Crosby Baker, Operating Partner & Head of Human Capital – H.I.G. Capital

Crosby has nearly a decade of executive recruiting experience and was most recently Director, Executive Recruitment at Hilton Hotels Corporate. While there, she helped lead the build-out of Hilton’s corporate in-house executive search function. Prior to Hilton, she managed searches across multiple industries at both boutique and large search firms, such as Korn Ferry.

Crosby has a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a Master of Business Administration from The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Jon Baksht, former CFO – Fortune Brands Innovations

Jon Baksht is the former chief financial officer of Fortune Brands Innovations. In this role, Jon lead the Company’s financial planning to support its biggest growth opportunities, ensures accurate financial reporting, and oversees investor relations. With an established track record in financial leadership and a deep understanding of market dynamics, he drove forward the Company’s financial strategy. Before this, Jon served as Chief Financial Officer of Pactiv Evergreen, a leading manufacturer of fresh food and beverage packaging in North America. Before that, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Valaris, a global offshore drilling contractor. Prior to assuming the CFO role in 2015, he held key leadership positions at Valaris including Vice President, Finance, and Vice President, Treasurer. Before joining Valaris in 2013, Jon spent several years in investment banking with Goldman Sachs and began his career as a management consultant with Andersen Consulting. Jon holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Aron Beach, Managing Director – Wynnchurch Capital

Aron Beach joined Wynnchurch in 2020 as a Managing Director. Prior to joining Wynnchurch, Aron served as the Chief Financial Officer for Advanced Lighting Technologies.

Aron began his career at Lason, Inc and later transitioned to various strategic and financial roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), Accel Performance Group, Z Capital Partners, and Busche Performance Group.

Aron brings with him over 20 years of experience as a financial and strategic leader, and has overseen acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, and financing for dozens of middle market companies.

B.A., Accounting, Michigan State University; M.B.A., Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Kristina Bittorf, Head of Finance – Aeropay

Kristina is the Head of Finance at Aeropay, a fintech company revolutionizing account-to-account payments. She brings over sixteen years of finance leadership, more recently scaling Accounting and Corporate Finance from Series C to a successful IPO at Sprout Social. Previously, she held roles at Deloitte and CNA. Kristina is a strategic partner focused on leveraging innovation and collaboration in the Finance function, and a fierce champion for women in tech and finance.

Tim Bosslet, CFO – Chomps

Tim Bosslet serves as the CFO of Chomps, one of the fastest-growing food brands in the U.S., with products made from the highest-quality proteins and no harmful ingredients. With over 15 years of Finance and CPG experience, Tim helped originate and has served as part of Chomps’ executive leadership team for over 6 years. Tim is responsible for supporting the Company’s significant growth, establishing and scaling the planning, reporting, finance, risk, treasury, and accounting functions at Chomps. Prior to Chomps, Tim spent nearly 10 years in investment banking, focusing on M&A and financing activities for Consumer and Food companies. Tim also spent several years working professionally as a chef at leading Chicago restaurants. Based in Chomps’ Chicago office, Tim is passionate about creating a sustainable and profitable enterprise by supporting a strong team and collaborating across functions.

Jillian Evanko, CEO – Duravant

Jill Evanko is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Duravant. Prior to joining Duravant in January 2026, Jill served as President and CEO of Chart Industries, Inc. (NYSE: GTLS) since June of 2018. Ms. Evanko joined Chart in February of 2017 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Chart, Jill was the Chief Financial Officer of Truck-Lite Co., LLC as well as having held multiple operational and financial executive positions at Dover Corporation (NYSE: DOV) and its subsidiaries. Prior to joining Dover in 2004, Ms. Evanko held financial and operational roles at Arthur Andersen, LLP, Honeywell Corporation and Sony Corporation. Jill serves as an independent director of the Board of Greif, Inc. (NYSE: GEF). She previously served on the Board of directors of Chart Industries, Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH) and Alliant Energy (NASDAQ: LNT) and its affiliates.

Jill received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from La Salle University. She is the winner of the 2020 ExxonMobil Power Play Rainmaker award, the 2020 S&P Global Platts Energy Award for Chief Trailblazer, and the World LNG Executive of the Year 2020. She was named a 2022, 2023 and 2024 Hydrogen Economist Women in Hydrogen 50, S&P Global Platts Energy Awards Chief Executive of the Year finalist (2023), Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team 2022 #3 Best Mid-Cap CEO Winner, Hart Energy’s 25 Influential Women in Energy (2021) and a 2023 EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southeast Region.

Jill also serves on the non-profit Board of Directors of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the National Petroleum Council.

Amanda Henkel, Partner – Caldwell

Amanda Henkel is a Partner in Caldwell’s Industrial, Financial Officers, and CHRO & Human Capital practices. With over 25 years of search experience, she has successfully led critical senior leadership engagements for organizations ranging from large-cap public companies to mid-cap private and private equity-backed enterprises.

Amanda is known for building lasting client relationships by helping organizations strengthen their teams and commitment to continuous improvement. Through diverse industry experience, Amanda understands how to align organizations with talent to drive change and bridge culture and performance.

Before joining Caldwell, Amanda spent 15 years at two of the world’s largest executive search firms. Earlier, she was a key member of a specialized team at Danaher Corporation, a Fortune 200 company recognized for operating excellence, financial discipline, and growth. At Danaher, she played a pivotal role in developing and shaping executive search capabilities, advising leaders on talent acquisition strategies, and successfully executing senior-level search projects to attract top-tier talent across multiple operating companies. She incorporates the discipline and rigor of the Danaher Business System (DBS) into her approach to talent assessment and client service.

Early in her career, Amanda served in recruiting leadership roles within A.T. Kearney in both management consulting and executive search. She began her recruiting career as an assistant director at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Jon Hill, Managing Partner – The Energists

Passionate about people, and building high performing teams, Jon leads The Energists while acting as player / coach for C-Suite, governmental, and advisory (M&A) mandates.

Jon spent the first 25 years of his career in energy solutions, accumulating a wealth of experience across North America, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Australia. After starting his career in the technical domain, he grew through operations and line management to strategic leadership. In an A&D themed journey, Jon often found himself as the client of executive search on either side of integrations and new market entry initiatives.

Intimately acquainted with business challenges in all phases of the evolutionary cycle, and in businesses of disparate size, it was Jon’s exposure to the challenges in talent management that led him to executive search when he assumed control of The Energists in 2015 as part of an MBI/MBO.

Jon also functions as fractional head of people at EW Pumps, a 2020 carve out from publicly listed Weatherford.

Clem Johnson, President – Crist|Kolder Associates

Clem Johnson is the President of Crist|Kolder Associates. He joined the firm in 2007 and has 25 years of executive search experience, having been with Russell Reynolds Associates and Heidrick & Struggles previously. Clem has conducted senior executive and board searches internationally for major organizations across functional disciplines, with an emphasis on technology, industrial, retail, consumer products and professional services industries. In addition, Clem has extensive experience assisting private equity firms and other investors with the recruitment of their portfolio companies’ senior leadership teams, with a particular functional emphasis on Board of Director, CEO, and CFO disciplines. Prior to his search career, Clem worked for Arthur Andersen’s Chicago office in the worldwide Assurance and Advisory and Corporate Transactions groups. He is a Certified Public Accountant. Clem received his B.S. from Fairfield University and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University.

Stacy Kelly, Managing Director – StevenDouglas

Stacy Kelly is well recognized as a leading Search industry expert and thought leader in Finance and Accounting Search in the upper Midwest. In her role with StevenDouglas, Stacy has assembled a stellar team across Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, that does the business the right way, and is focused on creating great outcomes for our candidate and clients.

Stacy is known for her integrity, trust, and being a true partner with deep roots in the accounting and finance community, delivering white glove service to both clients and candidates. She has a genuine interest in understanding people’s motivation, identifying quality candidates, and the ability to connect with top talent in the region through the network she has built for over 20 years.

Stacy Kelly prefers to focus on long-term relationship building with both the clients and candidates she supports. She has a track-record of success accessing key talent, and also in referral-based recruiting for positions from manager to executive positions. Stacy very much enjoys and is an expert at mapping and assisting in department build outs after key business transitions such as growth, downsizing, and acquisitions.

Stacy’s career began with hands-on experience working in a business operations role for a global macro hedge fund, and asset management in the real estate industry. She’s worked on both sides of the business, often utilizing staffing and search services in previous roles, and understands the real challenges of building a team and working effectively with a search partner.

Stacy is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a Step-Up Luminary Member, helping young women in underserved areas of Chicago gain access to professional mentors. Stacy also splits her time as an Iconic Competitive Cheer volunteer, a Chicago CHIEF member, and a Park Ridge Express Hockey volunteer.

Denis LaPolice, President & Founder – Resource Management Group

Denis founded Resource Management Group in 1993. He has over 30 years of experience in executive search and advising clients on talent selection. Denis is an industry leader, recognized nationally as one of the leading search professionals, recruiting the best and brightest CFO’s and Financial Officers, placing RMG on the Hunt Scanlon PE Recruiting Power 100 list.

Denis leads Resource Management Group’s CFO and Private Equity practices focusing on Chief Financial Officer assignments for a broad range of industries such as consumer products, industrial manufacturing, technology, distribution, business services, media and healthcare services.

He has worked with the world’s greatest public companies including Honeywell, General Electric, Pepsico and Amazon. In addition, he partners with top tier Private Equity firms helping them attract CFO’s and building finance teams for high growth companies.

Denis has been instrumental in building finance organizations across all functions and spearheads new business development. He began his search career with a small boutique firm which also focused on Financial Officers. Prior, he worked for Calvin Klein Jeans as a National Sales Manager.

He has been a board member of the David Wright Foundation, buildOn, Kids in Crisis, New Canaan Youth Football, and is President of the New Canaan Football Alumni Association. He was given the Volunteer of the Year award for his work with Kids in Crisis.

Blythe McGarvie, Lead Independent Director – Apple Hospitality REIT & Wawa Former CFO – Société BIC & Hannaford Bros

Blythe McGarvie serves as a member of the boards of directors of publicly-traded and private companies. She serves as Lead Independent Director and Chair of the Nominating and Governance committee of Apple Hospitality REIT, (NYSE: APLE), as Lead Independent Director of Wawa, Inc. (privately held and second largest ESOP owned company in the U.S.) and Cineworld (London-based privately held company). She formerly served on the boards of Pepsi Bottling Group (2002-2020), Accenture (2001-2017), Viacom (2007-2017) Travelers Insurance (2003-2011), Lafarge NA (2004-2006), LKQ Corp (2012-2025), and Sonoco (2014-2026).

She worked in four C-suite roles: CEO of LIF Group, CFO of Société BIC based in Paris France, CFO of Fortune 500 company Hannaford Bros., and CAO of Sara Lee Corporation. As a highly successful leader with a proven track record of increasing shareholder value at these companies, she now dedicates her work as a member of the Board of Directors. Blythe’s financial expertise complemented with leading technology effectiveness in corporate roles and teaching Financial Reporting and Controls at Harvard Business School on a full-time basis are sought-after skills.

In the 2015-2016 academic year, she lived in Zagreb Croatia with her husband as representatives of the US Embassy. In 2018, she served as a Commissioner for the NACD’s Blue Ribbon Commission initiative focused on adaptive governance: to better assess and respond to complex, difficult-to-identify risks that would have a profound economic, operational, and/or reputational effect. In 2019, Blythe presented Corporate Governance topics to various audiences, including PCAOB and Board Member conferences. For ten years, prior to teaching at HBS, Blythe served as the chief executive officer and founder of Leadership for International Finance (LIF Group), which offers a global perspective to clients seeking profitable growth.

Blythe is a certified public accountant (CPA). She earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, which selected her for the Schaffner Award in 1992, presented annually to an alumnus who is preeminent in their field and has provided outstanding service to Kellogg.

Her bestselling book, Shaking the Globe, subtitled Courageous Decision-Making in a Changing World (published by John Wiley & Sons in 2009), provides entrepreneurs and executives with research and actionable ideas to overcome obstacles in a competitive, interconnected world. She is the author of Fit In Stand Out, subtitled Mastering the FISO Factor: The Key to Leadership Effectiveness in Business and Life (published by McGraw-Hill in 2005).

Andrew Nathanson, President & CFO – ZRG

As Chief Financial Officer, Andrew oversees all financial functions of ZRG, including financial planning and analysis, treasury, and accounting. He also works closely with the rest of the senior management team to support the company’s ongoing and rapid expansion, through both organic growth strategies and M&A opportunities.

Andrew’s strong analytical abilities and proven communication skills allow him to act as a business partner with operational leaders, supporting them in the profitable growth of the company and significantly increasing enterprise value.

Before joining ZRG, Andrew was the CFO of Evolution Research Group, a private equity-owned, middle-market pharma services company based in New Jersey with locations throughout the country. While at Evolution, Andrew was a key leader in doubling the revenue of the platform through both organic growth and several add-on acquisitions.

Andrew has 3 young children and is a longtime fan of the Villanova Wildcats, New York Yankees, and New York Giants. He is also an avid golfer.

Andrew is a graduate of Villanova University and received his Master of Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame. He is also a licensed CPA in the state of New York.

Heather Rickard, SVP of Talent & People Partnering – Cushman & Wakefield

Heather Rickard is Senior Vice President of Talent and People Partnering for Cushman & Wakefield, a Commercial Real Estate Services firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.  Rickard career in business began at the financial services firm, Vanguard, where she spent 18 years in a variety of business and Human Resources roles.   Before coming to CWK in 2021, Rickard worked at Lincoln Financial serving as Vice President of Talent Development. She holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources designation from HRCI, is a Lean/Six Sigma Blackbelt from Villanova University and is a graduate of the HR Executive Certificate Program at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.  Rickard is passionate about business, people, leadership development, AI and the future of work.

Meenal Sethna, EVP & CFO – Option Care Health

With a track record of driving sustainable growth and enhanced profitability, Meenal brings more than 30 years of CFO and public company executive experience to Option Care Health. As the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Option Care Health, she is responsible for leadership, strategy and operations across the areas of finance and accounting, treasury and tax, and investor relations.

Prior to joining Option Care Health, Meenal was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Littelfuse, Inc., a publicly traded industrial technology company. Her other previous roles include Vice President and Corporate Controller at Illinois Tool Works and Vice President, Finance at Motorola Inc. Meenal began her career at Baxter International, holding multiple positions of increasing responsibility over her 13-year tenure.

Meenal has served on the Board of Directors of SPX Technologies, a publicly traded diversified, global supplier of highly engineered products and technologies, since 2019. She is the chairperson of its Audit Committee and member of its Governance and Sustainability committee.

An active and engaged leader with several non-profit organizations, Meenal currently serves on the Advisory Council of Women in Electronics (WE). She has also been Chairperson of the CFO Council for the Manufacturers Alliance, a member of the Business Advisory Council of the University of Illinois – Chicago and the past President and 8-year Board member of the Chicago Finance Exchange.

Meenal earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Illinois.

Richard Stein, CEO – HSiQ Talent Intelligence

Richard Stein is CEO of HSIQ. He has a distinguished career supporting the C-suite of many of the world’s top corporations and financial services organizations in all aspects of talent acquisition, development and retention. Richard is one of the industry’s top advisors with experience across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

In previous roles, Richard has driven innovation and strategy in human capital by focusing on turning talent intelligence into actionable revenues. His expertise includes market intelligence, due diligence, and expert witness services, helping companies navigate market disruptions, pre and post-merger due diligence and competitive challenges.

Richard is an acknowledged industry leader and expert in creating high performance organizations, as well as lucrative outcomes through collaborative leadership efforts with board members, C-suite leaders and other stakeholders, with a focus on identifying top drivers of organizational value through talent. He is a frequent speaker and consultant on leadership, management, and corporate governance. Richard has held leadership roles at some of the world’s largest executive search firms and has served as CEO and founder of his own firm.

Richard earned a B.A in History, Politics and English from the University of Buckingham.

Brian West, Former Chief Financial Officer – Boeing

Brian West was Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President of The Boeing Company from August, 2021 until August, 2025 leading all aspects of Boeing’s financial strategy, performance, reporting and long-range business planning, as well as investor relations, treasury, controller and audit operations. He also led the company’s Enterprise Services organization including global sourcing and real estate. West’s current role is Executive Advisor to Boeing’s CEO.

Prior to Boeing, West served as Chief Financial Officer of Refinitiv, beginning in 2018, and was responsible for financial strategy, capital structure, resource investment and optimization as well as shareholder engagement. In addition to his work with finance, he also led sourcing and real estate management.

Before Refinitiv, West was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations at Oscar Health and before that was Chief Financial Officer and then Chief Operating Officer of Nielsen. Previously, West spent 16 years at General Electric, where he served as Chief Financial Officer of GE Aviation and Chief Financial Officer of GE Engine Services. His additional finance leadership positions in GE businesses encompassed media, plastics, transportation and energy.

West is a founding board member of LiveGirl, a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to prepare the next generation of diverse female leaders with the skills, community and connections to thrive in the world. West received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Siena College and a Master of
Business Administration from the Columbia Business School.

Max Woolger, VP Revenue – Ezekia

Max is VP Revenue for Ezekia. Having spent 12+ years in executive search running BD, Data and CRM for the founders of 3 global search firms, using a range of CRMs, he is well placed to advise and assist prospective clients as they make their CRM choice. His experience in executive search firms has also helped him lead Ezekia’s in-house deployments with executive talent teams at corporates and PE/VC firms. Prior to joining Ezekia, he spent 3 years in a B2B relationship technology business selling in to search firms, law firms, consultancies, insurance brokers and underwriters so he has an in-depth understanding of relationship selling and the technologies needed to support it, across sector.