FERGUSON PARTNERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director / Executive Search / London
Amy is a Director at Ferguson Partners Europe, based in the firm's London Office. She is actively involved with the execution of searches and provides client management support for a variety of mandates. She participates in the firm's Real Estate Practice and manages searches for a spectrum of real estate disciplines and subsectors, with an emphasis on the capital formation arena.
Amy started working at Ferguson Partners in 2014. Her work to date includes completed assignments for investment managers, private equity firms, developers and hospitality companies. Prior to launching her career in search, Amy worked at Marks & Spencer, where she helped to develop the retailer's marketing strategy. Amy is also a member of the ULI Young Leaders Committee for the UK.
Amy obtained a Bachelor's degree with Honours in Sociology and Criminology from City University London. In her free time, Amy enjoys horseback riding, swimming and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director / Executive Search / Chicago
Amy Pisciotta is a Managing Director and the leader of Ferguson Partners' Healthcare Practice. Based in the firm's Chicago office, Amy works primarily from Atlanta, serving clients across North America. With over 25 years of experience having served as a strategic advisor to leading healthcare organizations across the country, her background spans executive search, advisory services, and implementation consulting across all types of healthcare organizations, including providers, healthcare services companies and health information technology companies.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Amy was a Senior Client Partner in Korn Ferry's Atlanta Office and a member of the firm's Global Healthcare Services Market and Financial Officers' Practice. Prior to Korn Ferry, Amy created and led the healthcare revenue cycle consulting practice at Himformatics. Amy began her career at Stockamp & Associates, a leading healthcare consulting firm acquired by Huron Consulting Group.
Amy holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Project Manager / Executive Search / New York
Andrea Gosselin is a Project Manager at Ferguson Partners, based in the New York office, responsible for assisting with production-related projects for the Executive/Board Search team. Her responsibilities include preparing biographies, long list reports, candidate profiles, presentations, and research reports; maintaining and updating the internal database; and liaising with colleagues, clients, and candidates to coordinate video conferences, telephone calls, interviews, and in-person meetings as needed.
Before joining Ferguson Partners in 2021, Andrea was an administrative assistant for a conglomerate with assets in the energy, finance, insurance, media, real estate, and supermarket industries. Her organizational skills, resourcefulness, and creativity embody her experiences and exposure working in the real estate, hospitality, local government, economic development, law, and media/publishing industries.
Andrea holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing from the University of Central Florida. In her free time, Andrea enjoys cooking, baking, traveling, and discovering new restaurants.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director / Executive Search / New York
Andrew McCormack is a Director at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's New York office. Andrew specializes in recruiting candidates for executive and management positions in the LP and debt sectors. Skilled at forming and retaining industry connections, Andrew accesses local and national talent pools to identify potential candidates for active searches.
Andrew launched his search career in the investment and wealth management space. Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, he worked as an Associate at David Barrett Partners, where he assisted in sourcing candidates and determining appropriate target companies for clients. He honed his knowledge of the wealth management sector earlier in his career when he interned at First Republic Bank.
Andrew earned his Bachelor's degree in Science, Technology & Society from Stanford University. After graduating from Stanford, he played for the MLB Minor Leagues and created content for Chat Sports, a digital sports media company. He still enjoys playing and following sports in his free time, especially baseball, basketball and team handball.
Archan Patel is an Associate at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's Chicago office. Archan focuses on advising privately-held real estate firms to achieve their strategic and financial objectives related to compensation. Mr. Patel uses his expertise to serve clients by performing compensation benchmarking analyses, incentive design development and modeling, and peer group market assessments.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Archan worked as a Management Consultant at HealthScape Advisors. As a trusted advisor to clients, he provided services of project management, analytics & modeling, and data-driven strategy solutions.
Archan earned his Bachelor's degree from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Accountancy.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Manager / Executive Search / New York
- Senior Project Manager in Ferguson Partners' New York
Asha Rai is a Senior Project Manager in Ferguson Partners' New York office. She is a member of the firm's Executive/Board Search team and responsible for leading the coordination of search engagements, supporting project execution, and client/candidate management across all projects, timelines, and deliverables.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Asha worked as an executive assistant at Bessemer Trust where she provided executive-level administrative support to the business development team. Previously, Asha worked at Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest multinational business group. She began her career at C2Media as an assistant recruiter.
Asha holds a Bachelor's degree from Baruch College in Human Resource Management. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering at North Shore Animal League America and spending time with her daughter.
Aurelio Damiani is an Associate based in the firm's Chicago office. His focus is on Private Compensation Consulting and he works to create strong client relationships and provide evidence-based solutions.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Aurelio was as a senior associate at Huron Consulting Group where he helped private and public universities manage and apply for federally and privately sponsored research awards.
Aurelio attended Northwestern University where he received a Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and Business. He is avid music lover and in his spare time enjoys playing guitar and drums, taking his dog to the park, riding his bike, practicing yoga, and volunteering.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Manager / Executive Search / Chicago
- Senior Project Manager at Ferguson Partners' Chicago
Becky is a Senior Project Manager at Ferguson Partners' Chicago office and supports the Executive/Board Search team. She has been with the firm since 2012.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Becky worked for two global executive recruiting firms and has spent 22 years in search. She began her career as an administrative assistant and then as Accounts Payable/Receivable manager with a large dental insurance company.
In her free time, Becky enjoys hiking and spending time with her two rescue pups - Akitas Ginger and Phoenix.
Job Titles:
- Director / Management Consulting / Singapore
- Director in the Management Consulting Group
Ben is a Director in the Management Consulting group at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's Singapore office. Ben is responsible for client engagements in Asia, as well as supporting the team's activities outside the region. Having previously been a limited partner, he enjoys advising clients from the ‘investor perspective,' with a particular interest in corporate governance, product design, and investor engagement and organizational issues.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager / Executive Search / Chicago
- Project Manager in Ferguson Partners' Chicago
Bethany is a Project Manager in Ferguson Partners' Chicago office and a member of the firm's Executive/Board Search team.
Bethany joined Ferguson Partners with experience as an executive assistant for C-Suite Executives, while also serving various roles in marketing, compliance & ethics, office management and event planning. Before settling down into corporate life, she spent much of her early professional career in the hospitality industry, including seasonal roles in popular vacation spots like Vail, Colorado and Nantucket and even selling cruises as a travel agent.
Bethany as a Bachelor's degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management from Grand Valley State University. She enjoys Instagram-ing her two cats, Frasier & Fargo, cross-stitching, fantasy & sci-fi novels, backcountry hiking & camping and creating digital art.
Job Titles:
- Associate / Executive Search / London
- Research Associate in Ferguson Partners' London
Byron Heffer is a Research Associate in Ferguson Partners' London office and contributes to a range of research and execution activities within the firm's Real Estate Practice. Byron focuses on sourcing and managing candidates for searches in private equity, investment management, advisory, and various other areas within the real estate industry.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Byron began his career in executive search at a boutique firm specializing in investment management, wealth management, and asset servicing. He focused on delivering research tasks and contributed to the successful completion of numerous senior mandates on behalf of global financial services clients. Byron actively utilizes his previous financial services search experience within his role at Ferguson Partners.
Byron earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and American Literature from the University of Warwick and an Master's degree and PhD in English from the University of Sussex. His doctoral research was funded by the Consortium of the Humanities and the Arts South-east England. In his free time, he enjoys reading, writing, running, and volunteering in the arts and education sectors.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director / Executive Search / New York
Cara Bianchini is a Director based in Ferguson Partners' New York office. She brings to the firm over ten years of experience in executive search and asset management.
Prior to joining Ferguson, Cara founded Highlands Partners, a retained executive search firm focused on the asset management industry. Prior to that, she worked at Jensen Partners, a boutique firm dedicated to recruiting strategic capital raisers for alternative asset managers. Cara has dedicated her entire career in search to helping leading alternative asset management firms hire the right talent to raise and retain capital.
Cara has been instrumental in building client coverage teams at prominent real estate, infrastructure, private equity, private credit, venture capital, hedge fund and private fund placement firms. She has cultivated a broad and deep network through her passion for sharing her knowledge and perspective on market activity and company and professional development.
Cara studied Social Sciences with a concentration in Psychology at New York University. In her free time, Cara enjoys making her toddler son laugh and dancing.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director / Executive Search / San Francisco
Carleigh Price is a Managing Director at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's San Francisco office. Carleigh leads and executes executive search assignments across the United States on behalf of real estate owners, operators and developers, real estate investment managers, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private equity funds. She co-leads the firm's Multifamily Practice and participates in its Hospitality and Innovation and Technology practices.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners in 2015, Carleigh worked in multifamily investment sales at Marcus & Millichap in San Francisco. She began her career in communications serving as the Speechwriter for the 11th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington D.C. and then Senior Writer on Meg Whitman's 2010 Campaign for Governor of California.
Carleigh graduated from Syracuse University with three Bachelor's degrees in Television-Radio-Film, Policy Studies and Political Science. When she is not working, Carleigh enjoys spending weekends at Lake Tahoe and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Analyst / Executive Search / Chicago
- Analyst in Ferguson Partners' Executive / Board Search Practice
Carmen is an Analyst in Ferguson Partners' Executive/Board Search Practice and is based in the firm's New York office. She works closely with the team in supporting client assignments.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Project Manager in Ferguson Partners' Chicago
Ceci Chavez is a Project Manager in Ferguson Partners' Chicago office and a member of the Leadership Consulting team. Her role is focused on ensuring project timelines run smoothly and she is the liaison for Leadership Consulting.
Ceci joined our team with experience as an executive assistant, supporting a C-level executive at a global design and architecture firm. She has over 10 years of administrative experience across various fields such as e-commerce and creative consulting.
A graduate of DePaul University, Ceci holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications, specializing in public relations. In her time off, Ceci enjoys road trips, spending time in nature, and exploring vintage shops.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President in the Compensation Consulting Group
Charlie Apfelbach is a Vice President in the Compensation Consulting group at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's Chicago office. Mr. Apfelbach's primary area of focus is assisting privately-owned real estate companies with assessing compensation strategies and helping clients better understand the competitiveness of existing compensation programs. His work spans across all asset classes and various types of real estate platforms (e.g., private equity, developers, investment managers, family offices, owner/operators, etc.).
Mr. Apfelbach has extensive experience in the design and development of compensation programs that align with the company's business strategy and organizational structure. His work has included conducting benchmarking analyses, short and long-term plan design, incentive compensation modeling, peer group development, and Board of Director compensation analyses. Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Mr. Apfelbach worked as a Consultant in the Executive Compensation Consulting group at Aon.
Mr. Apfelbach earned his Bachelor's degree in Economics and Communications from Denison University. In his free time, Mr. Apfelbach enjoys golfing, Chicago sports, and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director / Executive Search / London
Charlie Barton is a Managing Director at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's London office. His practice specializes in real estate and real assets assignments at the Board and senior management levels, and his client profile includes listed REITs, private equity firms, private landlords, investment banks and advisory firms operating across the equity and debt spaces. Charlie is also an active member of the firm's Hospitality practice and works with hotel and alternative asset owners, operators, and investors in direct assets, as well as NPLs. Charlie is also experienced at CFO/FD appointments.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners in 2019, Charlie managed his own real estate executive search firm, where he specialized in C-Suite and senior management assignments for clients in the European real estate and real assets sectors. Earlier in his career, Charlie led Spencer Stuart's UK Real Estate Practice and served as a member of the company's European Chief Financial Officer Practice. He gained valuable experience working with quoted and private equity-supported clients across all industry sectors.
Charlie studied Valuation and Estate Management at the University of the West of England. When he's not busy working on assignments, Charlie enjoys watching rugby; playing tennis and golf; country pursuits; oil painting; and spending time with his young family.
Job Titles:
- Analyst / Compensation / Charlotte
- Analyst in the Public Compensation Consulting Group at Ferguson Partners' Charlotte
Charlotte Pour is an Analyst in the Public Compensation Consulting group at Ferguson Partners' Charlotte office. Her responsibilities consist of analyzing financial and compensation data, including researching in-house databases, public documents, and market-available resources in order to create project deliverables and provide support to senior team members.
Job Titles:
- Director / Executive Search / New York
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Project Manager
- Executive Assistant / Project Manager / Executive Search / Chicago
Christine Schwarz is an Executive Assistant and Project Manager based in the firm's Chicago office. Christine supports the President of Ferguson Partners and wears many hats in her role.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Christine was a Project Manager at Slayton Search Partners, a Project Manager at Russell Reynolds Associates, and a Commercial Coordinator/Office Manager at Coldwell Banker Commercial. Christine started her career as a Marketing Manager at Prudential Preferred Properties.
Christine holds an Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice from Wilbur Wright College. In her spare time, Christine enjoys exploring new restaurants, playing sports, hiking, traveling to MLB stadiums across the country, and going to concerts.
Job Titles:
- Senior Managing Director
- Senior Managing Director / Executive Search / New York
David Thalhamer is a Senior Managing Director at Ferguson Partners. His focus is executive search within all areas of real assets including development, investment, construction, and infrastructure. His clients across the globe include private equity investors, sponsors, developers, and financial institutions. David also serves as leader of the firm's Development Practice.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, David worked as a Partner in a large global search firm and in a New York-based boutique search firm that specialized in the real estate and financial services industries. David began his executive search career at Russell Reynolds Associates in 1997, where he focused on the real estate and construction industries and co-led the company's global real estate practice for four years. He also served as a member of the firm's financial officers' recruiting practice.
David holds a Bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University; an MBA from Fordham University's Graduate School of Business Administration, beta gamma sigma; and a Master's degree in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University. He likes to stay active with his family and friends in his spare time and they especially enjoy an outdoor lifestyle, be it skiing, hiking or golf.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Ferguson Partners' Director of Diversity
Dionna is Ferguson Partners' Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and is based in the firm's Chicago office. As the Director of DEI, Dionna's primary area of focus is to lead strategic initiatives - based on industry best practices - informed by her subject matter expertise. Creatively, Dionna offers customizable DEI solutions while also providing consultative services for our clients. With deep perspectives and experience, she develops DEI strategies aligned with our clients' business and talent priorities. Dionna also guides key stakeholders in her clients' organizations by coaching and developing senior leaders to create more inclusive work environments.
Dionna started her career in Corporate Finance as a Business Analyst at Sears Holdings where she conducted analyses of value proposition and market positioning strategies to develop new business. From there, she transitioned into recruiting and developed an expertise in creating diverse and scalable sourcing strategies, accompanied with the ability to execute initiatives that drive client and candidate retention. Dionna's expertise stretches across the financial services, retail, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, consulting, and real assets industries.
Prior to joining Ferguson Partners, Dionna worked at Korn Ferry as a Global Talent Acquisition Consultant. While at Korn Ferry, Dionna created diverse, equitable and inclusive recruiting strategies for the global internal recruiting team along with developing and leading diverse initiatives for internal stakeholders, equipping them to lead their diverse teams. She worked in conjunction with the global thought leaders to create DEI strategies that optimized the productivity of the firm and its clients. Dionna's work strengthened the cultural components of the firm while serving as the catalyst for change for her client engagements.
Dionna holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree from Chicago State University and is in currently enrolled in Cornell University's DEI Certificate program.
Job Titles:
- Senior Managing Director
- Senior Managing Director of the Leadership Consulting Group
Dominic is Senior Managing Director of the Leadership Consulting group at Ferguson Partners, based in the firm's Chicago office. His primary functional emphasis is CEO Advisory, and he currently works with numerous CEOs and Board Chairs on issues related to leadership development; talent strategy; executive team effectiveness; organizational design; and culture and diversity. He is also involved in the CHRO, Hospitality/Gaming and PE/REIM Practices at Ferguson Partners.
Dominic's approach to leadership development is underpinned by his experience managing Fortune clients, operating in multiple industries with C-Suite executives and developing internal and external talent. He has assessed over 1,000 senior leaders and coached more than 200 executives around the world. In addition to his executive development experience, Dominic has led internal learning and development programs for corporations and professional services firms, founded academic and leadership programs for institutions of higher education and lectured on crisis management and executive communication.
Prior to co-founding the Leadership Consulting group at Ferguson Partners, Dominic worked as a Managing Consultant in a global, boutique consulting firm, and before then he founded a leadership consultancy specializing in strategic thinking; group decision-making; ethical leadership; inclusion and diversity; and presentation and persuasion. He earned his Master's degree in Organizational Communication, Learning and Design and his Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Legal Studies from Ithaca College, which recognized him as one of its "Most Outstanding Alumni." Dominic also earned the Illinois Board of Higher Education's "Administrator of the Year" honor and has been publicly acknowledged by the CEOs he has coached for his contributions to their firms.
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- Project Manager / Executive Search / Toronto
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- Analyst / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Director / Executive Search / Sydney
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- Chief Executive Officer / New York
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- Associate / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Associate / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Chief Operating Officer / Chicago
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- Managing Director / Executive Search / New York
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- Project Manager / Executive Search / London
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- Senior Managing Director / Head of U.S. Search / Executive Search / Los Angeles
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- General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer / Chicago
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- Vice President / Management Consulting / Chicago
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- Project Manager / Executive Search / New York
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- Human Resources Assistant
- Operations Manager
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- Executive Assistant / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Director / Head of Survey Practice / Chicago
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- Project Manager / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Senior Director / Executive Search / Tokyo
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- Senior Advisor / Executive Search / London
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- Managing Director / Head of Australia and New Zealand / Executive Search / Sydney
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- Senior Managing Director / Head of Asia / Executive Search / Hong Kong
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- Assistant General Counsel / Chicago
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- Vice President / Executive Search / New York
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- Director / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Managing Director / Executive Search / Canada
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- Associate / Management Consulting / Chicago
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- Search Coordinator / Executive Search / London
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- Vice President / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Head of Knowledge Management / New York
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- Senior Search Coordinator / Executive Assistant / Executive Search / Hong Kong
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- Chief Financial Officer / Chicago
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- Director / Executive Search
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- Vice Chairman / Executive Search / Tokyo
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- Senior Associate / Executive Search / London
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- Project Manager / Executive Search / New York
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- Office Manager / Executive Assistant / Executive Search / Tokyo
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- Analyst / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Managing Director / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Vice President / Executive Search / Toronto
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- Director / Management Consulting / Chicago
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- Analyst / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Senior Managing Director / Head of Europe / Executive Search / London
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- Executive Assistant / Survey Coordinator / Chicago
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- Senior Associate / Executive Search / Tokyo
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- Vice President / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Project Manager / Executive Search / Chicago
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- Associate / Executive Search / Hong Kong
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- Managing Director / Executive Search / Toronto