the investment sales and marketplace businesses. As Dakota has grown from a boutique fundraising firm into a multi-product data and services platform, Tim has been a steady hand ensuring the financial infrastructure keeps pace with the firm's ambitions. His role touches every dimension of Dakota's business — from managing partner economics and compliance cost structures to supporting the capital allocation decisions that allow the firm to invest in its technology, data, and team.

Catherine Begier rose through Dakota from Marketing Associate to Manager to Chief Marketing Officer — a trajectory that reflects both her talent and the depth of institutional knowledge she has built along the way. As CMO, Catherine leads all marketing and communications strategy for Dakota, including brand development, content creation, digital presence, and investor-facing marketing programs for partner managers. She is responsible for translating The Dakota Way into compelling brand communication — ensuring that Dakota's unique positioning, philosophy, and capabilities reach the right audiences in the right voice. Catherine brings creativity, marketing discipline, and a deep understanding of the investment management world to everything she produces.

Tim Mitchell leads Dakota's technology infrastructure as Senior Director of Technology, overseeing the systems and platforms that power both the investment sales operation and the Dakota Marketplace data platform. As Dakota has evolved from a third-party marketing firm into a data and intelligence company, Tim's role has expanded significantly — encompassing CRM architecture, data pipeline management, AI integration (including the Claude-powered intelligence layer), and the technology backbone that supports 16+ team members and thousands of external platform users. Tim's work ensures that Dakota's technology is not just functional but a genuine competitive advantage.