Second Line Advisors Names Executive Director

July 26, 2021 – New York City-headquartered executive search firm Second Line Advisors has appointed Kate Mullen as executive director. In her role, she will expand the firm’s industry coverage to technology, fintech, healthcare, biotech, life sciences, consumer goods and industrials. “We’re incredibly fortunate to have Kate join us. Her background as an attorney, corporate executive and retained search professional are tremendously additive, and she brings expertise servicing clients across multiple industry sectors,” said Daniel Solo, president and head of client engagement at Second Line Advisors. “With the addition of Kate, we’re positioned as the only executive search firm solely focused on risk, compliance and governance across a more comprehensive group of industries and sectors. This is a big moment for our firm.”

“I came to Second Line Advisors because they have such an impeccable reputation in the industry, and it was exciting to me that they had developed this niche expertise, which I am now able to expand into additional sectors with similar, growing needs,” said Ms. Mullen. “In this position, I get to build on what I find really fascinating about executive search, which is partnering with clients to build relationships and find the best candidates to drive their organizations forward.”

Prior to joining Second Line Advisors, Ms. Mullen served as director at Major, Lindsey & Africa. In this role, she led the practice group for executive search with a focus on legal placements in technology, fintech, healthcare, biotech and life sciences, consumer goods and industrials. She has worked in executive search for over a decade, as well as an attorney in her early career.

In addition, Second Line Advisors’ board of advisors has expanded to include Yvette Hollingsworth Clark, former regulatory innovation officer at Wells Fargo where she served for several years in multiple risk management and compliance leadership roles. Also joining the board is Gerald Manwah, former U.S. Head of the financial crime compliance executive office at HSBC and former global head of financial crime compliance for Credit Suisse. Mr. Clark currently serves on the boards of Golden State University, the International Women’s Forum Northern California, Air Lease Corp., and Diligent Corp. Mr. Manwah currently is an adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School in New York, where he teaches International Financial Crime.

Established in 2017, Second Line Advisors is a strategic search firm specialized in sourcing risk and compliance executives within financial services and fintech. With the addition of Ms. Mullen, the firm will continue its focus on risk and compliance executives across a broader spectrum of industries, specifically industries in which recent regulatory changes have brought risk and compliance to the forefront.

Leadership Appointments Rising at Recruiting Firms

Top leadership appointments, of men and women, have been gaining traction at executive search firms over the past year. Here’s a look at several examples taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

The board of directors of Isaacson, Miller has appointed Ericka Miller as the firm’s next president and CEO. She will officially start her term on July 1, 2021, upon the retirement of current president Vivian Brocard. “As one of the first women of color to lead a major national executive search firm, Ericka brings a deep and lifelong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, consistent with Isaacson, Miller’s core values,” the search firm said. “Ericka has done an excellent job of building and leading our PreK-12 education and education improvement practice, chairing the promotions committee, and serving as an indispensable member of the board of directors,” said John Isaacson, founder and chair of Isaacson, Miller.

San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners has added a new president and chief operating officer to its leadership team as it seeks ways to drive and scale its human capital advisory service offerings. Joining Bespoke as president is Eric Walczykowski, a technology industry veteran who has served in leadership roles in business development, sales and marketing. He is charged with driving Bespoke’s transformation from a pure executive search firm to a full-service human capital advisory firm. Mark Hood joins as chief operating officer, bringing decades of experience in operations, management, and capital market activities. Mr. Hood will be expected to build the firm’s talent and management infrastructure to scale its capacity across multiple service lines, while sustaining the firm’s track record of performance, quality, and client satisfaction.

Chicago-headquartered referral recruiting service Hunt Club has expanded with the addition of Stephanie Tysdal as its chief operating officer. “Stephanie is incredibly customer focused. We spent our first conversation talking about all the ways that the recruiting industry (to date) has neglected using technology to change the customer and candidate experience,” said aid Nick Cromydas, co-founder and CEO. “She immediately understood the advantage our business can have by further unlocking our expert network marketplace to access the best candidates via trusted introductions. She’s spent time in archaic industries in benefits and logistics, redefining how to use technology, engineering, data science to deliver an unparalleled experience, and we’re really excited to have her deliver that for Hunt Club and the recruiting space.”