Capitol Meridian Partners taps McKinsey, Booz Allen alum Maisha Glover as new operating partner

By Drew Hansen – Assistant Managing Editor, Washington Business Journal
July 31, 2026

• Capitol Meridian Partners recently closed a $1.9 billion fund.
  
• Maisha Glover joins the firm as operating partner to assess opportunities and strengthen portfolio companies.
  
• The firm plans to deploy about 10 checks ranging from $50 million to $400 million.

D.C. private equity firm Capitol Meridian Partners has brought on Maisha Glover, a longtime government technology and national security exec, as a new operating partner.

In her new role with Capitol Meridian, Glover will assess investment opportunities, partner with portfolio companies to strengthen their performance and serve on their boards.

The firm recently closed a $1.9 billion fund it will use to back companies working in national security, defense and commercial aviation.

“This is not a sector where you go and hire [former General Electric CEO] Jack Welch and drop him in to figure it out,” Founding Partner Brooke Coburn told me. “This is a totally different animal. And Maisha has had success as an operator and is a true specialist. So, that fits really well with what we’re doing.”

Glover was most recently a partner at McKinsey & Co., where she advised U.S. defense and national security organizations. She previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton as an executive vice president leading the space and military intelligence business. She has also formerly held executive roles at Engility and Leidos.

In her role with McKinsey, Glover said she engaged “on a daily basis” with Defense Department officials about their needs and “what keeps them up at night.” That helped inform where there might be gaps in technology and other contracting opportunities.

“[Secretary Pete Hegseth] is looking for capabilities ahead of what the mission threat is,” Glover told me. “And that means we have to go quicker and faster and scale and take some risk. And that’s what I do. That is what I enjoy doing.”

Coburn said Capitol Meridian is seeking companies that have not worked with professional investors before. Of the 10 investments with the firm’s first fund, it was the first institutional investor in eight of those companies. Those are typically founder-owned businesses led by entrepreneurs who have successfully built a company to a certain level but — there’s some unrealized potential, he said.

And that’s where Glover comes in, bringing in expertise to help get the portfolio companies the technology, insights and governance to scale. She said she sees Capitol Meridian Partners closing its second fund as a “building moment.”

“You have clients that are knocking on the door restless right now, lots of mandates and pressures, a lot of geopolitical things on threats coming from all types of places,” she said. “You need a group of leaders that are passionate, committed and with the capital to build and scale the technology that you need today and tomorrow.”

Capitol Meridian plans to hand out 10 checks from the new fund that will range between $50 million and $400 million. A share of that will likely go to companies based in Greater Washington. It recently struck a deal to take a stake in RH Aero Systems, an Ohio-based provider of aviation support equipment and services. That will be Capitol Meridian’s last investment from its first fund.

Coburn and Adam Palmer launched Capitol Meridian in 2021 following stints at D.C. investment firm The Carlyle Group Inc.

Glover is Capitol Meridian’s ninth operating partner. Other members of the group include Ryan McCarthy, Tiffanny Gates, Raanan Horowitz and Dennis Liberson.