Marc Halpin, Chief Executive Officer

Marc is one of the founders of TradingPartners. Since the company's inception in London in 2001, Marc has led sales and developed key client relationships worldwide.  Under Marc's direction as CEO the business has experienced rapid growth and has expanded globally. Prior to TradingPartners, Marc held several senior management roles in procurement and trading environments with major UK companies including Whitbread, Storehouse, Bass and Iceland, where he managed portfolios in excess of £1B. Marc was named to Supply & Demand Chain magazine's Pros to Know in 2008. He sits on the TradingPartners Board of Directors.

 

Ginger Gorden, Chief Financial Officer

Ginger joined TradingPartners as CFO in 2010.  She was previously CFO of CSMG, a privately held sports and marketing agency, where she directed the development and implementation of all financial policies, procedures and practices.  Leading the executive management team, Ginger greatly impacted the company by successfully renegotiating a large debt restructuring, completing a significant divisional sale, and collaborating with private equity and individual shareholders to determine capital need requirements.  Prior experiences include her initial role as Controller and eventual role as Vice President of Finance at Carlson Wagonlit Travel/Maritz Travel.  At this global corporate travel management company, Ginger was responsible for implementation of strategic initiatives regarding newly acquired entities as well as maintaining the integrity of financial information. 

Ginger has an MBA from the University of Illinois Chicago and a BA from Marquette University. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) as well as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

 

 

 

Michelle Joseph, Chief People Officer

Michelle came to TradingPartners in 2007 to manage recruitment activities in the USA. Since then, her role has grown to encompass all human resources for the company globally, as well as overseeing marketing since 2009. She leads TradingPartners' efforts to give back to local communities through charitable giving and volunteer service, and has served as an executive member of the Junior Council for Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago for five years.  Prior to TradingPartners, Michelle played a strategic role in founding the recruiting firm Kelly Services Direct Hire Division in the Midwestern US. She also worked  in an international law firm, where she gained experience with cross-borders employment issues. Michelle completed her Masters degree in Human Resources from Cornell University and earned a dual BA in political science and psychology from the University of Dayton.

 

Dave Bowen, Managing Director

Dave manages TradingPartners' offices in Atlanta and New York, overseeing sales and operations across the eastern and southern United States. Dave joined TradingPartners in 2004 as a Commercial Manager, was promoted to Commercial Director in 2005, and was appointed as MD when the Atlanta office opened in 2008.  Prior to TradingPartners, he worked as a Business Development Director for PST International Ltd. a UK-based reverse-logistics organization, where he was responsible for client development across Europe, Asia and the USA. He was also a Business Development Manager/Buyer for uBid com, a Chicago-based B2C online auction company, where he established the company's European product sourcing operation. Dave graduated with a BA in English from Wabash College.

Jill Ivancich, Managing Director

Jill oversees sales and operations in the TradingPartners Chicago office, which services clients throughout the Midwestern United States and Canada. She joined TradingPartners in 2008. Jill is a seasoned business development executive, with more than 15 years of experience in strategic business management, sales growth, responsibility, cost-containment and operational efficiencies.  Prior to TradingPartners, Jill served as the Regional Business Development Manager for Kelly Services in Chicago where she managed several multi-million dollar accounts in the technology, banking and finance, transportation and distribution industries. Jill also worked as the Vice President of Sales for Advanced Resources, Area Vice President for Adecco USA and Partner at Timpat LLC. Jill earned a BA in Communication from Belmont University and is Certified as a Staffing Professional by the American Staffing Association.

 

Board of Directors

 

Gustavo Alberelli

Gustavo is a Director at  Kennet, where he has focused on investments in software, Internet and technology-enabled services since 2005.  For more than 10 years, Gustavo has worked with high-growth technology companies.  In addition to sitting on the Board for TradingPartners, he also serves on the Board of AcademixDirect and Intelepeer.  Before Kennet, Gustavo worked at Trinity Ventures in Menlo Park, CA.  Prior to venture capital, Gustavo worked in marketing and business development at Saltare, an enterprise software startup funded by DFJ and Sutter Hill.  He began his career in the technology investment banking division of Robertson Stephens.

Gustavo holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Swarthmore College. He speaks Spanish fluently

Maximilian Bleyleben

Max is an investment director at Kennet, a London-based growth equity investor in technology companies in Europe and the US. At Kennet, Max oversees the firm's interest in several technology companies, including TradingPartners, Spreadshirt, NTRglobal, Telemedicine Clinic, and FRS Global. He  authors a blog, Technofile Europe, that covers technology trends, entrepreneurship, and venture capital among other topics.

Prior to joining Kennet in 2000, Max led the execution of M&A transactions involving software, Internet and IT services companies at investment bank Broadview International. In the 1990s he project-managed the production of economic reports on emerging markets for European and US news media. Earlier, Max worked as a production coordinator for global Spanish-language media group Televisa in Mexico City.

Max holds an MBA degree from INSEAD, France, and a BA degree from Bard College, New York. He also undertook undergraduate studies at the American University of Paris.

Dr. Richard Chaifetz

Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz is founder, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych Corporation, the world’s largest provider of employee assistance programs (EAPs) and the leading provider of fully integrated EAP, behavioral health, work-life, wellness, crisis intervention services and outsourced HR solutions under the GuidanceResources® brand. 

 

Named to Crain’s Chicago Business Who’s Who list of Power Players from 2004-2009, Dr. Chaifetz is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, The Executives’ Club of Chicago and Vistage International. In addition, he has served on the board of directors of several public and private corporations which, in addition to TradingPartners, currently include Access MediQuip, Edgewater Funds, and NueVista Holdings, and non-profit organizations such as The Field Museum of Natural History, the Miami University Farmer School of Business and the Saint Louis University Board of Trustees. In 2007, he was named Saint Louis University’s Alumni of the Year and was inducted into the University’s Entrepreneurial Alumni Hall of Fame.
 
Dr. Chaifetz, a licensed neuropsychologist, is a magna cum laude graduate of  St. Louis University and received his Psy.D. from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology.

Chirag Shah

As one of  TradingPartners' founders, Chirag has been active in guiding the strategic direction of the the company for over 8 years. He is currently CEO of Ecurie Group, overseeing a network of car clubs including écurie25 supercar club and Quadriga Cars. Previously, Chirag worked as a manufacturing engineer in the automotive sector, and was a management consultant for AT Kearney.

Chirag has an MBA from INSEAD in Paris and a MEng from the University of Cambridge.