CEO

Partner & Practice Leader

Susan O’Hare

Susan O’Hare serves as a Partner and Healthcare Practice Leader at Buffkin / Baker. With over 30 years of leadership experience in the healthcare industry, her robust insights and knowledge of the inner workings of healthcare organizations has made her a recognized expert in the industry. Susan focuses on national networking and building trusted client relationships through service delivery and insightful consulting.

Susan focuses her consulting at the board and executive level on matters related to leadership search, compensation, and to provide strategic direction on issues relating to organizational structure at the executive level. Susan is known as a trusted advisor with a vested interest in cultivating relationships through her accessibility, timeliness, and client-centric approach.

Prior to joining the consulting profession, Susan held healthcare executive leadership positions for more than a decade, including the role of Senior Vice President of Specialty Hospitals at Erlanger Health System, where she had total responsibility for strategic direction, program development, and operations for revenues of over $350 million and 1200 FTEs. For 8 years of that time, she was the CEO of Erlanger Children’s Hospital.

Before joining the team at Erlanger Health System, Susan had a progressive nursing leadership career in several hospitals and physician offices with clinical expertise in pediatric hematology/oncology.

Ms. O’Hare holds a BS in Secondary Education/Mathematics from Tennessee Technological University and a MSN in Nursing in Child Health from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is a Registered Nurse in Tennessee. Current certifications include being a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. She is a member of the Chattanooga Downtown Rotary Club, AONE, The American College of Healthcare Executives, Women Business Leaders of the US Healthcare Industry Foundation, and Sigma Theta Tau. Susan resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Partner

Jami Herzberg

Jami Herzberg is a Partner at Buffkin / Baker, bringing over 30 years of experience in human resources consulting and operational leadership. She serves as a trusted advisor to client organizations in executive search, strategic human resource management, and engagement strategies. Building strong client relationships through exceptional service delivery is a fundamental aspect of her consulting practice.

Prior to joining Buffkin / Baker (formerly Gallagher Executive Search), Jami spent eight years with Atrium Health, one of the largest integrated, not-for-profit healthcare systems in the US. Atrium Health was named to Forbes Magazine’s list of “Americas Best Employers,” and was named by Fortune as one of the “20 Best Workplaces in Health Care.”

As a Vice President, Human Resources, she led the Workforce Relations Team and supported system-wide culture and engagement strategies and initiatives, partnering with leaders across the system to achieve performance metrics. In addition, Jami was responsible for overseeing the system-wide administration of the annual teammate engagement survey.

Before joining Atrium Health, Jami spent 18 years at Integrated HealthCare Strategies, a national healthcare human resource consulting firm. During her time there, she provided various human capital consulting services to client organizations across the country, including executive search consulting and engagement strategies. Integrated was acquired by Gallagher in 2015.

Jami obtained a bachelor’s degree in business from Wichita State University and received a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Kansas. She holds the Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) certification from the HR Certification Institute and is also certified as a senior professional by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM-SCP.) For over nine years, Jami has served as a board member, executive committee member, and former chair of the Mission Services Committee for Goodwill Industries of Southern Piedmont. Jami resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Partner

Brad Veal

Brad Veal is a Partner at Buffkin / Baker, where he works closely with clients to guide them through the entire recruitment process. He serves either as the lead consultant or as part of a collaborative team, offering consultative support and tailored solutions.

With over 25 years of experience in the healthcare executive search industry, Brad brings a wealth of industry-specific knowledge. He played a pivotal role in the development and rapid growth of a top five healthcare leadership solutions firm, where he served as executive vice president of Executive Search. As part of the company’s executive leadership team, he contributed to operational assessments, growth initiatives, market analysis, and strategic planning.

Brad possesses extensive CEO search leadership experience, ranging from critical access hospitals to large health systems. He has also developed interim services and overseen interim engagements. His recent projects include placements for CIOs, CFOs, CEOs, COOs, CHROs, and executive directors.

With a deep understanding of both client and candidate needs, Brad has conducted hundreds of healthcare searches, from executive suites to vice-presidents and directors, as well as interim placement services. He has partnered with a diverse array of healthcare organizations, from critical-access facilities to tertiary care environments.

Based in Kansas City, Brad holds a Master of Business Administration from MidAmerica Nazarene University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Managing Partner

Martin Baker

Martin has been in the executive search profession for 25 years and is based in our Winston-Salem, NC office. Martin is a Managing Partner of Buffkin / Baker and is the Head of the Higher Education Practice.

He previously worked in the Atlanta office of Korn Ferry, where he developed search strategy and executed searches for numerous senior level appointments. He began his career working in London, England as a Research Associate with Saxton Bampfylde, an executive search and management assessment firm.

Martin has conducted searches for the positions of Chancellor/President, Provost, CFO, CIO, Vice President, Dean, Director, and Professor, having worked on over 375 searches throughout his career. Martin has recently represented a number of AAU institutions, land-grant universities, faith-based institutions, liberal arts colleges, and regional universities, where he has led searches spanning most functions and academic disciplines.

Martin currently serves on the Parents’ Council at Wake Forest University and on the Board of Directors of Old Town Club. He previously served on the Board of Directors of SciWorks (The Science Center and Environmental Park of Forsyth County in Winston-Salem), both the Alumni Council and the regional selection committee for the Presidential Scholarship at Wake Forest, and the Development Committee for the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem. He recently served on the Athletics Advisory Council at Wake Forest.

Martin earned his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University.

Partner

Ann Yates

Ann Yates serves as a Partner in the Higher Education Practice. With a career spanning over two decades, she brings a commitment to quality client service and engagement, and an understanding of higher education and leadership.

Ann’s executive search career includes prior experience at two national executive search firms, most recently at ZRG Partners and before that at Witt/Kieffer where she served as a Senior Partner. She is well-versed in every area of academic leadership, enabling her to serve her clients broadly and across multiple functional areas. She has completed more than 300 executive-level searches throughout her career, including engagements for Presidents, Provosts, Deans, and Vice Presidents at leading public and private colleges and universities.

As a strategic partner, clients repeatedly rely on her expert counsel and aptitude for identifying talented, diverse, and dedicated leaders in mission-driven organizations. In particular, she brings a strong reputation for advancing women and candidates with diverse backgrounds.

Ann is a recognized thought leader, having contributed articles to the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Education. Additionally, she has been an invited presenter at ACE Women’s Network and AACSB’s ICAM conference. She received her master’s degree in industrial psychology from the University of New Haven and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bethany College.

Ann resides in Virginia with her husband and two sons.

Partner

Ken Carrick

Ken has managed numerous search engagements throughout his almost 40 years as a search consultant while cultivating a diverse roster of clients in the education, retail, nonprofit, manufacturing, healthcare, and government sectors. Ken was a student-athlete and graduated summa cum laude with a BA degree in accounting and business administration from Catawba College and earned an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Ken began his career as an accountant with Duke Energy and later worked for a national insurance company before entering the executive search profession. Prior to joining Buffkin / Baker, he served as president of a national retained search firm with dual headquarters in New York and Charlotte.

Ken currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and Museum where he holds the position of Treasurer and is a member of the Executive Committee. He recently completed a seven-year term as a director on the Mecklenburg County ABC Board where he chaired the Audit Committee and served as a member of the North Carolina Association of ABC Boards’ legislative committee. He previously served two terms as a member of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC)’s Council of the Americas board. Ken has been the President of the Catawba College Alumni Board, and on the boards of the Greenwood Genetic Center Foundation, Greater Carolina’s Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Covenant Day School.

He has also been involved with numerous volunteer service groups, including in the special needs community, and youth sports associations in the Charlotte area. He and his wife have three grown children.