Posted by Sarah Barnes on Mon, Aug 09, 2010 @ 10:25 AM
Chicago, August 2010 – Cook Associates, a leading executive search and M&A advisory services firm, announced that it has named Mary Kier to serve as the CEO for the Executive Search Group. Cook Associates’ former CEO, John Kins, will remain with the firm as Chairman. The promotion comes at a time of celebration for Cook Associates as it will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011.
In her new role, Mary will manage the day-to-day operations of the Executive Search group. Additionally, she will continue to manage the Consumer Products and Services practice, Diversity practice, as well as the global partnership with InterSearch, one of the top international executive search organizations in the world.
In promoting Mary to CEO, John Kins stated, “I am pleased to turn over the day-to-day operations of our search group to Mary Kier, a veteran of executive search and one of the top consultants in the industry. Mary is highly respected by her clients, candidates and Cook personnel. She has demonstrated a strong and passionate commitment to the success and longevity of Cook Associates Executive Search and I am confident she will continue do an incredible job.”
Mary Kier remarks on her recent promotion, “I feel honored to have been chosen as the next CEO for the Executive Search group of Cook Associates. To follow in John Kins’ footsteps and to continue to build this organization is a wonderful challenge. Our Executive Search group has always held as its hallmark to strive for quality in everything that we do, and to delight our clients with a truly engaged search process. Our clients have come to expect a passionate approach to securing talent, and to being their best ambassadors. I intend to foster this in the years ahead and I look forward to working with the leadership team to ensure that we always make a positive contribution to our clients’ success.”
Be sure to follow Mary’s popular Executive Search blog, “Successful Careers in the Making”: Click here.
About Mary Kier
Mary began her search career with the firm in 1984 and has been promoted several times to her current position of CEO of Cook Associates Executive Search. In addition to her own search practice in Consumer Products and Services, Mary leads the Consumer & Retail practice, managing an integrated team of consultants specializing in Consumer Services, Consumer Durable and Non-Durable Goods, CPG and FMCG.
In addition, Mary serves as the firm's Diversity & Inclusion practice leader. She is passionate about building diverse teams and has successfully worked with members of senior management teams to develop high performance plans to build best-in-class diverse organizations. Cook Associates recognizes the value in a team comprised of diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. The Diversity & Inclusion Practice believes that organizations with a strong belief in diversity recruitment will be prepared to take the lead in their respective industry for years to come.
Mary is also actively involved in the firm's partnership with InterSearch - one of the top ten worldwide executive search consortiums. Mary coordinates relationships with the international search partners and speaks at annual global summits.
Throughout her search career at Cook Associates, Mary has been recognized for bringing unique value to every search initiative and for passionately delivering on her promises. She measures her success on personally contributing to the face of corporate America, uniting the best and brightest talent to her client companies. She is respected for her comprehensive understanding of the strategies, operations and management of companies in the Consumer marketplace and for her grasp of the cultural nuances of companies and executive leadership teams. Her search work encompasses CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CMOs, Divisional Presidents as well as functional heads of Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, and Operations.
Mary received her BS degree in Management and Industrial Relations with high honors. She is a member of several industry organizations.
Posted by Sarah Barnes on Mon, Jun 07, 2010 @ 03:00 PM
Chicago, June 2010 – Whether you are a top executive at a Fortune 500 company or just graduating from business school, Mary Kier’s blog, “Successful Careers in the Making,” offers priceless career advice and recommendations that can help make your career a success. Mary Kier is the Vice Chairman of Cook Associates Executive Search and has over 26 years of executive search experience. She is widely recognized as an expert in executive assessment and in the consumer markets industry.
When asked about the reason to develop her blog, Mary responded, “Cook Associates has always believed in the power of networking, coaching and development, and leadership development. We thought a blog might be the best way to reach out to a greater number of people in a style that is consistent with today’s world.”
Mary posts to her blog every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Follow her blog here: http://www.cookassociates.com/Executive-Search-Blog/
Mary Kier began her career with the firm in 1984 and today oversees the executive search division. In addition to her own search practice in Consumer Products and Services, Mary leads the Consumer & Retail practice, managing an integrated team of consultants specializing in Consumer Services, Consumer Durable and Non-Durable Goods, CPG and FMCG. Mary is also the head of the Diversity practice and manages the InterSearch partnership.
Posted by Sarah Barnes on Thu, Jan 21, 2010 @ 05:09 PM
January 2010, Chicago, IL - Vice Chairman, Mary Kier, and Managing Director, Walter Rach, in partnership with InterSearch, were recently featured in "Family-Owned Businesses & The Executive Search Consultant" in the Search Consult magazine.
Click here to view the article.