Diversity Leadership Councils

Maureen Alphonse-Charles

As the Managing Director and SVP, Talent, Diversity, and Equity, Maureen Alphonse-Charles provides vision, leadership, and coordination for Diversified Search Group’s efforts to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across all aspects of the organization’s work. A pioneer in DEI work, she has more than 20 years of experience leading complex executive search, consulting, finance, development, and operations efforts for a variety of institutions. Alphonse-Charles views her role as that of someone who helps organizations find cohesion around a common set of goals by serving as a mentor, coach, and facilitator.

Werner Boel

Werner Boel (he/him), senior partner, brings over two decades of experience in international law, health law, business venture consulting and leadership recruitment to his executive search practice at WittKieffer. Werner serves as the firm’s Legal and Compliance Practice leader. His dynamic multicultural background and broad global experience provides clients with unmatched expertise, particularly in recruiting health and education general counsel, senior legal officers, chief compliance officers, chief risk officers, law school deans and leaders of aligned professional societies and associations.

Werner’s practice has special emphasis on recruiting top executives to build the scope and influence of in-house legal departments on behalf of healthcare, higher education and not-for-profit organizations. Werner assists clients in evaluating the new breed of senior legal executives who play a lead role in developing emerging business models, assessing and managing risk, shaping public policy and building stronger government and legislative relations. In addition, Werner is the co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Council and is also a member of the AESC Diversity Leadership Council.

Prior to joining WittKieffer, he worked as an International Legal Coordinator for Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP providing immigration advice to Fortune 500 clients. He also worked closely with Belgian and U.S.-based companies promoting overseas business ventures in Belgium and Europe as the Executive Director of The Belgian American Chamber of Commerce in the United States, Inc. Earlier in his career, Werner served as principal of a management recruiting and consulting firm, catering to both domestic and international clients.

Werner was born and raised in Belgium, where he obtained most of his formal legal education and training. He is fluent in English, Dutch and French, and conversational in German and Italian.

Sharnette Donacien

Sharnette is a Partner at Barrington Hibbert Associates and sits with the Global Leadership and Diversity Practice based in New York City. Her focus is on working with corporate organizations to attract, nurture, promote and retain diverse, and under-represented talent through bespoke coaching, leadership & development programmes and embedding DEI through cultural evolution.

Sharnette graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA Hons Degree in Historical Studies. Upon graduation, she began her career as a senior associate in business restructuring services at BDO Stoy Hayward where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Sharnette continued her career within the Strategy & Transformation department at Deloitte based in London, where she qualified as an Insolvency Practitioner. After a decade within practice, Sharnette pivoted to advisory to further her passion for driving social, cultural & economic change within the financial and professional services industry.

She joined BHA in 2021 as a Principle Consultant within the Diversity Practise based in Europe, where she was responsible for delivering executive coaching and diversity advisory engagements for financial and professional services clients.

Prior to BHA, Sharnette worked with a leading graduate recruitment diversity firm, where she was responsible for candidate selection, student mentoring, training and development programmes for investment banking and consulting roles.

Sharnette also provides executing coaching to high performing and diverse talent to support their career goals and aspirations, to further drive leadership and structural changes.

Sharnette is also a published children’s picture book author.

Janice Ellig

As the head of the Ellig Group, Janice is dedicated to increasing the placement of women and diverse candidates on corporate boards and in C-suites by 2025. Janice joined the legacy firm in 2000 and became Co-Chief Executive Officer in its transition to Chadick Ellig in 2007; she assumed sole ownership of the company as the Ellig Group in 2017 with a new focus on Reimagining Search. Prior to her career in executive search, Janice spent 20 years in corporate America at Pfizer, Citi and Ambac Financial Group, an IPO from Citibank, where she was responsible for Marketing, Human Resources, and Administration.

Heralded by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of “The World’s Most Influential Headhunters,” Janice is often consulted for her expertise and her commitment to gender parity, inclusion, and diversity. She frequently appears at speaking engagements and as a media guest, and she has penned multiple articles for outlets such as Directors & Boards, Directorship, Corporate Director, The Huffington Post, and Forbes.com. Janice also co-authored two books: Driving The Career Highway and What Every Successful Woman Knows, acknowledged by Bloomberg Businessweek as “the best of its genre.”

A tirelessly active member of the industry and champion of her causes, Janice is Founder of the Women’s Forum of New York’s Corporate Board Initiative and its signature event, Breakfast of Corporate Champions. Since 2011, Janice continues to spearhead this event to honor companies committed to board diversity and to encourage CEOs to sponsor board-ready women for the Women’s Forum database.

Janice is personally committed to several NFP organizations: Board Director of the National YMCA and Past Chair of the YMCA Board of Greater New York; Trustee of the Actors Fund and Committee For Economic Development (CED); Incoming Chair, University of Iowa Foundation; Women’s Forum of New York Past President and Chair of the Corporate Board Initiative; member of the Steering Committee, US 30% Club and The Economic Club of New York.

In recognition for her many philanthropic activities, Janice received the University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011 and the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) Eleanor Raynolds Award for Volunteerism in 2008. Named one of the “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s eNews, she was also a recipient of the Channel 21 Award In Excellence for her contribution to “Excellence in the Economic Development for Women.”

Heather Phelps

Heather Phelps is the Managing Partner of Phelps Executive Search and Leadership Development, overseeing human capital initiatives nationwide. With a focus on strategic recruitment and leadership development, she works closely with clients to align their goals and objectives. Heather's rigorous process and successful strategies make her a trusted advisor to C-Suite executives and senior leaders. She emphasizes diversity, inclusion, and confidentiality in her innovative recruitment approaches.

Yen Ling Shek

Based jointly in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Yen Ling partners with clients across industries to build forward-thinking, inclusive, and effective executive teams. She has a particular focus on assessing, developing, and advising organizations undergoing transformational change.

At Russell Reynolds Associates, her recent work includes organizational and leadership assessments, experiential leadership training, equitable search advisory, and CEO succession planning. Yen Ling also has over 20 years of diversity, equity, and inclusion professional experience.

She joined Russell Reynolds Associates from UCLA, where she was a residential life assistant director of research and adjunct faculty at California Lutheran University in the counselor education program. Previously, she worked at the Talent Advisory Board as a senior analytics and training consultant supporting DE&I efforts. She began her career in community programming and leadership development at the Greenfield Intercultural Center and Pan-Asian American Community House at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bill Stratton

Bill Stratton is a Managing Director at the Washington, D.C. office of Stanton Chase and represents the firm on the AESC’s North America Diversity Council. Bill brings more than two decades of executive search experience to Stanton Chase. His knowledge and experience include consumer products and services, healthcare, industrial, and diversity.

Prior to joining Stanton Chase, Bill was Partner at a boutique executive search firm based in Chicago and led numerous search engagements and diversity initiatives for large multinational companies. He also led the firm’s international engagements supporting clients in the United Kingdom, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Bill holds a BS in industrial organizational psychology from the University of Illinois Champaign – Urbana. He also serves as a facilitator for McKinsey Connected Leadership Academy.

Ryna Young

Strategic and relationship-focused, with a passion for organizational change, Ryna is a leading force in Executive Search dedicated to delivering integrated talent solutions to her clients. As Regional Head, Executive Search and DEI Co-Lead based in Toronto, Ontario, Ryna plays a key leadership role in driving the firm’s expertise in executive search, coaching, and DEI strategy. With close to 25 years of experience, she has a proven track record of supporting leaders across a range of functions spanning the c-suite, boards, operations, human resources, IT, sales, finance, and accounting in both public and private sectors. Ryna's forte is cultivating robust relationships and earning trust, which underpins her sustained success. Having lived on four continents, Ryna brings a truly global approach to her work.

In addition to leading executive search work, Ryna collaborates with our DEI Co-Lead to continue to support clients with their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, through equitable practices, informed counsel, and proven approaches. A dynamic speaker and skilled facilitator, Ryna is regularly called upon to address a variety of topics related to her extensive experience in executive search, talent development and her unique DEI lens.

Ryna is a proud community member, volunteering as a member of the AESC North American Diversity Leadership Council and actively contributes to her community through volunteering at Foodbank Oakville, Kerr Street Mission, and Scott Mission.

Cecilia Besa

Bachelor’s Degree of Business Administration from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Her early career began in commercial and marketing areas in the financial and industrial sector, both in Chile and Brazil. Since 1999 she is working in human resources consulting, compensation studies, primarily relating to the executive role. In 2005, starts getting involved in executive search services and opinion studies. Cecilia is the Founding Partner of TestaNova, focusing on customers´ needs throughout an integral service and shared business vision. Extensive expertise across a variety of sectors and industries, mainly in strategic consulting, goods industry, retail, financial sector, telecommunications, among diverse functional areas within companies.

Ornella Bono

Ornella Bono is the co-founder of Humanitas/ Cornerstone Santiago and has been a partner since 2002. She is deeply experienced in CEO and C-Suite searches for industrial sectors, such as construction and real-estate, among others. In the public sector, she oversees civil service processes (Top Public Management) and other State-owned companies. Her other areas of expertise include compensation studies, strategic advisory to companies and boards and environmental issues.

Pilar Brogeras

Pilar Brogeras is a Managing Director for the Stanton Chase Mexico City office and Regional Vice President for Latin America for Stanton Chase International. Her enthusiasm and passion for all that she does distinguish her in this business. Her clarity, determination, and customer focus help her in generating results that ensure clients always find the most qualified talent available on the market. Throughout her career as a consultant, she has collaborated directly in different sectors, in particular pharmaceutical, financial services, and manufacturing. She has also led projects for general management, marketing, finance, manufacturing, and human resources, among others. In 2017, she received the “The Future of the Profession” Award from the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consulting. During her years at Stanton Chase, she has had a coordinating role for the development of Stanton Chase’s global strategy, innovating with the development of new internal processes, external and marketing materials. The results of this work have been recognized by the firm worldwide. Pilar has an MBA in senior management from Anahuac University (Mexico), an International Master’s in leadership from EADA Business School (Spain), and a degree in communication from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico). She is certified by Cornell University in Executive Search and Leadership Consulting and has a diploma in Human Resources from the UIA (Mexico). Pilar is a graduate of Santander W50: Preparing Our Women Board Members of Tomorrow program, which partners with UCLA Anderson Executive Education. Before starting her career in executive search, she worked at Cohn & Wolf and later at Accival, CitiBanamex Brokerage House, in strategic planning and marketing.

Thais Mariz

Since joining Heidrick & Struggles as an associate in 2006, Thaís continues to specialize in the agribusiness, pulp & paper, and chemicals sectors, recruiting CEOs and C-Suite executives in positions including supply chain, HR, finance, and sales. She started her professional career at Carrier, where she worked in marketing for the industrial and commercial refrigeration system segments. Thaís started her professional career as a marketing trainee for Springer Carrier, and after her experience servicing the company as a vendor, she was invited to rejoin the company. A native Portuguese and English speaker, she is also fluent in Spanish.

Anna Luiza M. Osser

Anna Luiza M. Osser, bachelor’s degree in business administration at FAAP (Brazil), and also in hotel services at the École Les Roches in Crans-Montana, in Switzerland, has an MBA in Human Resources from USP, is fluent in English and has excellent command of Spanish. Over the last few years she has studied and actively participated in forums and seminars regarding family organizations. She is qualified to apply the MBTI and Birkman instruments. She has seven years of experience in management consulting, working in companies like The Mac Group, Accenture and MoRoCo Consultores in Brazil and abroad. During three years she acted as an international Private Banking financial consultant at Merrill Lynch. Her Executive Search work started in 1997, and she spent the first four years at Spencer Stuart as a senior associate. In the fifteen years in which she has worked in the Executive Search area, she has conducted several executive search projects for CEO, CIO, CFO, board member, director and manager positions in different industries for national and multinational companies in Brazil and abroad.

Adriana Prates

With more than 25 years of experience in working with executives, Adriana has developed innovative methodologies that have helped people and organizations work out how to balance with integrity career, expectations, and values. She is recognized as a master of the art of identifying practical and applicable solutions to highly complex corporate challenges. Adriana is an AESC advisor on the board responsible for the Americas, whose head office is in New York. Adriana is also a member of the AESC Council of the Americas. She is a business psychologist, a postgraduate in People Management – HR Business from Fundação Getúlio Vargas; and she is a Councillor for Administration certified by IBGC – Instituto Brasileiro de Governança Corporativa (Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance). A pioneer in Brazil in executive coaching, she started in the 90s, receiving certification from renowned institutions in Brazil and the United States. She was trained by the respected American guru Lee Ellis, being the only LBDNA (Leadership Behavior DNA) licensed advisor in Brazil. Seen as one of the most influential Specialist in executive search in Brazil, Adriana has been referenced in important articles about corporate and executive life in the biggest media outlets in the country. Adriana has published many articles in the mainstream media of Brazil and the rest of the world. She is the co-author of three books, “Pontes do Psicodrama”; “Vivência – Uma Aprendizagem Efetiva” and “Aprender e Transformar”, all bestsellers. Since 2010, she has been a juror in the “Executivo de Valor” award, which is an event coordinated by the “Valor Econômico” newspaper, and is the main award for leadership in the national market.

Ximena Rodriguez

SommerGroup is a company specializing in Headhunting, Assessment and Consulting comprised of a specialized multidisciplinary team of professionals. Led by its partners: Rodolfo Sommer, Sebastián Pedraza, Ximena Rodríguez and José Tomás Guridi. With more than 25 years in the industry, SommerGroup has acquired the know-how that allows us to know the job market well, and to work together closely with our clients which enable us a deeper understanding of their unique needs and culture.

Mariana Villalva

Mariana has a degree and postgraduate degree in Business Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, certified in Coaching by ICI – Integrated Coaching Institute, accredited by ICF (International Coach Federation), in Assessment by Escola Integração and is also certified in PPA instruments (DISC) and TeiQue (Emotional Intelligence) from Thomas International and Hogan® Assessment tool. She began her career as a trainee at Grupo Abril, where she later worked as Marketing and Events Manager. She made her transition to the Executive Search area in 2008 in the Brazilian operation of one of the largest global companies in the sector. For eight years, Mariana worked in the Talent and Career Management area at an American multinational company that is a reference in such activities.

Mariana is also the founder and President of the “GARH” group, one of the largest and most influential groups of women HR executives in Brazil, whose main agenda is the discussion of strategic issues relevant to the area.

She is currently a Partner at EXEC, leader of the Leadership Advisory unit and Head of the EXEC Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Silvana Zenere

Based in Spencer Stuart's Buenos Aires office, Silvana Zenere leads the Human Resources Practice in Latin America. She is also a member of the Leadership Advisory Services Practice in LATAM where she advises clients and organizations to reach successful leadership capabilities with focus on culture transformation, coaching, onboarding and team effectiveness. Silvana has previously contributed to multiple executive searches for important multinational companies throughout Latin America, including major corporations in the consumer and healthcare sectors. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart in 2000, Silvana spent 8 years in HSBC Group working in the private bank field where she served as a senior advisor. Later, she executed roles in the Human Resources area for HSBC's banking, healthcare and insurance operations in Argentina. In 2018 she became a certified professional coach by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. Silvana graduated from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Michael Barrington Hibbert

When I was in my early 20s, I spent time in North Carolina after receiving a soccer scholarship to attend University. Being from a ‘nonprofessional background’ I struggled to make ends meet financially, until a local family in Chapel Hill took me in, mentored and supported me.

Upon graduation I was so grateful, I asked the family why they had supported me and how I could repay them back. The answer was surprising but simple - I couldn't pay it back - it was better for me to pay it forward instead.

When I started working in the City almost 20 years ago, I realised how few people with a similar background to mine were also there, and how those of us from non-professional, diverse backgrounds often felt like they did not fit in. When I founded BHA in 2010, I knew that I wanted it to be a call to action, and a means to both transform representation in Financial and Professional Services, whilst also making a positive social impact.

Today our clients range from international investment banks to FTSE 100 multinational organisations, while we also have a dedicated community arm. With every client, we take another step towards more equitable workplaces, while also meeting their wider business needs.

CJ Bedford

CJ is Chief People Office at Eton Bridge Partners and has a real focus on developing a high-performing inclusive culture to enable business growth. CJ is passionate about EDI, having been Head of D&I at Grant Thornton she chaired the Accountancy Apprenticeship standard, to drive social mobility within the sector. She has worked as a D&I Consultant for Pret A Manger, itsu and BrewDog.

Michaëla Berglund

Michaëla is CEO, co-founder and Senior Partner of Michael Berglund Executive Search.

Jennifer Borrer

Jennifer is the founder and Managing Partner at Borrer Executive Search. Committed to strengthening leadership through the positions we place, Jennifer’s vision was to build a firm where recruitment is focused on people and on managing each mandate with the highest degree of ethics, respect and transparency. Building upon a career within global organisations, Jennifer’s experience is in working across all sides of the talent acquisition triangle: within external firms, RPO consulting and in-house HR Leadership. Previously, she worked for Hays PLC, Hays RMS the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Consulting practice; publicly listed Intrawest Inc as Head of HR EMEA, and earlier in her career within financial services as an institutional equity broker. A native Montrealer, her experience spans five continents. She has been based in the UK, France, Switzerland and Australia and has recruited across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia for past 20 years where she has partnered global companies to attract, assess and integrate select talent. Jennifer leads the firm’s Global Operations Practice covering end-to-end supply chain and procurement across multiple industries with a focus on the Consumer Goods sector. Since 2009, she is also a recognized Career Strategist supporting global top ranked business schools, including IMD, with career design mentoring. Jennifer holds a Corporate Finance Degree from Concordia University and an HR Certificate from Cornell. She holds Canadian, Australian and Swiss nationalities and is fluent in English and French.

Oana Ciornei

Oana Ciornei is the Managing Partner of Amrop Romania and a Member of Amrops' Global Board. She is a trusted advisor in leadership and senior management appointments, board composition, strategic restructuring and talent acquisition programs. Oana is a core member of Amrop's global Digital Practice. Oana joined the organization in 2010 when her firm became Amrop in Romania. She oversees the strategic direction and operations of Amrop in Romania and serves as Senior Consultant for the following practices: Digital, Consumer and Industrial. She is a member of Amrop's global Digital Practice. She also led Amrop University, a global initiative designed to support broad professional development across the organization. Oana has a 14-year track record in executive search and has senior FMCG management experience. She assisted and advised leading companies on leadership and senior management appointments, strategic restructuring and talent acquisition programs. Her former career gives her real-life sensitivity to many aspects of the performance requirements of the role. Her expertise includes multi-cultural leadership, linking business strategy to individual and organizational objectives, talent management and international project management. She is a certified SHL assessor, MBTI practitioner and she completed several executive development programs at IMD Lausanne. Oana holds a Bachelor Degree in Computers Science from the West University of Timisoara, Romania.

Julius Cordell

Strategic HR leader with extensive global experience in driving true business impact through collaborative business partnering. A highly effective HR practitioner for transformational change, HR business alignment, and M&As. Extensive experience in highly matrixed organisations, private and public sector, and highly unionised workforces. Holder of a Master of Business Administration (specialising in HR), a Master of Psychology, and Chartered Fellow of CIPD.

Eleri Dodsworth

Eleri Dodsworth is a Partner at the London office of Stanton Chase. Eleri is a passionate advocate of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and she strongly believes in helping her clients build diverse leadership teams. She views diversity and inclusion as business imperatives that ultimately drive business performance. Eleri places C-suite leaders, divisional directors, and non-executive directors for FTSE-listed companies as well as private equity, family, and privately owned businesses She specializes within the industrial sector with a further functional focus on strategic HR and diversity leadership positions across all sectors. Eleri embarked on her career in global executive search and leadership consulting in 1999 by joining a boutique search firm where she spent three years before moving to an international FTSE 250 company. During the next eight years, she was responsible for managing a large, high-performing team before promotion to Associate Director within the executive search practice, where she specialized in appointing Chief Financial Officers. Eleri was subsequently approached to join the Odgers Berndtson Group LLP in 2010, where she respectively held the roles of Search Consultant and Head of Client Development for the next 10 years. During this time, she successfully project-managed a range of leadership appointments across multiple sectors and geographies and was responsible for conducting client audits and developing and maintaining key relationships within the firm. Eleri holds a B.A. degree in English Literature and Language from the University of Hull and is an experienced coach and mentor. She is a champion for female leadership and gender equality and is proud to be a member of UN Women, HeForShe, and the 30% Club. Eleri is an active supporter of race equality within employment, and she continues to work to raise awareness and understanding of neurodiversity within the workplace.

Jennifer Flock

Jennifer leads the DE&I capability in Europe at Russell Reynolds Associates and is based in Paris. She has more than two decades of experience enhancing performance, growth, and innovation in global Fortune 500 companies. She’s designed and led complex, large-scale transformation initiatives linked to globalization, demographic changes, future of work, sustainability, post-merger integration, shifting business models, and innovative technologies. Jennifer brings a global perspective, having worked with clients across numerous industries, including professional services, consumer, energy, transportation, health care, industrial, financial services, technology, and mining. Jennifer joined us from another leading search firm where she co-led their DE&I practice for four years. Earlier in her career, she served as an executive committee member of the global travel management division of TUI, responsible for transformation and strategic business planning. She started her career as a strategy consultant at Deloitte. Jennifer earned an MBA in finance from the Wharton School, an MA in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s degree from the Université de Paris III, and a BA from Oberlin College.

Volker Haber

Volker is a Member of the Board, Managing Director for the DACH region and has almost 30 years of Executive Search and Talent Advisory experience. He started his career at one of the biggest Search companies in Europe before establishing his own Executive Search organisation in 1995. Since then the majority of his clients come from IT, Internet, e-commerce and alike industries both from Blue Chips and start-up environments. The VC and Private Equity companies play another significant part of the client base. The majority of his business comes from repeat assignments thus he has long lasting partnerships with most of his clients. He covers through his long and extensive experience all areas from Hardware to Software and Services plus niche business in different other industries. Volker is an Attorney at Law / Lawyer and earned his legal degree from the university in Freiburg, specializing in both labour and contract law. He is married and lives since more than 20 years in the Munich area. He shares a true passion in sailing, traveling and reading.

Shami Iqbal

Based in London, Shami Iqbal leads the firm’s Legal, Compliance & Regulatory Practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A former lawyer with more than 15 years of search and assessment experience, Shami works with public and private companies across all sectors on the talent and leadership needs within their legal, compliance, corporate secretarial and government affairs functions. Shami is also a leading member of the Professional & IT Services Practice in the U.K. and works with a variety of legal and consulting firms to assist with their lateral partner and business management hiring needs. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Shami led the legal, compliance and government affairs practice at another global search firm, and also co-led its EMEA financial services infrastructure practice. Previously, he led the global legal and compliance practice at a boutique financial services firm in London. Before his career in executive search, Shami was a sports lawyer at a leading London law firm. Shami graduated with a law degree from King's College London and completed his studies at The College of Law. He is fluent in Urdu.

Laetitia Jerabek

Laetitia Jerabek hires financial services leaders for companies in the consumer payment, retail, SME financial services and FinTech industries. Based in London, Laetitia works with Plc, private equity and venture-backed businesses, including fast-growing challenger banks. She has worked with various retail banking organizations on the assessment and development of internal talent.

Laetitia has a superb track record of making successful hires for positions such as chief risk officers, chief operating officers and corporate affairs and marketing, as well as high-profile non-executive appointments. Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Laetitia worked for another global search firm, where she served as the EMEA market leader focused on executive search assignments in the consumer and commercial banking spaces. Earlier in her career, Laetitia worked in-house at TSB Bank, focusing on executive recruitment and talent planning. She also worked in international sales and marketing roles.

A strong advocate for diversity, Laetitia is also Global Co-President of the Russell Reynolds Women’s Inclusion Network.

Laetitia received her BA in modern history & international relations from Reading University.

Jaco Kriek

Jaco has more than 25 years’ financial, mining and executive experience. At the IDC, he was Executive Vice President – Projects and was responsible for Mining, Industrial, Oil & Gas, Infrastructure and Agricultural Projects and he led the IDC Finance team in the Mozal Aluminium Smelter near Maputo, Mozambique. Jaco worked at Standard Bank as Head – Mining & Metals Finance, Africa and he was the Standard Bank representative on the Phembani Board.

He was CEO and Executive Director of the Pebble Bed Modular Nuclear Reactor Company (PBMR) for 6 years and is still a 45% shareholder in Ennex Developments (Pty) Ltd, a Project Development Company, focussing on power, energy and water. Jaco is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and holds a B Com Hons, MCom, FCMA England & Wales and completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD, France.

He recently joined SPi as a Director.

Andreea Manta

Andreea has 20 years of experience in one of the Big Four companies, where she was an Audit Director and then Partner for more than 8 years. She has extensive experience in audits for global multinationals, project management, organizational structures, compliance and risk management, as well as client relationship management.

Currently, she is leading organizational development, restructuring and Executive Search projects for key relevant positions. Her areas of expertise include industries such as Automotive, Production, Food and Beverages, Chemical, Media and Entertainment, Financial and Professional services, Agriculture, and Oil & Gas.

Andreea is fluent in English.

Maja Meissner

Maja is the Founder and Managing Partner of Meissner&Partners Executive Search and Organizational Development, a member of ECI Group http://www.eci-group.net/ present in 15 countries. She specializes in Executive Search and Executive Coaching. She is also the founder and manager of BREAST CLINIC, an ex-member of the Curiculum Council of the A/typowi Foundation for Neurodiversity and a member the Board of Trustees of the Universal Reading Foundation. For years she has been involved and initiates actions that include women in various environments, recently she has been running a project of Woman Politician – Leaders. As an active investor, she acts as a Non-Executive Director of the US-based Smartschool. In the past, she co-founded medical companies that were later sold to larger entities. Previously she worked at leading international publishing houses, where she held the following positions: Chief Executive Officer, Marketing and PR Director and Sales Director. She was also responsible for pharmaceutical marketing at the American corporation. She used to conduct courses in the field of Public Relations within the framework of the Executive MBA program at the Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Science. She earned her degree from the faculty of management at the International School of Management FP in Warsaw. She was a participant of the ECES Program | US Congress – Marketing, Management & PR at the Georgetown University/University of Wisconsin. She completed the Corporate CoachU program and the Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC) Training Program, as well the ICF-accredited trainings run by Erickson College International. She is a certified user of the MPA® and EASI® Master Person Analysis – tools supporting the recruitment process and professional development of employees.

Susana Pérez de Vries

Susana Pérez de Vries is a Principal of the leadership consulting area. Her specialty is the design and implementation of international programmes. Susana has wide-ranging experience in projects with an international scope and multicultural teams, with a focus on the incorporation of cultural, generational and gender dimensions that ensure the adaptation of key collectives. She has designed and coordinated transformation projects with high organisational impact, such as talent evaluation and identification systems, development programmes for high potential employees, leadership models, process revisions, culture change management and the design of career plans. Her business experience and people development focus have led her to accompany executives in the definition of human resource policies as well as processes involving their own professional development. In the latter field she is an expert in the development of high performance teams and relationship skills, in addition to being an executive coach for individuals or teams.

Neha Rajdev

Provision of industry insight and market intelligence to support consultants in their understanding of client needs and the wider market. Global resource for analytical, data-driven intelligence to support strategic planning and business development initiatives. Joined Coulter Partners in 2016 after a fourteen-year tenure at international executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates. A sound understanding of, and experience in, the entire executive search process across several sectors including Technology, Life Sciences and Not-for-Profit. Neha holds a BA (Hons.) from University College London and a Postgraduate in International Business from the London School of Economics.

Nick Robeson

Nick Robeson is recognised as a leading figure in the executive search industry with a 20-year track record. He has built successful businesses in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. His reputation has been built on advising C-suite executives on how to identify top talent and get the very best out of their teams. Nick recruits high-calibre executives, board members and interim executives who add value and bring about transformation. His extensive network is built on long-term strategic partnerships.

Julia Scheffer

With a philosophy of “Have Passports, Will Travel”, Julia is an avid traveller and truly believes that her role at AltoPartners was designed especially for her! Julia is the Global Sales & Marketing Director for AltoPartners where she is the global brand custodian and communications/marketing lead for the alliance. With over a decade spent working across multiple communications disciplines and industries, Julia brings a wealth of strategic corporate insight and experience in stakeholder communications, media relations, brand communications, crisis communications, reputation management and digital communication strategies. Julia has worked on landmark South African M&A deals and has been involved in a number of corporate financial calendar activities, stock exchange listings, as well as positioning campaigns for leading blue chip listed companies. Julia has also worked on change management and internal communications campaigns within companies in the mining, financial services and government sectors. Honing her skills in integrated communications, Julia worked as a strategist in the media and television industry, with specific focus on clients in the retail, financial services and industrial sectors. Julia specifically chose to work in the television industry to add to her “storytelling” skills and appropriately tell a corporate story in a relevant and compelling way. Back in PR, Julia took up a senior position at well-known full-service PR agency with a mandate that included strategic counsel across the client base, new business development and the operational and strategic activities within the agency. Her tenure afforded her the opportunity to further develop her skills at brand communications and broaden the spectrum of her communications and management skills. Julia holds her MA in Corporate Communications.

Vidhu Sood-Nicholls

Vidhu Sood-Nicholls joined Saxton Bampfylde’s consulting team in September 2021 and brings an impressive track record of operating at senior level over the last 15 years across the non-profit and corporate sectors. Vidhu has most recently worked as Director of Fundraising at Teach First. Vidhu started her professional career as a teacher on the prestigious Leadership Development Programme with Teach First. Before that she held several roles in the corporate arm of Barclays Bank. She uses her cross-sector experience to find successful leaders in different contexts. Vidhu is passionate about addressing social inequalities and was attracted to Saxton Bampfylde because she is mildly obsessed with finding leaders who will accelerate the pace and impact of the organisations they lead. She served on the board of Teach First and is a trustee for Hopscotch Women’s Centre. Vidhu studied Law at Bristol University, before completing her MSc in International Development from the University of Bath.

Monika Stoiber

Based in Milan, Monika is active in Eric Salmon & Partners’ Industrial and Supply Chain practices, as well as in its Executive Assessment practices. Monika specializes in searches for clients in the Industrial sector, including manufacturing industries, energy and infrastructure, logistics, supply chain and operations roles in general. She has vast experience in C-level searches for international companies as well as medium-sized family businesses and private equity portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Eric Salmon & Partners, Monika worked for another Executive Search & Talent Consulting Firm for eight years. Monika started her career in strategic management consulting where she worked for two leading companies for 20 years with strong international exposure. She gained experience working across Europe, The Americas, Central Asia and North Africa. Austrian national graduated in Business Administration from the University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna. She has been living in Italy since 1999.

Susanne Thorning-Lund

Susanne Thorning-Lund is a senior member of our firm’s Chair & Board Practice, specialising in non-executive appointments as well as CEO searches in her areas of focus. Based in London, she has supported boards in the UK and internationally on board evolution and on the appointment of chairs and independent non-executive directors since 2003. Having advised FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 large corporations, ambitious start-ups, multi-generational family-businesses and private equity-based companies, across sectors and cultures, in the process, Susanne has gained particular expertise in guiding entrepreneurial and family-owned companies through sustainable board succession planning, on which she leads for Odgers Berndtson. Susanne joined Odgers Berndtson in 1997. Previously, she worked with a boutique strategy consultancy, providing businesses with advice on market dynamics across a range of industrial sectors. She has a degree in International Economics and Modern Languages from Copenhagen Business School and an MA in International Relations from the University of Kent. Supporting our clients on developing balanced, diverse and effective boards, Susanne is an active member of our firm’s Diversity Steering Council.

Luis Truchado

Luis is a Senior International Executive Search and Leadership Consultant (Assessment) for the Board, CXO's, Heads of Division, BU's, etc. He has been recognized as Iberoamerican and European Consultant and he treasures an extensive network at Board and senior level in dozens of organizations. His career in executive search started in 1992 when he founded Euromedica in Madrid. Previously, he worked for NOVARTIS and GSK in Marketing roles and he was International Chief Commercial Officer for the API’s manufacturer Cesquisa (CEPSA group).

Helen Tudor

Helen focuses on Partner level Executive Search in management consultancy and Professional services, specialising in Financial services, Government & Defence, Telco, Consumer and Retail sectors. She covers Strategy, Operations Transformation, Technology & Digital, Organisation Design, Human Capital, Talent and leadership. She works with the Big 4 consultancies, strategy houses, systems integrators and challenger consultancies. Helen has extensive UK and European experience. She covers Partner, VP and Director level positions, as well team acquisitions or team builds. Before joining SH, Helen was Managing Partner of BLA Search, a specialist management consultancy head-hunter, having joined as a consultant and then moved into partnership and ownership. She started her career in a global recruitment company in managerial roles. Helen holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Manchester.

Rahul Bhargava

Rahul is the Partner - Industrials at Accord India, based in Mumbai, where he leads the Industrial practice. With over two decades of experience in management consulting and automotive industry, he's been the go-to CXO advisor for top clients in the automotive value chain and industrial clients in textiles, energy, mining, cement, real estate, machinery, and plastics sectors. Passionate about cracking tough business problems with innovative solutions, Rahul brings his CXO advisory skills to the world of executive search.

When he's not solving strategic puzzles, you'll find Rahul cheering on his tween-son's musical talents or indulging in his love for Indian traditional, regional, and street food.

Caroline Dever

Caroline leads the public sector practice and is co-lead of the board practice in Australia. She joined Odgers Berndtson in 2015 and advises boards and chief executives in private and public sector organisations. She has extensive experience working nationally and internationally with clients in health, government and the for-purpose sectors. Caroline has interests in equity and leadership and the roles boards and leaders play in building inclusive organisations for the benefit of employees and shareholders.

Prior to executive search, Caroline spent 10 years in public relations working with government, technology and listed organisations on reputation management, customer engagement and media relations strategies. Previously, Caroline was co-chair of contemporary dance company, Phillip Adams Ballet Lab and president of one of Melbourne’s largest inner-city community basketball clubs. Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University and a Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from RMIT.

Gopinadhan KG

Gopi serves as a Partner at EMA Partners and is a key figure of the firm’s Global Industrial, Energy & Natural Resources Practice, where he orchestrates high impact senior level board, general management, functional, and technical leadership assignments across key Asia markets. His tenure with the firm, spanning more than a decade, has been marked by his contributions to the establishment and expansion of various practice groups within the India remit.

Over the years, Gopi has emerged as the go-to advisor for clients seeking to fill leadership positions at local, regional, and international levels. Since his induction into the firm's ranks in 2011, he has helmed a plethora of executive search and succession planning assignments catering to entities of diverse magnitudes and ownership architectures - including publicly traded multinational entities, private equity ventures, and family-run conglomerates. His counsel has been sought after by a diverse array of industries spanning automotive, chemicals, clean tech, construction, electronics, industrial machinery, oil & gas, and mining, for some of their most pressing leadership conundrums.

Prior to his foray into Leadership Hiring & Consulting, Gopi traversed the corridors of blue-chip multinationals and boutique consulting firms, shaping strategies and insights for their clients across the realms of Asia Pacific, Africa, and Europe. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and has earned a master’s degree in Human Resource Management.

Raj Kumar Paramanathan

Raj is a Board Member of IRC Institute, a thought leadership platform for CEOs and executive leaders to gain insights on best practices and experiences of global leaders around leadership and inter-cultural management. He is a founding member of Malaysia Women In Energy, an industry campaign he helped form, to increase women participation in the energy sector, together with the oil majors, contractors and service providers and member of the 30% Club Malaysia, a campaign to increase female participation on boards of public listed companies.

Thanks to Raj’s prior experience with Siemens, he is also Global Leader of the Energy Practice Group and serves clients from industries energy, industrial, chemicals, consumer investment banking, and aviation.

Raj has expertise in industries energy, natural Resources & infrastructure, real estate, education and industrial / production. He holds a Master of Science degree in Quality and Productivity Improvement, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics, from the University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Apart from consulting his clients, he loves karting, cooking and the theatre.

Shoon Lim

Shoon Lim partners with clients as they develop and grow DEI strategies to enhance business performance. Based in Singapore, she has a proven track record of blending her business experience with DEI advisory to transform organizational culture.

Previously, Shoon was the Global Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Givaudan. In that role, she established the firm’s DEI strategy, plans, and operating frameworks to enable strategic growth. Before that, Shoon worked on DEI at a variety of global organizations – including Shell and Microsoft­ – and soon became known as a trusted expert in this rapidly evolving and dynamic practice. She started her career in business roles spanning operations, branding, business transformation, and change management.

Sahiba Singh

Based in New Delhi, Sahiba is a Partner in Spencer Stuart’s global Leadership Advisory practice. She brings two decades of experience in leadership and HR consulting, specializing in the areas of leadership assessment and development, top team effectiveness, c-suite succession and transitions, and organizational culture advisory. She works with clients across myriad industries in Asia, Europe and Middle East, helping them with their most critical leadership and talent challenges. Diversity & inclusion is a topic close to her heart, with this being central to the work she does to help organizations discover and develop leadership for the future, build high performing teams as well as inclusive cultures. Helping more women reach and be successful at the top of the house has been personal north star for her throughout her career.

Before joining Spencer Stuart in 2016, Sahiba worked as the practice leader of the leadership consulting vertical at Aon Hewitt Middle East & North Africa, where she played a pivotal role in establishing and developing the practice in the region.

She earned a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Delhi, where she was a double gold medalist. She has also been a two-time winner of Spencer Stuart’s Lou Reiger quality award.

Sahiba is an avid reader and traveller, and she enjoys being able to pursue these interests through her work as well as personal life.

Wassim Karkabi

Wassim Karkabi serves as the global head of executive assessment at Stanton Chase. He is a seasoned executive search and executive coaching expert with over a decade of experience across the leadership spectrum. He is a shareholder and Managing Partner at Stanton Chase Middle East, based in the Dubai office, and a shareholder in the Moscow office of Stanton Chase.

Wassim Karkabi has successfully advised a variety of international and regional organizations on their strategic and leadership concerns, and has completed senior executive assignments in Executive Search, Executive Assessment, Executive Coaching and Business Growth Coaching in the Middle East and more specifically in the Gulf countries since 1997. He has served leading multinational and regional holding companies as well as local companies and has worked closely with and completed assignments for clients in a variety of industrial subsectors.

Wassim Karkabi advises clients on leadership, including acquiring, assessing, and growing their leaders to achieve the strategic goals of the business. He coaches a number of CEO, COO, COO level executives as well as business owners on their personal and business growth and development.

Wassim has an Executive MBA from Hult International Business School, and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of La Verne, California. He is a member of the International Coach Federation and a Certified Executive and Business Coach. He is also certified in a variety of Psychometric, Socio-metric and Cognitive Assessment Tools.

Suvidha Kitchloo

Suvi Kitchloo is a principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Dubai office and a member of the global Industrial Practice. Her expertise includes multinationals and local organizations as well as private equity-backed entities in the energy and infrastructure, utilities, EPC, renewables, metals, mining, and petrochemical sectors.

Suvi advises clients on senior leadership roles across the Middle East and North Africa. She has more than 10 years of professional experience in executive search appointing executives in energy, chemicals, and new energies clients. She has helped clients find CEOs, regional MDs, finance, human resource, operations, technology and business development executives across the Industrial sector. Additionally, she has partnered on engagements supporting nationalization of key roles across Middle East.

Suvi worked with two global international executive search firms in India and the Middle East before joining Heidrick & Struggles.

Anna Martin

Biography coming soon.

Samantha Robinson

Sam has almost 20 years combined executive search and in-house recruitment experience. She has developed her global leadership career with InterSearch in both Australia & Middle East. Sam was born in Kuwait, educated in Australia and lived in London and Canada for a number of years working within the HR teams of Merrill Lynch and BP International. In the Middle East, she worked with Standard Chartered Bank as the Regional Talent Acquisition Specialist, Middle East, Pakistan & Africa (MEPA); focusing on senior-level hires as well as committing to the global diversity agenda to attract Arab, African & female talent into the organisation.

Samantha has been based in the Middle East region over 16 years and is currently Managing Director – Middle East. She is responsible for building and leading a multi-cultural team of high-performing Consultants and Research Associates across four offices and serving a variety of global, regional and country specific clients across the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region. Sam personally focuses on executing executive search assignments across the full spectrum of the Banking & Finance sector and became the InterSearch Worldwide Practice Group Leader for the Financial Services sector in 2014.

Sam is a big believer in identifying and attracting disruptive global talent to help organisations transform, innovate, challenge and drive commercial opportunities to achieve success.

Sam holds a Bachelor of Science, with a major in Psychology, from the University of Melbourne in Australia and was recently elected to the InterSearch worldwide Board of Directors in 2017.

Sergio Vega

Sergio Vega is the Head of Research with Odgers Berndtson based in the UAE and specialises in Board level and Senior Executive searches within the Middle East. His search career began with Odgers Berndtson in 2011.

Sergio has extensive experience leading international searches with greater emphasis in: Government, Education, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Telecommunications, Consumer and Industrial Sectors. He leads the research team, responsible for the delivery of search mandates across the region, and implements quality improvements to the research function.

Previously, he advised clients on strategies within a number of global professional services firms. Sergio holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from Pompeu Fabra University in Spain.