Executive Search Veteran Mary Gay Townsend Dies

December 5, 2024 – Mary Gay Townsend, executive search veteran and co-founder of boutique executive recruiting firm Norgay Partners, died on November 28. “Mary Gay Townsend had battled cancer for over 25 years, but never let the disease define her,” said Kylie Hart and Chandler Holbrook, the other two co-founders of the firm. “She was a true leader in private equity executive recruitment and touched the lives of everyone she worked with. Mary Gay’s tenacity, compassion, sense of humor, and resilience shaped Norgay Partners into the firm it is today. Our team is simply heartbroken by the loss. Building Norgay was a dream come true for Mary Gay, and we will continue to carry on her legacy through our commitment to placing exceptional talent with our clients. We are immensely grateful for all of the support that has been given to us during this very hard time.”

“On behalf of Scott Scanlon and myself, as well as our entire Hunt Scanlon team, we were saddened to learn of the passing of Mary Gay,” commented Christopher W. Hunt, president and co-founder of Hunt Scanlon Media. “Rarely does one work with a professional of Mary Gay’s caliber. She was an extraordinary leader in executive search who’s firm, for the past decade, was the epitome of first-class work.”

Ms. Townsend was a leader in private equity and broader private markets recruiting. She had a strong track-record early on in recruiting across investment banking, capital markets, real estate and real assets, private equity and credit. Later with the establishment of Norgay Partners in 2015 she honed in on the private equity placement agent space along with secondary advisory. Many would say Ms. Gay was a legend in the private equity secondaries recruiting world with almost a 20 year career in the space and was responsible for many of the high profile moves that have happened both on the advisory side and on the buyside in recent years.

Ms. Townsend also worked with senior fundraising talent and placed many key individuals within private fund groups and GPs.  She has had a profound impact in the markets she worked in and had partnered with some of the best financial institutions in the world including: Bank of America, Raymond James, Rothschild, Moelis, PJT Partners, Nomura, Northleaf Capital, AustralianSuper, UBS, Credit Suisse, ORIX, Campbell Lutyens, IFM, Oak HC/FT, CAIS Group, Manulife, Morgan Stanley, etc.

Ms. Townsend had previous experience building out recruitment divisions and was a co-founder of a technology-based financial recruitment firm. Previously, she was managing director at FSVS, where she was responsible for all aspects of the search process, including new business development, search execution, as well as recruiting and training internal talent. Prior to FSVS, Ms. Townsend was at Rhodes Associates, a real estate-focused search firm, and Smith Hanley where she helped establish a new division in capital markets. She had actively participated on the boards of Breakthrough NY, a non-profit organization that transforms the lives of children through education, and is part of the Vestry Leadership at St. John’s Episcopal Church Cold Spring Harbor. Ms. Townsend  graduated from The George Washington University and The French Culinary Institute.

Going forward Ms. Townsend’s two co-founders, Chandler Holbrook and Kylie Hart will be leading the firm. Chandler Mr. Holbrook will head the fundraising and IR practice and Ms. Hart investing and advisory (secondaries, private equity, and credit).

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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