Ahana Maken, Senior Vice President, was recognized by The Wall Street Journal on their annual Pro Private Equity 2025 Women to Watch list as a Rising Star Dealmaker.
Ahana Maken grew up in New Delhi and moved to New York when she was 18 to study economics and math at Columbia University. She said she considered a career in academics before realizing that she was more attracted to "the application of business principles to real-world problems.”
Maken initially worked as an investment banking analyst at the mergers-and-acquisitions group of JPMorgan Chase, but the job didn’t totally fulfill her aspirations. She wanted to have a deeper, longer-term commitment to the businesses she worked with. She found that at growth-oriented Providence Equity Partners, which she joined in 2019.
The WSJ Pro Private Equity 2025 Women to Watch list Rising Star Dealmaker (awarded on January 20, 2026). The WSJ Pro Private Equity 2025 Women to Watch list Rising Star Dealmaker recognition is awarded by WSJ Pro, an independent, third party that is not affiliated with Providence. According to WSJ Pro, nominees applied and were independently assessed based on their written responses to questions on WSJ Pro’s nomination form and other information they provided, including achievements, firm-wide initiatives, or contributions to the overall industry. WSJ also took into consideration additional independent research. The number of nominees reviewed for this recognition was not disclosed to Providence, and therefore, it and the percentage of nominees receiving the recognition, cannot be disclosed herein. WSJ Pro’s recognition is not indicative of Providence’s future performance and was not based on the evaluations of clients or investors of Providence. Providence applied to receive the award with assistance from FGS Global Inc. Providence did not pay a fee to distribute the WSJ Pro Private Equity 2025 Women to Watch list Rising Star Dealmaker recognition and results. Nominees were not required to be members of WSJ Pro to be considered.
