Daily News

View All News

People: Kelly, Heidrick, Upwork, B. E. Smith, Lucas Group, and more

July 02, 2015

Kelly Services Inc.’s (NASD: KELYA) board of directors elected Hirotoshi Takahashi to the company’s board effective Aug. 1. Takahashi is executive VP of Temp Holdings, and president and CEO of Intelligence Ltd. He fills the board vacancy left by the retirement of Executive Director Toshio Saburi in 2014. In 2010, Temp Holdings and Kelly Services formed a strategic alliance and Carl Camden, Kelly’s president and CEO, serves as a director of Temp Holdings.

Executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (NASD: HSII) added Francois Kouroriez to the firm's Boston office as partner, leading the insurance sector in the Americas. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Kouroriez worked for another executive search firm in its global financial services and insurance recruiting practice, following a 20-year career with General Electric. 

Online staffing provider Upwork (formerly Elance-oDesk) announced Han Yuan joined the company as senior VP of engineering. Yuan will oversee Upwork's full platform and distributed technical team of more than 300 engineers — a role formerly held by CEO Stephane Kasriel. Prior to joining Upwork, Yuan led engineering teams at both early-stage and Fortune 500 companies including Trintech, Netflix and eBay.

Lenexa, Kan.-based B. E. Smith, an executive search firm specializing in healthcare hired Cathi Blise as VP, leadership advisor for the firm’s interim leadership and advisory services division. Blise has more than 35 years of clinical experience and most recently served as a B. E. Smith interim leader; in her most recent engagement, she served as interim chief nursing officer at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan.

Lucas Group, an Atlanta-based executive search firm, promoted six associates:

  • John Heffner: Executive senior partner, manufacturing; Atlanta
  • Gareth Benson: Senior partner, sales and marketing; Atlanta
  • Angie Engel: Senior partner, HR; Chicago
  • John Kearny: Senior partner, sales and marketing; Houston
  • Aaron Silbert: Senior partner, HR; New York
  • Felicia Hoang: Senior executive search consultant, legal; Houston

ISE Talent, an executive search and talent management firm targeting information security professionals, added Jeff Combs as VP of talent management. Combs has more than 15 years’ experience in security recruiting and most recently led a global talent acquisition initiative for the CISO of Hewlett-Packard, building out HP's global cyber security program.

TargetCW hired Brian Smith as senior VP of business development. He most recently spent six years at Tucker Parker Smith Group LLC, placing associate, professional and executive-level talent with investment/wealth management firms in Los Angeles.