Hanold Associates Recruits Chief People Officer for AHEAD
March 29, 2022 – Neela Seenandan, Val Lopez, and Eleanor Tetreault of Hanold Associates HR & Diversity Executive have placed Preet Michelson as chief people officer of Chicago-based IT firm AHEAD. She succeeds Michael Hoehne, who is retiring from the company. “We are extremely pleased to welcome Preet to our team,” said Dan Adamany, founder and CEO of AHEAD. “Her experience and demonstrated track record in leading with an enterprise first mindset, along with her integrity and candor, make her a great fit for us. I know she will be a terrific leader for our team as we work together to bring our vital steps to life across the company.” With three decades of experience, Ms. Michelson comes to AHEAD from United Airlines where she served as managing director, human resources for several years. In this role, she supported over 35,000 union and M&A employees worldwide. While there, she also worked closely with the company’s chief digital officer, gaining experience within the tech landscape. Prior to that, Ms. Michelson worked at Molson Coors for five years where she served in a number of increasingly senior HR leadership roles. Her career also included several years at Beam Suntory and PepsiCo, where she held leadership roles in a wide range of strategy and finance disciplines.
In her new position, Ms. Michelson will be responsible for all aspects of AHEAD’s human resources strategy, including talent management, leadership development, and compensation and benefits. She will work closely with the executive committee to continue to build a culture at AHEAD that attracts, retains, and develops the best talent in order to support the company’s aggressive growth strategy. This hire comes just after AHEAD announced its most recent acquisition of vCORE Technology Partners earlier this month. Ms. Michelson will focus her efforts on employee engagement and career development as AHEAD looks to continue its growth.
“AHEAD is highly acquisitive and my No. 1 goal going into this role is to continue to knit the fabric of this impressive company together,” said Ms. Michelson. “With so many people, cultures, and legacy systems converging, I want to ensure everyone feels like they have a place and a path so that, ultimately, the AHEAD culture speaks for itself.”
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AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, intelligent operations, and modern applications, the company helps enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
Respected HR Consultants
Chicago-based Hanold Associates is a boutique executive search firm focused on HR and diversity and inclusion officers. Its client list is diverse across industries, geographies and business scenarios, and culture is at the core of everything the firm does. Its clients include the National Football League, Zoom, Domino’s Pizza, Under Armour, Patagonia, Gucci, Tom Brady’s TB12, Kohler, REI, Live Nation Entertainment, Dick’s Sporting Goods, McDonald’s, Major League Baseball, Kellogg, Apollo, Big Ten Conference, Blackstone, TPG, L Catterton, Northwestern University, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Electronic Arts, Fiat-Chrysler, SC Johnson, eBay, Moderna, Hillrom, Great Place To Work, Fossil, Vail Resorts, AbbVie, Carnival Corp., Biogen, Allstate, Bridgestone, Wikimedia, ClubCorp, Nike, Abercrombie & Fitch, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Ford Motor Co., among others.
Ms. Seenandan is co-managing partner at Hanold Associates and leads the firm’s global diversity, equity, and inclusion practice and its HR advisory practice. She provides interim executive advisory services in senior-level HR roles, serving clients such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Madison Dearborn, and the New York Times. Ms. Seenandan joined the firm from Nielsen, where she served as SVP of human resources for North America consumer.
Ms. Lopez is a partner with Hanold Associates. She specializes in recruiting executive-level HR and diversity, equity, and inclusion leaders. She has over a decade of experience in rapid-growth, private equity-backed SaaS businesses, specializing in M&A integrations and change management. She is especially strong in translating strategy to action, particularly with respect to managing change initiatives and designing and implementing DEI programs. Prior to joining Hanold Associates, Ms. Lopez was global head of employee engagement and inclusion/VP of DE&I at Cision.
Ms. Tetreault is an associate at Hanold Associates. She focuses on recruiting HR talent and diversity, equity and inclusion leaders across industries and geographies. Prior to joining Hanold Associates, she worked as an admissions fellow at Kenyon College where she interviewed and assessed prospective students, presented at information sessions, and organized visit days and events. Ms. Tetreault received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in anthropology from Kenyon.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
