Unlock the human potential to accelerate business value.
Our Approach
People drive value.
Today, business value has shifted from physical assets to intangibles, which are tied to human capital. People are now the primary drivers of value – as a result, organizations must now take a more human-centric approach to unlock business potential. Our firm was built for this new era – to create business value driven by people.
WHY LACEY LAKE leadership?
We go deep to understand the “why” – your unique organizational needs, business drivers and value creation goals.
We are agile and built to move at the speed of your business – and the market.
We are flexible and customize solutions to meet client needs - and milestone-driven outcomes.
We are motivated by a desire to have a meaningful impact - on both people and your business - through a human-centric approach.
Solutions
We unlock the human potential to accelerate business value by identifying possibilities, attracting talent, and retaining and inspiring teams. Our offerings are purpose-built and provide flexibility to design solutions tailored to strategic business needs and intentional growth goals.
Talent Strategy
Leadership Team Advisory
Executive Talent Market Mapping
Human Capital Intelligence
Organizational Design and Role Definition
Executive + Professional Search
Recruiting Consultation and Role Definition Support
Fixed Fee, Milestone-Based Executive Recruiting
Contained Mid-level Search
Board Advisor Executive Search
Human Capital CONSULTING
People Analytics and Data Governance
Employee Engagement and Retention
Employee Training & Development and Performance Management
Employee Total Rewards and Compensation
Employee Communications and Change Management
Industries
We specialize in serving high-growth organizations at pivotal points of transformation, and have a deep understanding of the industries we serve – we speak the language, know what motivates people, and understand the key business drivers.
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Private
Equity
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Financial Services
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Business
Services
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Media & Entertainment
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Consumer
Success Stories
Creating value for businesses and people alike.
Lacey Lake is a true partner — they take the time to dig in and truly understand the business and clarify needs. The team quickly mapped the market to identify a pool of high-quality candidates, as well as engage and nurture passive ‘dream hire’ candidates. Their work resulted in the placement of a C-level executive that exceeds expectations.
Valerie Osinski
CEO, RevTech360
Lacey Lake Leadership partnered with us to define the right role for our needs and then quickly delivered a high-quality pool of executive candidates for our consideration. Their expertise and flexibility helped us make informed talent strategy decisions throughout the search process. They tailored their approach to meet the needs of our organization – and the quality of their work was outstanding.
Robert Murray
Chief Executive Officer, 3Q Digital
Lacey Lake is unique in their level of transparency, preparedness and organization, and consistency in communications. As a candidate, I felt well-informed and well-positioned to present my best self to the hiring organization throughout the process.
Gina Gauthier
Chief of Staff, Erie Street
Lacey Lake looks beyond getting roles filled and people in seats – they are a true business partner. Maddie and the team dig in to understand the “why” of the business need, then define a role and map the market to identify possibilities and unlock potential for people and businesses alike.
Tari Haro
Managing Director, Chief Growth Officer, Erie Street
Our values
Human-centric strategies built to accelerate business value.
We believe that a people-first approach to human capital creates better and more impactful business outcomes. We are committed to leading the way, together with our client partners, in today’s new era of business – guided by our values of transparency, flexibility, empathy, and diversity:
We believe
Leading with transparency, authenticity, and integrity is fundamental to our work.
Embracing a mindset of flexibility produces customizable solutions for our clients, the people we serve, and our employees alike.
Embodying empathy and honesty leads to growth for all.
Prioritizing diversity and inclusion drives long-term success.
CAREERS
Looking for an opportunity to unlock your potential? Join us to help businesses drive value and create impactful change.
Team
Female-founded and led, Lacey Lake was created to help businesses unlock potential through leadership. With decades of experience – from the “big search firms” to the Fortune 100 – our purpose is to transform your business (and disrupt our industry).
Madeline Hall
Managing Partner, Founder
As founder and Managing Partner, Madeline serves clients through talent mapping, human capital management strategy, and executive search. In addition, she leads the design and delivery of Lacey Lake Leadership’s client strategy and offerings, as well as all operations of the business.
As a strategic talent partner and former management consultant, Madeline approaches her relationships with kindness, empathy, and authenticity. She has spent her career advising leadership teams on executive talent decisions, bringing over 10 years of human capital management experience – spanning top-tier executive recruiting and leadership assessment (Spencer Stuart, Korn Ferry), client-side talent recruitment (Allstate Insurance), and agency consulting roles (Huron Consulting Group, Healthscape Advisors).
Maddie received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She resides in Barrington, IL where she enjoys spending as much time as possible cheering on Chicago sports teams with her husband and son!
Bill Kushner
Senior Partner
As Senior Partner, Bill serves clients through executive search, talent strategy, and human capital management. He also leads Lacey Lake’s business development strategy while supporting key operations initiatives.
With over 15 years of national agency experience at Addison Group, a private equity-backed staffing and recruitment firm, Bill brings deep expertise serving clients in private equity, professional and financial services, manufacturing and distribution. During his time with Addison Group, he partnered with organizational leaders to identify and deliver talent solutions, in addition to leading teams locally in Chicago as well as nationally.
Bill received his bachelor’s degree from Lake Forest College, where he was a four-year Varsity Letter Winner for Football and President of the Rugby Club. He resides in Western Springs, IL with his wife and two children, where he enjoys cooking, all things sports-related, and being outdoors with his family and friends.
Daina Gjemre
Partner, Human Capital
As Partner, Daina serves clients through human capital management strategy and supports business development initiatives. With 15 years of progressive talent management experience, Daina brings deep expertise in the areas of employee engagement, organizational design, total rewards, performance management, learning and development, and succession planning. Serving in various HR leadership roles, Daina has a track record of driving transformative talent management strategies that connect people and business goals toward company growth and engaged cultures.
A veteran of FCB Global, Starwood Capital, Burson Cohn & Wolfe, and HBR Consulting, Daina’s industry experience spans advertising, media and PR agencies, real estate, private equity, and management consulting firms, public and private.
Daina holds a BA in Journalism from Indiana University Bloomington. She resides in Chicago’s South Loop and enjoys road trips to Michigan, travel, music and time with family and friends.
Veronica Williams
Consultant
As a Consultant, Veronica serves clients through executive search, talent strategy, and human capital management.
Prior to joining Lacey Lake, Veronica worked as an Executive Recruiter at Creative Financial Staffing, a national staffing and recruiting agency. Veronica began her career in recruiting, working for a private Executive search firm, where she specialized in serving C-Level individuals. Veronica brings expertise serving private equity, professional, manufacturing, and distribution.
Veronica holds an MBA from Roosevelt University. She resides in Arlington Heights, IL. She enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with family and friends.
Domenica French
Associate
As an Associate, Domenica supports various business development initiatives across human capital management, executive search, and consulting operations. Domenica provides research and project management to Lacey Lake consulting workstreams and supports organization’s opportunity pipeline.
Prior to joining Lacey Lake, Domenica worked as a Program Manager, responsible for standing up large scale managed service programs within IT and end-user service environments. Domenica began her career in technical recruiting within IT, finance, and engineering spaces. Domenica graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington and currently resides in Chicago. She is an avid Chicago sports-fan, loves reading and travel and spends most of her time with family and friends.
Shawn Nelson
Associate
As an Associate, Shawn supports the Lacey Lake team through various human capital related consulting items including employee performance management, learning and development, compensation and total rewards, and employee engagement.
Prior to joining Lacey Lake, Shawn worked as a people analytics consultant specializing in HR related data analysis and benchmarking in the private equity, management consulting, software, and manufacturing industries.
Shawn holds a BA in Finance from Lake Forest College where he also served as captain to the Men’s Hockey program. He is an avid athlete and enjoys playing hockey, golf, tennis, pickleball and biking as well as spending time with friends and family in his free time.
