AESC Boutique and Independent Firm Forum

Martha is Chief Marketing Officer at AESC. She is responsible for leading the marketing and communications team in support of AESC’s strategic objectives. With the team, Martha delivers thought leadership, digital campaigns and targeted outreach to members, clients and candidates to elevate and inform the profession of executive search and leadership consulting and differentiate AESC members by their professional standards and commitment to excellence.

For 25 years Martha has led strategic communications efforts, built targeted marketing campaigns, captured the voice and elevated the brand of a range of organizations in the non-profit, international, technology and professional services sectors. Martha leads with energy and integrity to meet her clients’ mission-critical business goals. Martha received her Bachelor of Arts from St. Lawrence University in New York and her Master of Arts in Public Communication from American University in Washington D.C.

David Butter is an experienced international client relationship, leadership and business development professional, both as practitioner and facilitator/coach and as an IAF-Certified Professional Facilitator.

He delivers client relationship programs for leading professional service and B2B organizations around the world, including for AESC and several AESC members, and as Professor-in-Residence for the AESC / Cornell program.

David started as a brand manager with Unilever and GSK before moving into client management and business development with Y&R, part of WPP where he lived and worked in Frankfurt, Berne, Paris, Madrid, Melbourne, London and New York. He led many successful bids and tenders and managed many international relationships, including American Express, Chevron, Danone, Eurotunnel, Ford, Kraft, Star Alliance and Xerox. As Global Marketing Director in New York he set up the firm’s first global key client program.

He subsequently co-founded London-based management consultancy, Group Partners, facilitating strategic planning workshops, conferences and forums and was a founder member of the MAC Partnership (Managers, Academics and Consultants) delivering client co-creation programs. He also collaborated with Professor George Yip of LBS to create a global B2B client forum.

Over the past ten years he has delivered programs for Accenture, BBC, Capgemini, Cognizant, Credit Agricole, Danone, EY, HP, Laing O’Rourke, Lloyds Bank, Lufthansa, LSG SkyChefs, Microsoft, Nokia, P&G, Star Alliance, Royal Navy, Unilever, WPP and AESC /AESC members – working in English, French, German and Spanish.

His pro-bono include work includes mentoring CEOs; Chairing a board committee of The Courtauld Institute, part of London University; Speaking for Speakers for Schools and Chair of Speakers Trust; and as Deputy Chair of Shakespeare’s Globe.

David has a BA Honours in Business Studies from London’s City University and is an IAF-Certified Professional Facilitator and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is based in Notting Hill in London.

Bob has over 30 years of domestic and international leadership experience in the executive search industry. Currently he is Chair of RLBenson & Associates and Founder of Canaan Ridge.

During his nearly 20-year tenure at Spencer Stuart, Bob progressed through a series of increasingly responsible management roles, including Managing Director of the New York office, the Northeast and Eastern Regions. He moved to Europe as Executive Vice President International to lead a number of multinational marketing initiatives, while also functioning as Co-Leader of the Global Industrial Practice.

While in Europe, Bob established Spencer Stuart’s Transatlantic Practice and led offices in Belgium, Germany, Austria, and several Eastern European countries. During this time, he served on the firm’s Management Committee and Board of Directors and as Chairperson of the Partner Finance Committee.

After leaving Spencer Stuart, Bob served as Chairman of Boardroom Consultants and Slayton Search Partners, where he led the firm’s successful transformation from a highly manufacturing-focused, Midwestern U.S. search firm into a multi-disciplinary firm with national scope.

Today his firms offer consulting and professional development services specifically designed for small- to mid-sized executive search firms. He has built a reputation for helping firms clarify their strategy and brands, while improving their operational effectiveness leading to faster growth and improved profitability.

Bob has been recognized by Business Week as one of ''The World’s 50 Most Influential Headhunters” and was featured in Nancy Garrison-Jenn’s book, The Global 200 Executive Recruiters.