Kestria Names Agribusiness and Agriscience EMEA Practice Leader
April 3, 2023 – Kestria, formerly known as IRC Global Executive Search Partners, has named San-Marie Barnard as agribusiness and agriscience EMEA practice leader. “I am pleased to welcome San-Marie to our team,” said Patrick Westerburger, managing partner of Kestria Netherlands. “The agricultural sector is changing rapidly thanks to innovations on all fronts. San-Marie understands better than anyone the type of leaders that our clients need to turn innovations into real business success.” Ms. Barnard, principal consultant with Kestria South Africa and USA, brings a global approach to executive search with her experience leading executive and C-level recruitment projects in a range of industry sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S., South America, and MENA. With her broad range of skills, she leads Kestria South Africa and USA’s research teams on multi-country search projects, and also plays a hybrid role in both client partnering and candidate-facing capacities. In addition to agri-industrial. Ms. Barnard’s industry expertise ranges from ed-tech, fintech and digital payments to media-tech.
“Growing up on a food-producing farm myself, I not only have passion and an inherited love for agriculture, but an in-depth understanding of the importance of food security and the production value chain, globally, and all the factors impacting this,” said Ms. Barnard. “I look forward to being the agribusiness and agriscience EMEA practice leader for Kestria, and finding leaders who will advance and take care of this key global industry.”
Kestria has partners in over 40 countries and 90 cities across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The consortium has completed more than 40,000 assignments for more than 4,000 clients, from game-changing start-ups to major global players.
Recent Addition
Kestria has added Invictus Hill in Zambia, Africa as its newest member firm. “Africa is an exciting part of the world in terms of growth, development, and new opportunities,” said Rohan Carr, Kestria’s president. “We look forward to a long and happy association with our new member and to assisting them further develop their business.” Invictus Hill, now billed as Kestria Zambia, has experience across the executive search, legal, and commercial spectrum having acted for a variety of clients in different segments of the business. “Invictus Hill is committed to assisting clients to achieve their commercial objectives in the most effective and efficient way possible while maintaining the highest level of advisory excellence,” Kestria said.
Related: Kestria Names Americas Practice Leader for its Technology Practice Group
With over 14 years of my experience as a human resource practitioner and being registered with the Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management (ZIHRM), I’m extremely excited by this opportunity to join Kestria Global,” said Lusungu Kayela, managing partner, Kestria Zambia. “As a team, we will strive to achieve more. We are ready to serve our clients in line with our values of family, empathy, and integrity and building lasting professional collaborations globally.”
New Executive Board
Kestria recently elected a new executive board. The board consists of the following members: Rania Abdalla, Tom Berray, Michael Kantel, Katerina Meimaroglou, and Rohan Carr (IRC Australia), IRC executive board president. Ms. Meimaroglou, the managing partner of IRC Greece (MEIHUNT, corporate talent management), has been elected as a new IRC executive board member.
Kestria Adds Pender & Howe to Network
Kestria has expanded its presence in North America with the addition of Toronto-based Pender & Howe Executive Search as its newest member firm. ‘We are thrilled to represent Kestria in Canada and the USA, and we are committed to fulfilling the alliance’s mission of providing first-class executive search services wherever you are in the world, with our efforts in Canada and the USA,” said Travis Hann, managing partner of Pender & Howe. “We are confident this will be a mutually beneficial partnership for many years to come.’ “It is exciting for all of us in the Kestria alliance to welcome our new like-minded colleagues Glenn Lesko, Travis Hann, Céline Chabée, and their team,” said Stepan Motejzik, alliance director at Kestria. “Their deep expertise in the North American market will significantly enhance our ability to meet client needs and serve as trusted advisors empowering businesses within the region and globally.”
Kestria is present in over 45 countries on six continents. More than 50 percent of its partner firms are led by females. IRC consultants speak 41 languages and represent 50-plus nationalities. “We are delighted that Katerina will join and strength our already talented board,” said Mr. Carr, president of Kestria. “She will bring a new and unique perspective and we look forward to her contribution.”
Ms. Meimaroglou focuses on executive search at the senior level, especially in FMCG, pharma, and retail industries. Before establishing her own company, she was a partner of Cornerstone International Group. She brings corporate experience in HR management from multinational organizations such as the Coca-Cola Co., where she worked for almost six years in HR regional and marketing manager roles across Greece, Cyprus, and Malta. Prior to that, she worked for British Petroleum as HR advisor.
Related: Kestria Names Healthcare and Life Sciences Americas Practice Leader
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
