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“If two boys each have an apple and they swap these apples, in the end they each only have one. But if two people each have a thought and they exchange these thoughts, each ends up with two new thoughts.” Plato

Dr. Thomas
Tomkos
Managing Partner (Founder)
thomas.tomkos@tomkos.partners

Dr Thomas Tomkos looks back on more than 25 years of consulting experience at supervisory, executive and senior management levels across a wide range of industries. His clientele includes publicly listed global corporations and medium-sized enterprises as well as family-owned businesses of varying sizes and backgrounds. In addition to board and executive-level appointments, he is a recognized corporate governance expert who advises on board and supervisory board evaluations, corporate governance frameworks, board effectiveness, succession planning and generational transitions.

Prior to founding tomkos.partners, Thomas held various leading positions at Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA) from 2005 to 2024. Most recently, he led the firm’s German Board & CEO Advisory Partners Practice as well as its European CFO Practice, and he played a key role in establishing the firm’s Global Family Business Practice. For more than seven years, until 2017, he was responsible for RRA’s German operations and drove the firm’s market-leading position. He also coordinated the firm’s European activities in the family business segment and, prior to that, its European Aviation, Aerospace and Defense Practice. Before joining RRA, Thomas served as Managing Director of LTU Aircraft Maintenance. Earlier in his career, he headed the Strategy and Aviation Practice at a European strategy consulting firm. He began his professional career with Gemini Consulting in Berlin.

Thomas studied physics, mathematics and philosophy at the University of Hamburg, where he earned a doctorate in theoretical physics. During his university years, he acquired his first entrepreneurial experience as a co-founder of an online start-up in the healthcare sector. He is fluent in German, English and Greek and brings extensive experience serving as a member of supervisory boards, boards of directors and as a shareholder. He is also a co-initiator of the Applied Governance Circle (AGC), an initiative that provides important impetus for the continued development of corporate governance best practices in Germany.

Valerie
Hitschold
Partner
valerie.hitschold@tomkos.partners

Valerie Hitschold supports clients at tomkos.partners in selecting and appointing executives and board members and advises on executive and talent development. Based in Frankfurt and Hamburg, she brings many years of operational and consulting experience in executive search, leadership advisory and strategic organizational development, with particular expertise in the industrial, automotive and consumer sectors.

Before joining tomkos.partners, Valerie served as Head of Global Executive Management & Top Talent Development at BSH Hausgeräte. In this role, she was responsible for the company’s top executive leaders worldwide and supported them in filling key positions, with a particular focus on international succession and talent management.

Before that, she was Executive Director at Russell Reynolds Associates in Frankfurt, where she led national and international searches for board, C-suite and senior executive roles as well as appointments to supervisory bodies, with a focus on industrial companies and professional services firms. She also managed executive assessments and leadership projects on a global level.

Valerie began her career at Roland Berger, where she spent several years leading international strategy, transformation and restructuring projects for industrial and automotive clients, developing deep expertise in strategy, organizational development, transformation as well as growth and change programs.

She studied business administration with a focus on business law at the European Business School and at the University of Oxford. Valerie is fluent in German and English.

Kathrin
Fischer
Director Research & Markets
kathrin.fischer@tomkos.partners

Kathrin Fischer is Director Research and Markets at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

With nearly 20 years of industry experience, she worked for Russell Reynolds Associates from 2007 to 2024 – the last ten years as Research Director – prior to joining tomkos.partners. As a member of the European CFO Practice and the German CEO & Board Practice, with a particular focus on the industrial sector, she worked with Dr Thomas Tomkos on a broad range of projects.

Before joining RRA, Kathrin spent nearly seven years with The Boston Consulting Group in Hamburg and London as a Researcher in the Energy Practice. In this role, she was responsible for sourcing, compiling, analyzing and documenting both internal and external data and information. Following her university studies, she began her professional career at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, where she worked as a Continuing Education Officer, focusing on the design, planning and organization of professional development and training programs.

Kathrin studied ecotrophology at the Technical University of Munich and spent one semester at the University of Cambridge as part of an Erasmus exchange program. In addition to her native German, she is fluent in English, has a good command of Spanish and possesses basic knowledge of Swedish. She also holds a qualification in business psychology and is Hogan-certified to interpret psychometric test results.

Uta
Fischer
Project Director
uta.fischer@tomkos.partners

Uta Fischer is Project Director at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

With more than 15 years of experience in executive search, most recently at Russell Reynolds Associates, she works closely with Dr Thomas Tomkos. Her areas of expertise include managing and overseeing recruitment mandates for executive, management, supervisory and advisory board positions, as well as coordinating effectiveness reviews for supervisory boards, boards of directors and advisory boards.

Prior to this, Uta spent many years as an Account Manager and Budget Director with both owner-managed advertising agencies and international network agencies. Her work focused on the development and management of communication and marketing strategies for clients in the financial services and media sectors. Having been part of tomkos.partners from the very beginning, she also contributes this expertise to all aspects of the firm’s marketing and branding activities.

Uta studied marketing communication at the Academy of Marketing and Communication in Cologne, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree.

Maren
Schmidt-Maibach
Senior Project Manager
maren.schmidt-maibach@tomkos.partners

Maren Schmidt-Maibach is Senior Project Manager at tomkos.partners and has been part of Dr Tomkos’ core team for many years.

She began her professional career in the hotel industry in Asia, where she gained international experience early on, influenced in part by her family background. After several years in the industry, most recently working primarily in Germany, she transitioned into development consulting as an Executive Assistant. Building on the project management expertise she acquired there, she subsequently moved into executive search and leadership consulting, accumulating more than 18 years of experience in executive search prior to joining tomkos.partners.

As an integral member of the team, Maren brings a high degree of professionalism, organizational expertise and strong communication skills to the successful delivery of complex assignments at tomkos.partners. These include numerous board advisory engagements such as corporate governance assessments and board effectiveness reviews. Through her strengths as a planning and project management professional, she ensures the highest level of client service and responsiveness.

Christina
Galić
Senior Project Manager
christina.galic@tomkos.partners

Christina Galić is Senior Project Manager at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

She has more than 10 years of experience in executive search and worked for many years closely with the core team of Dr Thomas Tomkos before joining tomkos.partners. Her responsibilities at tomkos.partners include project management tasks related to executive, management, supervisory and advisory board appointments as well as tasks in the areas of event planning and editorial work.

After her vocational training, Christina Galić spent many years abroad, including in the USA, Egypt and Croatia. She studied English and German literature and language at the University of Zagreb, where she earned master’s degrees in American Studies and German Cultural Studies. She is also a state-certified translator and interpreter for German, English and Croatian.

Alexandra
Büschler
Head of Operations
office@tomkos.partners

Alexandra Bueschler is Head of Operations at tomkos.partners. Holding a degree in business administration with a specialization in human resources, she has more than two decades of professional experience in managing commercial and back-office operations. She began her career with a vocational training in wholesale and foreign trade, followed by business administration studies at the University of Hamburg, where she focused on human resources management.

Over the course of her professional career of more than 22 years, she has developed extensive expertise in finance and human resources, successfully applying her structured, solution-oriented approach and deep understanding of business operations across a variety of corporate environments.

At tomkos.partners, Alexandra is responsible for office management and she oversees accounting as well as aspects of human resources administration.

Patrick
Smereka
Research Manager

Patrick Smereka is Research Manager at tomkos.partners in Hamburg and is involved in the early stages of many of the firm’s search assignments.

Patrick has been active in executive search since joining Russell Reynolds Associates as a working student in 2008. Until 2016, he supported multiple practice groups across the firm in the research and execution of executive search assignments. During this time, he also worked closely with Dr Thomas Tomkos and Kathrin Fischer on a variety of mandates.

Alongside his work for tomkos.partners, Patrick has also been active as an entrepreneur since 2019. In this capacity, he supports market-entry and business development initiatives for mid-sized consulting firms, with a particular focus on the construction, engineering and machinery and plant engineering sectors.

He studied law at the University of Hamburg. In addition to his native German, he is fluent in English and Polish.

Emilian
Gores
Research & Data Analyst
Emilian.gores@tomkos.partners

Emilian Gores is Research & Data Analyst at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

He studied philosophy, biology and economics at the University of Hamburg and graduated with a Master of Arts in Philosophy. Through his work for private research institutes and foundations, as well as his role as a logic tutor at the University of Hamburg, he has gained extensive experience in the structured analysis of complex issues, which forms the foundation for his research work at tomkos.partners.

Alongside his work for tomkos.partners, Emilian is pursuing his doctoral thesis on the philosophical foundations of action and publishing on topics relating to the theory of action, political philosophy and philosophy of language. He also continues to volunteer as an advisor at the job consultation service of Caritas Hamburg.

Emilian speaks English at a professional working level in addition to his native German, is fluent in Spanish and has basic proficiency in French. In his spare time, he plays the piano and the violin.

Kacper
Radkiewicz
Research & Data Analyst
kacper.radkiewicz@tomkos.partners

Kacper Radkiewicz is Research & Data Analyst at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

After spending several years in Poland, he relocated to Hamburg, where he gained his first professional experience within an insurance group following the completion of his secondary education. At tomkos.partners, he supports research activities and data management for mandates involving the appointment of executive and supervisory board positions.

Kacper is studying law at the University of Hamburg. He is a native speaker of both German and Polish and is fluent in English.

Dr. Sebastian
Schmidt
Director Information & Technology
sebastian.schmidt@tomkos.partners

Dr Sebastian Schmidt is Director Information & Technology at tomkos.partners, where he is responsible for information and communication systems, IT security and data protection.

He began his professional career in banking and spent more than ten years with Commerzbank in corporate and investment banking, working in Hamburg, Frankfurt and London. In 2012, he transitioned into IT consulting and worked, among other roles, as a Project Manager on software development projects for KfW in Frankfurt.

He subsequently expanded his real estate expertise through five years as Business Relationship Manager at ECE in Hamburg. As Head of Department IT Governance, he was responsible for project portfolio management, information security and data protection at ECE.

As part of his entrepreneurial activities, he serves as managing partner in both the consulting and real estate sectors.

Sebastian studied economics in Hamburg and earned a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Giessen. He is fluent in both German and English.

Nataly
Krack
Editorial & Publishing Specialist

Nataly Krack has been supporting tomkos.partners as Editorial & Publishing Specialist since the firm was founded.

After completing her vocational training in Munich and obtaining her university entrance qualification (design and graphics) in Hamburg, she began her professional career in 1991 at a small advertising agency in areas such as typesetting, final artwork and layout, eventually switching to Gruner + Jahr two years later. She then spent several years at the publishing group Milchstraße, initially in administration, then as assistant to the commercial director. When online operations were spun off to Tomorrow Internet AG, she followed her supervisor to the new company and became assistant to the CFO. After the IPO and merger with Burda and the headquarter relocation, she remained in Hamburg, initially becoming assistant to the CEO at JobScout24 and later overseeing two liquidation projects, including the closure of the Hamburg office. Since 2024, she has been working full-time in customer service for an e-commerce company.

Since 2003, she has been working independently for various companies, including executive search, providing services with regard to creating, editing and reviewing documents.