“There is no magic in magic.
It’s all in the details.”

Andy is a Managing Director of Blake Street Group. He has spent the last 20 years working closely with management teams on organizational strategies, operations, and mergers & acquisitions. Andy’s past work experience includes roles at The Carlyle Group, Centennial Ventures, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Robertson Stephens. He has executed numerous private equity investments and acquisitions of companies across various industries, and he has served on the Board of Directors of several growth companies.

Andy is a trained coach (Coach’s Training Institute) and has worked with several leading executives and entrepreneurs. He has taught classes as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver and Daniels School of Business. He has been a board member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and he is a former president of the Denver Business Series. Andy received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his MBA from Stanford University. He currently lives outside of Boston, MA and is an avid skier and golfer.

Carrie Jablonski is a Managing Director at Blake Street Group and heads the firm’s Leadership Advisory Practice. For the past 15 years, Carrie has served as a close advisor to investors, boards and CEOs on their most important leadership challenges to enable organizations to scale. Carrie is entrenched in private equity and partners with leaders from many of the world’s most successful alternative asset managers.

Carrie specializes in helping boards and organizations—both public and private—drive value and assess risk from a human capital perspective. Her work includes assessing and developing talent, diagnosing organizational readiness and managing succession planning. She is also a trained mediator and facilitator. 

Previously, Carrie was with ghSMART & Company, specializing in leadership assessment and development. Prior, she was a Partner at the law firm, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar and Scott LLP, where she provided strategic guidance, served as trial counsel and negotiated favorable business resolutions for Fortune 500 clients.

Her career began at McKinsey & Company, where Carrie advised clients on business strategy, post-merger integration and organizational effectiveness, specializing in the financial services sector.

Carrie graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, both with honors.

Alpha Mengistu is a Managing Director of Blake Street Group, with expertise advising investors and operators on leadership assessment and selection, development and succession planning, and organizational review.

Previously, Alpha was with Green Peak Partners, specializing in leadership assessment and development within private equity portfolio companies. She then worked at Russell Reynolds Associates in a talent advisory capacity partnering with Fortune 500 clients in financial services and healthcare, along with emerging biotechnology businesses, on their most pressing leadership assessment and succession challenges. In addition, she worked with leaders to develop inclusive leadership skills and increase their ability to attract, develop and retain diverse talent.

Alpha began her career at Katzenbach Partners, a then boutique consulting firm with a focus on people and organizations.

After, she spent nearly a decade as a strategy and market P&L leader at Diageo and Unilever in the UK and Africa. At Diageo, the luxury spirits revenue in her market grew by 250% over 18 months, and in the subsequent 18 months, the size of the business grew by 50% through strategic key account development. At Unilever, she delivered 60% year on year growth across the portfolio.

Alpha earned a BA from University of Pennsylvania cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

PJ is a Managing Director of Blake Street Group. He brings over 20 years of experience to deploy both a commercial knowledge of private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds with expertise in leadership assessment, talent management, and organizational strategy across multiple industries.

He was previously the Founder and Managing Partner of Lincoln Square Partners and a Principal at Green Peak Partners, where he assessed hundreds of candidates for C-suite positions and numerous management teams during diligence and post-close. Earlier in his career, he led commercial due diligence projects for mid-market private equity firms at EY-Parthenon and served clients in numerous industries and nonprofit organizations at McKinsey & Company.

PJ has led nonprofit organizations as the CEO or Executive Director and has served on several Boards, including the Princeton University Board of Trustees and the Council for Urban Professionals. He continues to provide pro bono services to several non-profit organizations.

He has a MBA from Harvard Business School, a MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and an AB from Princeton University. He is also a CTI-trained executive coach.

PJ was born in South Korea and grew up in Belgium, Louisiana, and Tennessee. He is still frequently amazed that he has now lived in New York City for over 20 years with his urbane wife and children.

David Hale is a Principal of Blake Street Group.  He has spent over 15 years working within and advising management teams on individual and organizational development, enterprise strategy, operations, and mergers & acquisitions.

Previously, Dave spent six years with McKinsey & Company where he served clients on business strategy and performance management and was responsible for talent development and evaluation for multiple McKinsey offices.  He then served in a succession of strategy and business development roles for a large North American tire distributor and led operations for an early stage MedTech start up.  Most recently Dave worked at GOJO, the makers of Purell, and was responsible for the company’s strategy, business development, and emerging partnership functions at different points during his tenure.  Additionally, he led a cross functional team focused on the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dave began his career at Morgan Stanley and later spent two years living and working in South America focused on entrepreneurial endeavors in both the for profit and non-profit sectors.

Dave received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and his MBA from Stanford University. He currently resides in Ohio with his wife and four daughters.

Sarah Hagerman brings nearly 15 years of experience as an organizational leadership advisor and executive coach. She specializes in the assessment, development, and coaching of growth-oriented leaders, teams, and organizations.  Previously, she served as a Senior Principal with Green Peak Partners, a leadership acceleration and organizational consulting firm. Sarah has helped numerous private equity investors and portfolio company executives secure a competitive edge by backing the best people and fully leveraging their leadership talents.

Prior to Green Peak, Sarah was a Vice President and co-lead of the Organization Development (OD) Practice within Kaiser Associates, a global strategy consulting firm. A top performer at Kaiser for over a decade, Sarah delivered human capital strategy and org consulting engagements for clients across a variety of industries, including Private Equity, Healthcare, Technology, and Professional Services.

An ICF-credentialed (PCC) executive coach, Sarah earned her Leadership Coaching Certification from Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, as well as a BA in International Relations with highest honors from Tufts University.

Tim is a Principal of Blake Street Group, where he focuses on the comprehensive assessment and development of key executives, teams, and organizations. He has assessed hundreds of C-level executives and has advised clients on their most critical hiring decisions and how to effectively deploy and develop talent for over 20 years.

Additionally, he provides investors key insight about potential and recent acquisitions across a wide slate of industries. As an executive coach, he generates observable and measurable results with leaders at all levels.

Tim has partnered with private and public leadership teams at Lighthouse Talent Advisory and Green Peak Partners. Before that, he held several internal talent management roles at Lehman Brothers, AXA Equitable and QBE Insurance. He previously served as a Captain and psychologist in the U.S. Air Force.

Tim holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Kentucky with a concentration in assessment, and a BS in human development from Cornell University.

Pamela Harless is a Principal of Blake Street Group and a proven C-Suite organizational leader with a successful track record across business transformation, executive development, and human capital strategy. She has held several transformational roles, driving change, generating results, and growing executive leadership teams within two of the world’s leading professional services organizations, mid-cap companies, PE-backed organizations, and start-ups. She now serves clients across a variety of industries with a focus on the integration of business strategy, organizational design, team effectiveness, and operational rigor.

Previously, Pamela served as the Chief People Officer at ghSMART. Prior, she and her team won awards for Best HR Practices and Best Culture during her tenure as Grant Thornton’s Chief People and Culture Officer. Her transition into the Talent function began at Capgemini, where she initially led Talent Acquisition and then the entire People and HR function for the North America Business Unit.

Pamela also spent fifteen years serving clients and leading large teams across a variety of industries as a Management Consultant at Capgemini, Ernst & Young, and Accenture. With a background in Finance and Psychology, Pamela graduated from Southern Methodist University with Honors.

Viji has over 20 years of experience in strategy and leadership advisory, working closely with executive teams at alternative investment firms, family- and private equity-owned businesses and Fortune 500 companies across the US, Asia, and Europe. She specializes in organizational effectiveness and performance improvement, helping companies optimize organizational factors (talent, processes, organization structure, etc.) to achieve aspirational goals.

She began her career as a management consultant at Bain & Company, where she advised clients on strategy, operational improvement and M&A across a variety of industries including consumer and industrial products, retail, healthcare, and financial services. More recently, Viji worked at ghSMART on organizational and talent assessment and development.

Viji earned a BA in economics and political science from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She currently lives in NYC and is an avid hiker and runner.

As an organizational psychologist, Anjani Bhargava has spent the last 15 years working with CEO’s and their management teams, fostering the needed culture and leadership skills to execute on their given strategies.

In coaching leaders, she works with people who are serious about their growth and want to transform from operators into culture carriers. She goes beneath the surface to effect long-term shifts in mindsets and behaviors. In her work, she blends a strong business orientation and organizational development skills with the deep “human” work of leadership.

Anjani has over 20 years in the industry, as an operator and an advisor, having worked in key leadership roles at Motorola, Pepsi and Lenovo. More recently she was also the Chief HR Officer for Topco and Chief Talent and Organization Development Officer for Abundant Venture Partners. She has worked with leaders across organizations of varying sizes and industries, including earlier stage, PE-backed as well as public companies. She also sits on the boards of several early-stage companies, and is an active investor.

Anjani graduated from the University of California, Riverside with her degree in Psychology and did her graduate studies towards a PhD in Organizational Psychology at Northern Illinois University. Given her broad experience base as a Fortune 100 leader, founder, investor and board member, she understands the complexities leaders face working with their key stakeholders to achieve critical business results.

Lauren Powers is a Master Certified Coach, a designation fewer than nine hundred people in the world have earned.  For 20+ years she has coached executives inside firms in industries as diverse as finance, technology, hospitality, media, education, manufacturing, retail, and consulting.

She partners with leaders to investigate their self-limiting tendencies and drive behavioral change that enables leaders and organizations to achieve their goals.  Lauren’s approach to coaching, which provokes deep insight and inspires bold action, is creative, challenging, and fun.

She is the author of the book The Trouble with Thinking, a guide to how our perceptions create our realities.  As a senior faculty member with The Co-Active Training Institute, she also educates students in becoming professional coaches.

Lauren began her career with Motorola where she supported business units in addressing group dynamics, resolving process improvements, and sustaining large-scale change.  From her alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, she has three undergraduate degrees and a master’s in Organizational Behavior.

Lauren is based in Los Angeles, CA and London, England.

Heather Sestito is Chief of Staff and Senior Associate at Blake Street Group. Her focus areas include superior client engagement and delivery as well as operational excellence across the Leadership Advisory Practice.

Prior to joining BSG, Heather was with ghSMART & Company, where she provided strategic business support and project management across the private equity and corporate portfolio, as well as led critical initiatives around public relations, innovation, and professional development for the firm.  Throughout her career, she has spent time in various managerial, operational, and sales roles within the real estate, manufacturing, and construction management industries.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Michigan State University, with minors in Economics and Human Resources. She has traveled the world, most recently living in Latvia. She currently resides at her home in New York with her husband and two children.

Luke joined Blake Street Group in 2021 and focuses on executive assessment. He has spent the past five years in executive search within the investment management industry, having worked at Russell Reynolds Associates, Jamesbeck, and Long Ridge Partners. In addition to search work, Luke has worked on various assessment and team alignment projects.

Luke is a certified Hogan practitioner and has extensive experience working with private equity firms, real estate investment managers, and diversified asset managers.

Luke graduated from Washington and Lee University with a degree in Business Administration. He was a member of the baseball team and captain his senior year.

Emmaline Emerson joined Blake Street Group in 2021 as an Associate. Her background is in coaching and athletic leadership with prior experiences as an Athletic Director, Division I Track and Field Coach at the University of Vermont and Dartmouth College, and a semi-professional athlete. She competed at several US Championships and threw the shot put, discus, and hammer.

Professionally, her skills include developing and implementing systems and processes, compliance, hiring and performance reviews, and engaging in continuous team development. She applies her athletic leadership and character development to human capital due diligence and organizational readiness at Blake Street Group.

Emmaline graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Dartmouth College in 2014 and received a Master’s degree in Coaching and Leadership from Concordia University Irvine in 2020. She lives with her husband in New Hampshire and enjoys the outdoors, working out, reading, and gaming in her free time.

Kate Leary is an Associate at Blake Street Group, where she focuses on executive assessment and organizational reviews. She is certified in Hogan Assessments. Previously, Kate held several roles in academic research centers at the University of Michigan.

Kate received a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy from the University of Michigan. In her free time, Kate enjoys rock climbing, running, and cooking.

Caroline Kubacki is an Associate at Blake Street Group, where her focus areas include client delivery and operational excellence supporting Blake Street Group’s human capital due diligence, leadership development and organizational readiness offerings.

Prior to joining Blake Street, Caroline was with Guggenheim Securities in their Investment Banking Private Equity Advisory Group (PEAG).

Caroline is based in Chicago and received her A.B. in Economics from Harvard College.

Felice Graves joined Blake Street Group in 2024 as an Associate. A 2016 Olympian and seven-time national team athlete in rowing, Felice’s skill set lies in clarifying team vision and energetically bringing team members along to drive results. Felice has taken her experience on high-performing teams and translated it into her professional life, most recently achieving a major win in improving national healthcare coverage for breast cancer patients by coordinating efforts between non-profits, patient advocates, and volunteers through her work with Dr. Elisabeth Potter and nonprofit Community Breast Reconstruction Alliance.

Felice graduated with her MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2022 where she focused in Manufacturing Operations. She has taken the LEAN manufacturing principles she learned at Michigan and applied them to her working teams, improving communication systems, workflows, and data systems. Felice received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan Penny Stamps School of Art and Design in 2012, graduating as Michigan’s Female Athlete of the Year.

Felice lives with her family in Quechee, VT. She enjoys rowing on the Connecticut River in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Morgan Crandall joined Blake Street Group in 2022.  She serves as an assistant for Andy Rourke and supports the firm’s human resources and back office needs. Previously, Morgan supported a chiropractic practice while studying human resources in college.

Morgan graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources. In her free time, Morgan enjoys reading, crocheting, and spending time with family.

Khatera Sahibzada, Ph.D., has over 20 years of experience specializing in executive assessment and development. She has partnered with a broad range of institutions ranging from the lower middle-market to Fortune 500, across functions and industries. Khatera has worked in the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and China. She has been featured in the Washington Post, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, Scientific American and the World Economic Forum.

She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California (USC), where she teaches graduate courses on employee selection and assessment.

Khatera began her career as a consultant with Korn Ferry, where she advised companies on selection and assessment, leadership development and performance management. She earned her B.A. degree in Psychology from California State University Northridge, her M.A. in Psychology from Pepperdine University, and her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Portland State University, where she was awarded a SYLFF Graduate Fellowship for International Research and was a recipient of the Grant for Cultural Cooperation by Spain’s Ministry of Culture.