Jill specializes in recruiting fundamentals that support growth in alignment with values and mission, and is passionate about supporting women in leadership roles. Previous to GBD Talent, she was the Director of Global Recruiting at Airbnb for over 5 years, growing the company from 150 to 4,500 people with a focus on building diverse teams and maintaining values. As a partner and founder at GBD Talent, Jill leads executive searches, trainings for hiring managers, workshops and strategic advisement.
Jill holds her B.A. of International Relations and Affairs. Jill worked in luxury active travel before she transitioned into recruiting, speaks four languages and has worked on six continents.
Adam connects people with opportunities, improving their personal and career prospects, with a keen awareness that there are right roles for the right people at the right time in companies. Adam has over 20 years of experience at high growth companies including Pinterest and Facebook where he served as the Global Head of Recruiting and Director of Recruiting, respectively, leading the companies through their IPO and major growth phases. Serving as a Founder and Partner at GBD Talent, Adam specializes in guiding Talent leaders as they navigate change as well as advising clients on how to effectively scale their business and sharpen their recruiting processes.
Adam holds his B.A. of Communication and Psychology. He is a proud #GirlDad, enjoys watching sports, coaching softball, and is self-proclaimed below average on the green.
Mike has broad scaling experience in leadership roles within IT, HR, Total Rewards, People Analytics, and Recruiting while also helping two companies IPO. His background includes recruiting and people operations leadership experience during pivotal growth stages at some of the world’s most recognizable technology companies -- Apple during global retail expansion, Facebook pre-IPO 1,500 employees to over 7,000, and Pinterest from Series D pre-revenue and 150 to over 2,000 employees. As a partner and founder at GBD Talent, Mike leads foundational projects, enhancing our clients operational and foundational processes, market mapping and intelligence for executive searches, and Academy operations.
Mike holds his B.S in Business Management with a concentration in IT and Marketing. He is the father of two rambunctious boys, an avid soccer player, coffee lover, and enjoys drawing in his sketchbook.
Katie drives executive search recruiting at GBD Talent, where her passion for connecting people with purpose truly shines. Katie brings a unique blend of strategic vision and genuine warmth to the world of talent acquisition. Her background in university recruiting honed her ability to craft impactful programs and creatively navigate complex hiring challenges. Katie's impressive track record includes pioneering programs like the Jedi Academy at Lucasfilm and successfully recruiting exceptional talent for leading companies such such as Facebook and Pinterest. She is particularly adept at building strong relationships with candidates, understanding their career goals, and finding the perfect alignment with GBD clients' opportunities.
Katie earned her B.S. in Kinesiology and an M.Ed. in Educational Counseling. Outside of her professional endeavors, she is a devoted mother, loves exploring the scenic beaches of Central California, and enjoys lively discussions with her local book club.
April leads executive searches for the clients of GBD. She brings a wealth of experience from her time at high-growth startups as a founding member of recruiting teams to leading and scaling talent acquisition functions from the ground up.
April is a coveted partner to clients, focused on bringing a thoughtful and strategic approach to their search and operations. She is also an ally to candidates, determined to find the right opportunities in which they will thrive.
April holds a B.A. in Economics. Outside of work, she cherishes quality time with friends and family and enjoys being a tourist in her town, exploring the different neighborhoods, beaches, restaurants, and live music around Los Angeles.
As a Managing Partner, Janet focuses on GBD's customized trainings and offers strategic advising for early and growth-stage companies. Her skillset grown at Airbnb and refined at GBD Talent since 2019 has led her to successful engagements with over 40 companies and firms, including Gigascale Capital and their portfolio companies, Plenty, Discord, and the New York Times' Product and Data teams. Janet has deep empathy for candidates as well as those responsible for hiring. She's fueled by building more predictive, fair, and efficient hiring processes that allow great companies to achieve their missions.
Janet holds her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Sustainable Food Systems. Tell her about the last great book you read.
Michael is the Managing Partner for GBD's augmented recruiting function. Michael brings a genuine curiosity for all things talent, along with a steadfast work ethic.
Michael's background is in technical recruiting and sourcing with over six years at Pinterest where he managed, built and scaled the sourcing function and strategy across the company. Prior to that he sourced at early fintech startups and at LinkedIn.
Michael holds his B.S. in sociology. In his spare time, you’ll likely find him playing a round of golf or enjoying the many beautiful hiking trails and backpacking destinations in the greater Colorado area.
Dayna leads GBD's business operations, bringing a strategic approach to systematizing and scaling the company's internal processes and systems. Since 2019, she has focused on creating and implementing systems that allow GBD's team members focus on what they do best - delivering outstanding results for clients.
Dayna holds her B.A. in Psychology. Outside of work, she finds joy in the outdoors, primarily focusing on skiing in the winter and hiking and trail running in the summer. When indoors she can be found in her kitchen, cooking and enjoying meals with her family and friends.
Shanza is responsible for sourcing at GBD Talent, bringing strategic expertise to identifying top talent. Originally pursuing a career in food and hospitality, her experience as a recruiting coordinator and sourcer at Airbnb honed her skills in candidate evaluation, stakeholder collaboration, and organizational excellence. At GBD Talent, Shanza specializes in sourcing niche talent for hard-to-fill positions while expanding recruiting reach to include candidates from diverse academic and professional backgrounds.
Shanza holds a B.S. in Food Science and Human Nutrition. She loves traveling, hiking, crafting, and live music, and spent a "year in a van" exploring the US and Canada with her partner..
April joins the GBD Talent team as a Technical Recruiter/Sourcer. Her path to recruiting began when working as a paralegal in the immigration sector, helping immigrants find work. The desire to help others with their career journeys has remained unchanged.
April’s ability to build meaningful, trusted, and transparent partnerships has made her an ally to hiring managers and candidates. She has a true knack for understanding what kind of talent hiring managers need, thereby lifting the recruiting burden from them.
April holds her B.S in Marketing. She lives in Vancouver and enjoys fitness, dance, and yoga. With a desire to give back, April also spends her free time helping people that have been impacted by layoffs and sharing her baked goods with neighbors.
Jon joins the GBD Talent Sourcing team, helping clients with process creation, talent mapping, and sourcing for purple unicorns.
Knowing the value of emotional intelligence in recruiting, Jon uses this ability to recognize and understand hiring manager and candidate needs. His love for a true challenge and his ability to find the best solutions, makes him an integral part of the sourcing team.
Jon holds a double major in Organizational Psychology and Communications. Recognizing his genetic obligation to play basketball (he’s 6’5!), you will often find him on the Brooklyn courts with friends. He also has an appreciation for the arts and spends his free time taking improv classes and going to live shows (pre-Covid).
Naomi joins the GBD talent team focusing on advising organizations on how to build structured, scalable, and high-impact recruiting programs. With over a decade of experience in talent acquisition and recruiting operations, she specializes in designing hiring strategies that align with business goals and enable long-term growth.
Previously, Naomi has led talent acquisition efforts across a range of industries and company stages, from early stage startups to global companies, with a focus on operational excellence in recruiting. Her experience includes building university and technical recruiting programs, improving hiring operations, and advising on strategic workforce planning. She brings a systems-oriented, strategic approach to scaling teams and optimizing recruiting processes.
Naomi holds a BA in International Relations and Affairs. Outside of work, you’ll find her nurturing her love for art, storytelling and travel.
Stephanie leads augmented hiring pods for early-stage and high growth clients. Bringing a wealth of in-house experience across iconic tech companies like Microsoft to scaling startups like Zynga (250 --> 3K), she is an expert at vetting, engaging and closing unicorn candidates for just about any open role. Additionally, Steph has facilitated over 30 interviewer and hiring manager training workshops across various GBD clients.
Her contagious energy and enthusiasm for a better candidate experience is highlighted through her coaching of interviewers and hiring managers in client training. She is also a true expert in ATS implementations, driven by the desire to improve and better utilize company data throughout the hiring process.
Stephanie holds her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Berkeley. Outside of work, you will most likely find her relaxing at her home away from home (Healdsburg), fostering her love for cooking and baking, stretching over a ballet barre, and cuddling her adorable Bernadoodle, Milo.
Abigail is an advisor for the clients of Growth By Design Talent, helping to streamline processes and improve efficiency. Through her ability to observe and understand dynamic systems, she is able to successfully discover the right solutions for teams.
With a background in mentorship and advising in the education space, Abigail loves guiding people through their hiring process, connecting them to the right job, and enabling them to develop and ultimately flourish in their career. Through a lens on diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the hiring process, Abigail seeks to create more inclusive spaces, giving all candidates equal opportunities to jobs.
Abigail holds her B.A. in Psychology and Masters in Education. In her free time, she enjoys spending time at the beach, serving her local community through her church, and picking up new hobbies (she is currently learning the guitar!).
Jessie joins the GBD team leading operations for our search and training services. With a background in teaching, she is passionate about providing education to employees through unique training programs. Her ability to deconstruct complex topics allows her to teach employees at all levels and abilities. While at Apple, she trained over 9,000 employees, successfully improving employee’s overall productivity and efficiency.
Jessie’s strong and effective communication skills and her love for highly organized and efficient processes makes her a valued team member at GBD.
Jessie holds her B.A in Modern Languages and Literature. Outside of work, you’ll find her connecting with her community through meals and bike rides, dancing her way through San Francisco, or heading to improv classes to fulfill her desire for continued education.
Nadia works across GBD's services as an advisory specialist and training developer and facilitator. Previously, she led the in-house talent function at fintech startup Policygenius and systematized and scaled people functions at healthcare startups Landmark Health and Hometeam.
As a former organic chemist, she brings a uniquely scientific perspective and desire for building things. Her love of coaching & motivating teams, solving complex people problems and designing sustainable systems makes her a sought after partner to GBD clients and teammates.
Nadia holds her B.S. in chemistry from Yale University. Outside of work, you may find her nurturing her passions for food and music, checking out the latest musical on Broadway or exploring national parks in pursuit of cool cloudscapes.
Holly joins GBD with over two decades of recruiting experience working at high-impact tech companies like Google, Twitter and Stripe, and holding roles from Recruiting Manager to Talent Programs Manager and Advisor.
The clients of GBD benefit from Holly being naturally inquisitive and detail oriented which allows her to share new and thorough approaches for talent strategy and operations. She thrives when building talent infrastructure resulting in efficient, productive, and high performing talent teams.
Holly holds a B.A. in Communication. Outside of work, she enjoys spending quality time with her kids, exploring Bay Area hiking trails, nurturing her garden, cooking delicious meals and planning events and celebrations for her family and friends.
Allison supports GBD's clients in advisory, training, and facilitation. She was an early member of the customer success team at Greenhouse before leading talent operations at Stitch Fix, ClassDojo, and Navan (fka TripActions).
At Navan she also stood up the first centralized learning & development function focused on leadership enablement, performance management, and organizational health. Allison combines deep expertise with genuine empathy to build exceptional talent systems for fast moving, growing companies.
Before transitioning to tech, Allison spent a decade in the non-profit sector, focused on educational equity and social impact initiatives. Allison holds a BA in Cellular Biology from Sarah Lawrence College. She resides in Bend, Oregon and when not in front of the computer, you can find Allison perfecting her sourdough bagel recipe or trail running through the mountains with her pup, Rufio.
Kat leads executive searches for the clients of GBD. Known for a consultative approach, Kat combines search and industry expertise with data-driven insights to assess organizational needs to deliver a tailored search experience. She has a genuine curiosity in understanding what drives people and finding the best fit for them in their career. Kat has close to a decade of experience in strategic talent acquisition and has successfully partnered with venture backed organizations like BetterUp, Handshake, HackerOne and Amplitude.
Kat holds a B.A. in Political Science. Outside of work Kat loves to spend time with her family and explore the outdoors, skiing, surfing or hiking with her dog in Tahoe. When not outside, she loves dreaming up her next travel destination or cooking for family and friends!
Caroline joins the GBD team to support all things operations across the business. With a background as a writer and editor, she brings an exquisite attention to detail along with a strategic eye toward the big picture.
Previously, she coached job seekers to find their next role, had a stint in tech recruiting, and built a relationship-based community from the ground up in the nonprofit world, among other roles. She holds a BA and an MFA in Creative Writing. Outside of work, you can find her bicycling or hiking among the San Francisco Bay Area’s many beautiful trails.
