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ABOUT THE SILVERCHAIR PARTNERS TEAM

Chantal "Taly" Russell

Chantal "Taly" Russell is the CEO and founder of SilverChair Partners. Prior to founding “SCP” in January of 2013, Taly honed her craft from 2003-2012 at a renowned global Executive Search firm in which Taly specialized in recruiting the highest caliber support for CEO's, Partners and C-Suite power players in New York City. Taly is an industry expert and has personally placed over 1750 Executive Administrative and Human Resources professionals successfully over the years. Prior to joining the most senior echelons of Executive Search in 2003, Taly was a Casting Director in both New York and Los Angeles. Born in Zurich, Switzerland and having grown up in New York City, Taly attended New York University's Stern School with a double major in Business and Political Science. Taly is actively involved in a number of different philanthropies and is an active member on the Friends of Baby Buggy board in New York, LCRF, The Robin Hood Foundation and a member of the Junior Committee of the American Museum of Natural History.
Melissa Cannata

Melissa is a Partner at SilverChair focusing on nuanced Executive and Personal Administrative Recruiting. With ten years of recruiting, business development and relationship building experience, Melissa utilizes her PR skills to attract top talent in the industry. She is focused on bringing top-notch service to SilverChair Partners’ clients and candidates every hour of every day. Melissa graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in Public Relations. Melissa is an avid triathlete, marathoner and traveler. Melissa has completed the Lake Placid Ironman, Comrades Ultra Marathon and qualified for the Boston Marathon.
Erica Ritchie

Erica is a Partner at SilverChair. Erica has over ten years of experience in recruiting, Human Resources management, finance and strategic planning. Prior to joining the world of Executive Search, Erica spent five years as the Manager of Administration and Human Resources at a $4B NYC Hedge Fund. Erica also worked in strategic roles doing mergers and acquisitions at companies such as Sidley, Austin, Brown and Wood, Fidelity and Mellon Financial. Erica earned a degree in Finance from Boston College. She serves as a consultant and volunteer for Girls Incorporated, a national nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring girls to be strong, smart, and bold.
Lauren Lin

Lauren is the newest addition to the SilverChair Partners team, joining as Head of Legal and Compliance Recruiting. Prior to the world of executive placement, Lauren honed her legal skills as the General Counsel and Head of Compliance at a long-standing New York investment fund. Lauren knows that in order to have a high-performing team, you must nurture leadership and foster a strong culture that values compliance and process-driven excellence. Lauren has over a decade of experience advising clients on corporate governance, commercial and strategic transactions, intellectual property, technology, employment law and navigating a variety of human resources issues, including executive compensation. She is experienced with regulatory compliance, and has interfaced with FINRA, the SEC, and a variety of other government and self-regulatory organizations. Lauren graduated cum laude from Columbia University and earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School. Lauren brings her breadth of legal experience from consulting and investment banking, as well as her in-depth knowledge of the securities industry to her recruiting practice. Outside of the office, Lauren is an accomplished singer. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and son.
Dina Nusnbaum

Dina is the Office Manager and Chief Coordinator at SilverChair Partners. She is a 2014 graduate of SUNY College at Old Westbury with a masters in Mental Health Counseling, and obtained a degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2012. Dina began her career at a prestigious board in NY as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, where she worked with individuals with severe and persistent mental illness throughout Brooklyn. She provided healing therapy and coordinated all-encompassing plans to support a healthy, purposeful life for her clients. Dina also worked as an Underwriting Assistant at Morstan General Agency while attending graduate school. Through Dina’s work, she honed an incredible sense of what makes people tick and how to best coach them into being the best version of themselves. Her natural warmth along with her strong sense of self provides a wonderful balance that exudes authenticity and caring. When Dina is not at work, you can find her exploring the city for the best hidden restaurants, reading a good book, or pretending to be a tennis pro.
Stefanie Goldberg

Stefanie is a Recruitment Coordinator at SilverChair Partners. She is a 2014 graduate of Muhlenberg College (BA in Theatre and Media & Communications), as well as a certified Health coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. When not at the office, Stefanie is actively pursuing a career in the arts. Besides that, you can usually find her reading in the park or eating her way through great restaurants.
Shawn Michael Harris

Shawn is the face and voice behind SilverChair's new VIP Silver button. This is a 24/7 concierge assistance resource that SCP offers its Executive and Personal Assistant network for any hot off the press reservations, tickets, travel, event planning, private chef, doctor recommendation, gift recommendation etc. that the Executive or Personal Assistant, Office Manager or Chief of Staff would need for their boss. Shawn is a seasoned Concierge and Personal Assistant who has been working in the hospitality industry for the last 15 years. He's worn many hats in the hospitality industry and as a result, has both insider knowledge of New York City and the industry in general. Along with opening Dream properties, Maritime Hotel and Langham Place, he is trained in luxury 5 Star Forbes Standards. In his spare time, Shawn enjoys writing and is working on his 2nd book about the Concierge world.

SILVERCHAIR PARTNERS ADVISORY BOARD

Daniel Klaus

Daniel Klaus is the President of Airtime as well as the Managing Partner of K2 Media Labs, a Venture Studio for investing in and developing mobile and technology companies. Through K2, Mr. Klaus has co-founded and served on the board of companies such as FingerPrint Digital and Tracks/Kanvas Labs (acquired by AOL in 2015). He also served as the CEO of the online media company Music Nation, Inc. and Original Signal Recordings, and in 2009, the company formed a venture with Universal Music Group. From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Klaus served as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Fabric Group, LLC, a media advisory firm with such clients as Goldman Sachs, Cheyne Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, Bertelsmann, and Yahoo! Inc., Music Match and Sony Pictures. He was also part of the founding team of BrandFarm, an on-line incubator, and founded Canadian based Passion Music Group, which was acquired by BMG Music in 1997. Mr. Klaus was named as one of the top 100 Internet executives in New York by Silicon Alley Insider, a leading Internet publication and has been featured in numerous national media publications and industry panels.
Michael Smith

Mr. Michael Smith is a Partner in the Ares Credit Group, a member of the Management Committee of Ares Management, and he additionally serves as Co-President of Ares Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: ARCC). He is a member of the Investment Committee of Ares Capital Management LLC and is also a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending Investment Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2004, Mr. Smith was a Partner at RBC Capital Partners, a division of Royal Bank of Canada, where he came from Indosuez Capital and previously worked at Salomon Brothers Inc. Mr. Smith received a B.S. in Business Administration, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters in Management from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Lucia Spielberg

Lucia Spielberg, currently Chief Operating Officer, Americas of Sheffield Haworth, Inc. joined the company as Chief Administrative Officer in November 2010. Prior to Sheffield Haworth, Lucia served as the Administrative Manager for the Financial Services Practice Group with The Caldwell Partners Int’l from 2009 until 2010. Previously, from 2005 until 2009 Lucia served as an Associate with Sextant Search Partners' Healthcare & Private Equity Practice. Previously, Lucia gained valuable business experience as an entrepreneur in the construction and glass industry as a partner in her own company. Lucia began her career in 1986 as Assistant to the President of NHL Enterprises, the licensing arm of the National Hockey League. Lucia is a 1985 graduate of Briarcliffe. Lucia currently serve as a member on the following committees at Sheffield Haworth: US Executive Committee, Global Infrastructure Leadership Team, and the Global Talent Leadership Team.
Joe Robinson

Joe Robinson, once the EVP of Strategic Development, now serves as President of iHeartMedia Ventures, working to develop high-value strategic opportunities with media, technology, and content companies. Prior to joining iHeartMedia, Robinson founded Halo Venture Partners, a venture investment company focused on digital media, advertising and media-related technology companies. Robinson's investments include Scout Media, a sports social network sold to Fox in 2005, UGO Networks, a male targeted advertising network, which was sold to Hearst in 2007 and InterWorld, Inc., a publicly traded e-commerce solutions provider. Mr. Robinson received a B.S. in Business Management from Skidmore College.
Leighsa King

Widely recognized for her brand building efforts on marquee brands such as Mountain Dew, Snickers and Citibank, Leighsa King has earned a formidable reputation as a senior marketing leader, with unsurpassed business acumen and sweeping creative vision. Leighsa was recruited to work at BBDO, New York to supervise the PepsiCo account and was a key member of the team that created the award winning “Joy of Cola” campaign. Ms. King was once again recruited, this time away from the agency-side, taking on the role of SVP, Retail Marketing at Citibank. In October 2012, Leighsa took on her culminating role to date, as Head of Business for PepsiCo’s Design and Innovation group. Leighsa has an undergraduate degree in Advertising from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications and a Masters in Marketing at Emerson College where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Lola

As SilverChair Partners' most furry recent addition, Lola, is a very welcome new member of the SCP family. Always happy to share your meal, Lola fervently believes in recycling and not wasting food. Welcome Lola!