Cathy Powell Awarded for Excellence in Executive Search

London, November 7, 2023 – Today at their annual AESC Global Conference in London, the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) honored Cathy Powell, Partner at Heidrick & Struggles with the AESC Award of Excellence for her impact on the profession. 

Karen Greenbaum, AESC President & CEO, commented: “Cathy has led the way on a full range of people and organizational challenges - first at Co Company and then at Heidrick Consulting after they acquired Co. Her leadership is recognized internally and by her clients and has elevated our profession. We are proud to recognize her with the AESC Award of Excellence.” 

Cathy is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles' London office and a member of Heidrick Consulting. She has more than 20 years of experience helping senior leaders align their workforce to deliver company strategy. Working internationally with leading brands in multiple sectors, Cathy’s experience spans the full range of people and organization challenges, including performance transformation, behavioral change, top-team development and coaching, organization design, talent management and capability building. 

“Cathy has been a role model in the industry, helping improve search and leadership advisory in new and better ways,” said Dustin Seale, Regional Managing Partner at Heidrick Consulting. “Cathy’s total commitment to client and candidate success, beyond the placement, is second to none.” 

At Heidrick & Struggles, Cathy plays a pivotal role in driving the firm’s ‘One Heidrick’ strategy, which supports a combined search, on-demand talent and consulting offering across the firm. She has built the foundational IP, which underpins the firm’s go-to-market approach. She also invests time in mentoring and building the capabilities of the firm’s teams worldwide. 

“Cathy has always embodied our ‘One Heidrick’ mentality,” said TA Mitchell, Leadership Practice Director at Heidrick Consulting. “This cuts across all team members at all levels. She has been a true supporter of growing our talent internally both for clients and for H&S.” 

In Europe, Cathy has helped build out Heidrick & Struggles’ Corporate Officers practice by creating tailored consulting offerings to augment and de-risk search placements. Two of these services include the Accelerating Time to Value program, which is an onboarding approach for newly hired executives, and the First-Time CPO community, which brings together HR professionals who are new to the C-suite.  

“Cathy is the epitome of a best-in-class leader in our sector,” said Susie Clements, Regional Managing Partner, Corporate Officer Practice at Heidrick & Struggles. “She is selfless; 1000% client-focused; generous with her time and her knowledge and incredibly responsive. The value that she adds to our clients and candidates is not always visible in revenues but is immeasurable in the value and depth of service and relationships that it spawns. She is one in a million.” 

Cathy is a trained executive coach through the Academy of Executive Coaching Advanced Coaching Program, an NLP practitioner, and is registered to use a wide variety of psychometric instruments. 

Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Cathy headed leadership development in the retail sector, led the people and organization elements of large-scale change programs for an airports group and was Head of Organization Development and HR director for Northern Rock and Barclays Bank in the UK. She also held a position as a Director at Co Company, an organizational development consulting firm acquired by Heidrick & Struggles in 2015. Cathy has a master’s degree in Organizational Learning and Development. 

About the AESC Award of Excellence   

The AESC Award of Excellence honors individuals at the height of their careers who have made significant, outstanding contributions to the executive search and leadership consulting profession. Since 2000, this award has been given to recipients who promote AESC’s commitment to the highest professional standards through its Code of Professional Practice at their firm and within the profession.    

About the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants      

Since 1959, AESC has set the quality standard for the executive search and leadership consulting profession. AESC Members represent 16,000+ trusted professionals in 1,200+ offices, spanning 70+ countries. AESC Members are recognized experts providing consulting services in the areas of leaders, teams and culture to the world’s leading organizations. They leverage their access and expertise to place more than 100,000 executives each year in board of directors and C-level positions across industry sectors. Dedicated to strengthening leadership together, AESC and its members share a deep commitment to the highest quality standards in executive search and leadership consulting—for the benefit of clients and the profession. We Shape. Connect. Educate. Innovate. Learn more about us at aesc.org. For AESC’s career service connecting executive-level candidates to the world’s leading executive search firms, visit bluesteps.com.