Our vision is to be the first choice for clients who recognize the potential in leveraging talent to drive performance.
John Madigan – President & CEO
John Madigan started Executive Talent Services in 2007 after extensive experience in corporate HR, specifically in the insurance and financial services sector. Most recently, he served as vice president of corporate staffing for The Hartford Financial Services Group. In that role, he led executive and professional recruiting for the enterprise, including field staffing for Property Casualty and Life businesses, college relations, assessment consulting and diversity staffing. Madigan held that position since May 2003.
Madigan joined The Hartford in 1996 as director of staffing for the company’s life insurance operations in Simsbury, Connecticut. He was named vice president in 1999 when he was tapped to manage human resources for The Hartford’s company-wide information technology organization.
Prior to joining The Hartford, Madigan spent three years in the executive outplacement business as a vice president at Drake Beam Morin, an international career management and outplacement firm, and nearly a decade in human resources management at Aetna Life and Casualty. Earlier in his career he directed career placement services at the University of Hartford and had been a career counselor at Trinity College in Hartford.
Madigan holds a B.A. in psychology, and a Master’s Degree in counseling from the University of Connecticut, where he also completed coursework toward a Ph.D. in adult learning.
For additional references, you can view John’s profile on LinkedIn and ZoomInfo.
Ed Olsen – Senior Consultant
Ed Olsen is a seasoned business and technology executive, experienced career coach and senior consultant with Executive Talent Services (ETS). Prior to ETS, Ed was a Managing Partner and Career Coach with Hire Aspirations and in 2007 opened an office in Longmeadow Massachusetts to better service clients in northern CT and western MA.
Before Hire Aspirations, Ed was a Partner in Pinnacle Network LLC with responsibility for Operations, Carrier Relationships and Account Management. In this capacity, Ed managed consulting, education and training engagements for client companies including XDimensional Technologies, the Main Street America Group, and docSTAR Imaging.
The foundation of Ed’s career was his twenty years at Aetna Life & Casualty beginning with various positions of increasing responsibility supporting Aetna’s SAFARI processing system within the Casualty Division IT department. Ed also worked in insurance agency automation at Aetna setting up and managing the Customer Service organization for the company’s newly created agency management system called GEMINI. Later, he was named President of Aetna Information Services, the Aetna Subsidiary that owned and managed GEMINI. In this capacity, Ed represented Aetna on the Insurance Industry’s ACORD Standards committee and on the ACORD Board of Directors. As President, Ed developed and introduced the second generation agency management system originally known as GEMINI II and subsequently renamed Sagitta.
Ed left Aetna as part of a joint venture that resulted in the formation of CISGEM Technologies and became their Vice President of Sales. In 1993, he assumed responsibility for CISGEM’s Insurance Systems Services Department which included installation, training, and ongoing customer support for Sagitta, GEMINI, and Argo.
When CISGEM was acquired by AMS Services, Ed assumed the position of Vice President of Service for all Agency Management System products supporting approximately 8,000 insurance agencies. Subsequently, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Customer Service, Training, Education and Documentation for all AMS products then serving 12,000 insurance agencies. In this role, Ed was responsible for the implementation, training and ongoing support of management systems for several National Agencies and Brokers and over half of the top 100 Brokers within the United States. In September 2001, Ed was promoted to General Manager of AMS Rating.
Ed’s business and IT leadership experience have given him a unique capacity to understand both organizational change and individual executive transition, as well as high-level consulting and coaching skills.
Ken McGovern – Recruiting
Ken McGovern is the President of KMR Executive Search. He is based in our firm’s Farmington, CT office. Ken is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience creating and managing diverse teams and building dynamic cultures. As important as experience, background, and skill sets are in assessing a prospective new employee, Ken believes that fit and culture are equally critical components to identifying and hiring the next management team member who will positively impact an organization. His experience includes management search assignments within the market sectors of Healthcare, Financial Services, Information Technology, and Non-Profit, among others.
Prior to founding KMR, Ken was a Partner at Jobplex, a DHR International company, and a Managing Director at Horton International, both global retained executive search firms. Ken established a track record of managing the executive search process and assisting client organizations in their efforts to successfully identify and attract the highest quality management talent.
Prior to joining Horton, Ken served as Executive Vice President of Com-Pak services, a direct marketing production and print fulfillment provider which in 2010 acquired MarketPoint Direct, a private equity-owned marketing firm providing services to the publishing, financial services, and non-profit sectors. Ken was President of MarketPoint. Before MarketPoint he was founder and President of ValuMail, a retail advertising media that was acquired by the Tribune Company in 1999. As an early investor in the cellular communications industry, Ken was a Partner in a privately-held entity which was awarded a California cellular operating license by the FCC. The company was sold to Dobson Communications in 1998.Earlier in his career Ken held leadership positions with Valassis and Dun & Bradstreet.
Ken is a member of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Southwestern New England. He is also a member of the Word Affairs Council and the MetroHartford Alliance.
Ken holds a BA in Marketing from University of Hartford. He resides in Connecticut with his wife and has two grown children.
Christine Bilotti Peterson – Executive Coach
Christine Bilotti Peterson was certified as an executive coach in 2013. She has over 27 years of experience coaching and advising executives and professionals helping them reach their goals, increase their effectiveness, drive engagement, performance and results. Today she runs Longview Consulting LLC specializing in executive, business and transition coaching as well as human resource consulting.
Christine spent five years as Chief Human Resource Officer of a publicly traded company (Hanover Insurance Group), creating, leading and executing on human resource strategy. She also was a member of the Executive Compensation Committee to the board of directors.
In prior years, Christine was a Human Resource Business Partner for a variety of business and functions at Hanover and The Hartford Financial Services (HIG) and also spent time as a functional leader, leading Recruiting and Talent Management.
Christine started her career placing C-level executives in technology and financial services, consumer and insurance sectors with Korn Ferry and Horton International.
Christine is a Certified Executive Coach (ICF) and holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic University and a Bachelor of Arts from Central Connecticut State University. Christine is IPEC trained and certified in the Hogan Assessment, Leadership Versatility 360, RAPID decision making, trained in Organizational Development, and facilitator of the Energy Leadership Index.
Christine lives in Simsbury, Connecticut. When she is not working, you will find her snowboarding, hitting a hot yoga class, hiking with her dog Brady, at the beach or enjoying good food and drink with friends and family. Married to Christopher, they enjoy life with their 4 children: daughter Alexa and triplet boys: James, Athan and Nico.
Amy Dunn – Leadership Coach
Her work and consulting experience spans several industries including insurance, financial services, telecommunications, and government organizations. Amy provides solutions to clients in the areas of leadership training and development, executive and leadership coaching, senior team alignment and teambuilding, meeting design and facilitation, and talent management. Amy is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) recognized by the International Coach Federation (ICF).
Prior to starting her own business, Amy held a variety of senior Human Resources leadership positions in Fortune 100 companies, including Travelers Insurance and United Health Group. Most recently she was VP of Enterprise Talent Management at Travelers. This role included responsibility for the organization’s executive succession planning and top talent identification and development. Prior to her Talent Management role Amy was the senior HR and Training leader for the 3,000-person Personal Lines Division of Travelers during a 7-year period of explosive growth, change, and consistent profitability
Amy is best known for her business orientation, uncompromising integrity, and ability to form trusted advisor partnerships with clients. She is highly regarded by both business people and HR colleagues for her ability to balance “head and heart” in her work. Amy lives in South Glastonbury, Connecticut with her husband and two daughters.
Vanessa Williams – Senior Executive Coach and Consultant
Founder and CEO of Leading Edge Consulting, LLC, a global executive coaching firm with offices in CT and FL, and an affiliate partner of Executive Talent Services (ETS). Vanessa brings an International background and vast experience in Executive Coaching, Women & Diversity Leadership Coaching, Leadership Advancement, Operations Leadership, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Strategic Business Planning, Management & Financial Reporting, and Change Management to the ETS team and scope of services.
Vanessa uses a holistic approach with her executive clients to identify success roadblocks and create metric driven action plans and targeted goal setting. She also works with business owners and c-suites to identify strategic goals and to build and engage high-performing collaborative teams.
In her corporate career, Vanessa was a Managing Director for Horton International, a retained global boutique executive search firm headquartered in West Hartford, CT. She also held senior level and C-suite positions leading high-powered executive global teams for Sun Life, Prudential, Mass Mutual, Aetna, and UConn Health.
Vanessa holds a Master of Science Degree in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Virginia State University, and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation.
She serves on the Board of Trustees for Easter Seals, The New England Air Museum, and Amistad Center for Arts & Culture. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Reginald F. Lewis College Business Alumni at Virginia State University.
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