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A5 Partners

About A5

Advisors who became owners. Owners who still advise.

A5 Partners brings together two things we do well: helping organizations solve hard problems, and owning businesses for the long term.

Jourdan Sutton, Managing Partner of A5 Partners

Managing Partner

Jourdan Sutton

I’m Jourdan Sutton. I help business and mission-driven leaders turn their hardest strategic and operational problems into measurable results. I’ve redesigned business models that saved education companies more than $550 million and helped design multi-billion-dollar public programs that connect minority entrepreneurs and under-resourced communities to capital. More recently, I built go-to-market and AI-powered operating systems that unlocked billions of dollars in new revenue and equipped thousands of sellers globally serving businesses of every size.

I’ve also spent my career backing minority, women, differently-abled and veteran entrepreneurs as an advisor, angel investor and co-owner. The small businesses I’ve advised have grown revenue about 25% a year on average, and I’ve helped launch a $40 million impact fund for minority-owned businesses. Watching strong small businesses close without a successor is what moved me from advising owners to becoming one. Through A5, I’ve acquired and now operate three Los Angeles service businesses, growing their combined revenue 12% year over year.

Before A5, I was a Senior Director in EY-Parthenon’s education and social impact practice, leading more than 60 engagements, and held senior roles at Citigroup and Deloitte. I hold a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from DePauw University and an MBA and M.Ed. from the University of Michigan.

Our team

The people behind the work

Sherley Lopez Estrada, Marketing Manager at A5 Partners
Marketing Manager

Sherley Lopez Estrada

Sherley leads marketing for A5 and its portfolio companies. A 2024 graduate of Middlebury College, she spent four years with the Middlebury Consulting Group on five client projects, including two with A5, a local wax bar and Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports. That work grounded her in market research, competitive analysis and sales strategy, which she now uses to help our businesses reach and keep more customers. She brings a deep commitment to community and to service businesses that put their people first.

AS
General Manager, Laundry Operations

Adam Sutton

Adam runs day-to-day operations across our three Los Angeles laundry businesses: Suds City LA, The Leimert Laundry Co. and Crenshaw Laundry.

Our story

One firm, two ways to build

A5 began as a growth strategy and operational transformation consultancy, bringing unconventional but pragmatic solutions to education, nonprofit, small business and social enterprise clients. We believe true community impact happens through education and entrepreneurship.

That work kept showing us how much value disappears when a local business closes because its owner has no successor. So we started buying and running those businesses ourselves, using the same playbook we bring to clients.

Today A5 is an advisory and holding company. We advise leaders who are building something that matters, and we become the long-term owner of businesses whose owners are ready for their next chapter.

How we advise
What we acquire

Our values

Five principles guide everything we do

They shape how we advise, which businesses we buy and how we treat the people inside them. Our values page shows what each one looks like in practice, and the commitments we make to everyone we work with.

See our values

The A5 method

Our name is our plan

  1. A

    Assess

    Diagnose strengths, gaps and opportunities.

  2. A

    Advise

    Guide leaders with customized, data-driven strategy.

  3. A

    Align

    Bring stakeholders around a shared vision and plan.

  4. A

    Adapt

    Adjust course with clients as results come in, and take long-term ownership of businesses whose owners are ready to step back.

  5. A

    Accelerate

    Drive revenue growth and community impact.

Get in touch

Let’s build something enduring

Whether you need an advisor or you’re planning your succession, a conversation costs nothing.

Prefer a longer conversation? Visit our contact page.

We reply within two business days.