Ralph Roberto, President, established Essex Partners in 1999 to provide superior career consulting and state-of-the-art technology exclusively for senior executives. Currently, Ralph serves as President of Keystone Partners, parent company to Essex, where he oversees the strategic direction and daily operations of the company and its divisions. Ralph also personally consults with senior executive clients and has partnered with hundreds of leaders from many of the world’s most prestigious organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, industry-leading corporations, and emerging growth organizations.
Ralph is a seasoned executive with over twenty years of experience in key corporate and operational assignments. He is recognized as a leading authority on executive career issues, and has been featured in many respected business publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal, and Human Resource Executive. Prior to joining the firm, Ralph held senior management positions at Polaroid Corporation, where he established a unique blend of experience in human resources, sales, and marketing.
Ralph received his Masters in Business Administration from the Boston University School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Boston College. He has completed professional development programs including the Consumer Marketing Program at the Kellogg School and the Advanced Leadership Program at the Center For Creative Leadership.
He is the former Chairman of the Nominating Committee of the Board of Directors at Direct Federal Credit Union where he was also a board member. Ralph also served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at the former Deaconess-Waltham Hospital.
Sean T. Kenney, Partner, brings an entrepreneurial, business development, and career management background to his consulting work with senior executives and business leaders at Essex. With a particular strength in helping clients position and market themselves for successful advancement, Sean leverages relationships in the greater Boston area established over many years in business development to gain visibility for his clients with retained recruiters and target companies. Sean has also guided many executives through the process of exploring and making significant career or life changes.
Before joining Essex, Sean was Vice President of Keystone Associates, where he consulted with senior executives from financial services, life sciences, healthcare, private equity, higher education, and non-profit organizations on advancing their careers and exploring new professional options.
Previously, Sean served in a dual role of Business Development Manager and Market Research Consultant for Massachusetts-based Foresight Science & Technology. At Foresight, Sean identified niche markets and designed targeted entry strategies for emerging technologies through strategic partnerships with licensees, developers and manufacturers in the value chain. Prior to Foresight, Sean co-founded a greeting card and stationery product company on the west coast and served as its President during eight years of significant growth.
Sean has been actively involved in The Salvation Army of Massachusetts Bay, serving as Vice Chair of the Advisory Board and Chair of the Human Services Committee. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Career Collaborative, a non-profit organization helping people with low-incomes become economically self-sufficient. Sean holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College.
Louisa Mattson, Ph.D., Partner, is an Essex career consultant and a business psychologist specializing in the field of career management. Louisa consults with Essex executive clients providing in-depth assessment and career management strategies. Additionally, Louisa has developed a unique talent for working with sitting executives to improve on-the-job business performance through coaching and assessment. Louisa also does specialized work with senior women executives, helping them reach new executive levels, define alternative career paths, and improve work/life balance. Her background in education and healthcare includes working at Wesleyan University and The Marino Center for Progressive Health as well as over 20 years in a private consulting practice. Louisa is experienced in a variety of executive assessment inventories useful in career planning and personal development, and has in-depth experience in stress management and performance enhancement techniques. She has advanced training in leading-edge mind/body techniques for addressing "whole person" issues.
Louisa holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan. She also has completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Organizational Development and Human Resource Consulting. She is a licensed One-on-One HeartMath® provider and a member of the American Psychological Association and The National Register of Health Service Providers.
Colin Moor, Partner has more than 15 years’ experience as a career management consultant providing considerable expertise advising clients on career transition, career management, and executive coaching. Colin has worked with organizations and professionals within financial services, high technology, media, retail, legal, healthcare, biotechnology, academia, and other non-profit sectors.
Before joining Essex, Colin was a Senior Vice President with Keystone Associates where he advised senior level executives in the planning and execution of successful career transitions, entrepreneurial ventures, and portfolio models that successfully balanced an array of work/life priorities.
Prior to his years as a career management consultant, Colin worked in leadership capacities in the broadcasting, publishing, business consulting, and training industries. He was a Vice President at VIS Development, a nationally recognized entrepreneurial communication venture, a Director at Mirror Systems, an R& D media consulting start-up and the Coordinating Producer for the award winning public television series, NOVA, at WGBH.
Widely quoted and interviewed at such media outlets as the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, CFO.com, WBZ News radio, and the Boston Business Journal, Colin has been a contributor to many career focused blogs.
Colin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in communications from Syracuse University. He was Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Resource Partnership, a non-profit group that provided employment services to individuals with disabilities.
Sarah Friedell O’Connell, Partner, brings over 20 years of business experience, as well as career management expertise, to her work with senior leaders. As a former communications executive and spokeswoman for Fidelity Investments and Harvard University, Sarah has a keen talent for helping clients develop their personal branding and messaging to effectively position themselves in the marketplace. As an experienced career consultant, Sarah’s guidance has also enabled executives to achieve greater success and satisfaction both in and beyond the workplace.
Sarah’s clientele has included major corporations such as Ford Motor Company, Rockwell International, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and BF Goodrich. As an executive with the American Plastics Council in Washington, DC, her member companies included ExxonMobil, Occidental Oil, Dow Chemical, and DuPont. This extensive experience with multi-national corporations and complex institutions, blended with her communications expertise, gives Sarah a unique perspective in advising clients on career advancement within a wide range of organizational environments.
Prior to joining Essex Partners, Sarah was a consultant with Keystone Associates where she advised senior executives in transition from the financial services, life sciences, higher education, high tech, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors.
Sarah is a previously licensed investment advisor and registered representative, and a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA where she received a B.A. in English and Sociology. She is also a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute and the College of Executive Coaching, and is a certified Motivation Factor® practitioner.
Howard Seidel, Ed.D., J.D., Partner, has over 15 years experience as a career and executive coach, guiding hundreds of senior executives in all aspects of career development and change. Howard provides clients with an in-depth knowledge into the strategic and tactical elements of the transition process, along with a special expertise in advising senior executives exploring career change. Before joining Essex, Howard was Vice President of Keystone Associates, where he consulted on career transitions with senior executives from leading organizations spanning a variety of industries, including financial services, biotechnology and life sciences, health care, and higher education.
Prior, Howard served in several consulting roles at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) where he helped build the company's first external practice in Change Management, and provided executive coaching. He also led the company's development of a proprietary performance consulting methodology, spearheading the introduction of the system to the market. Additionally, Howard worked at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he managed the development and delivery of a worldwide training architecture for a new business initiative.
Howard has achieved widespread recognition for his insight on career matters, being interviewed by such national media outlets as the Wall Street Journal and Forbes.com. Howard holds a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University and a law degree from The George Washington University where he also received his Bachelor of Arts.
Dan Shepard, Partner, specializes in executive job search strategy and execution. In addition, he has a recognized expertise in career change and renewal along with reconfiguring life balance. His background includes eight years at Keystone Partners working with senior clients, 17 years in sales management during which time he worked both domestically and internationally, along with several years as an executive recruiter in financial services.
Dan has proven to be a thought leader by developing innovations such as Appreciative Inquiry, Networking for Introverts, and Mid-Life Sabbaticals for Renewal. In addition, he has also been an integral contributor to the development of Essex Partners’ successful LifeKey Program for mid-life change.
He received an Independent Study Master's degree from Lesley University entitled "Career and Life Coaching for Adults in Mid-Life Transition." In conjunction with his studies and thesis he also developed a new career counseling model based on an exploration and discovery process of utilizing best life moments to plan new career and life chapters. In addition, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Nasson College.
His community work includes serving as a board member and volunteer at the Concord Open Table Soup Kitchen and as a Big Brother mentor. Dan also serves as a board advisor to the Sharing Foundation for youth in Cambodia. He travels yearly to Cambodia to provide career management services to aspiring university students.
Robert Collins, Partner, brings over 25 years of business leadership experience with publicly and privately held financial services, medical device and consumer products companies. In addition to his corporate roles Bob has consulted with senior executives on a range of business leadership issues including the development of strategic business plans. With strong business knowledge and experience working with executives, Bob provides clients with in-depth expertise, whether they are pursuing a traditional career search, seeking a career change and/or exploring entrepreneurial endeavors.
Prior to joining Essex, Bob was a Senior Consultant with Keystone Associates where in addition to developing and managing the Rhode Island office, he provided career transition consulting to executives across all industries including life sciences, technology, healthcare and financial services.
Previously, Bob spent 10 years with Fidelity Investments where he was Vice President, Human Resources supporting the Tax Exempt, Human Resources Outsourcing, Institutional and Intermediary businesses. Additionally Bob was the Vice President of Human Resources for FTD, Inc and Holson Burnes Group.
Bob holds Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and graduated from the Executive Human Resources Program at the University of Michigan.
Elaine Varelas is Managing Partner for Keystone Partners, parent company to Essex Partners. Elaine has over 20 years experience in career development consulting and has worked with numerous executive management teams to improve organizational effectiveness. She has expertise in successfully resolving complex career management issues, including workforce planning, redeployment, and multi-site restructurings. Elaine’s experience spans a broad range of industries and businesses, including Fortune 500 companies, start-up ventures, and not-for-profit organizations. Elaine also serves as Chairman Emeritus of Career Partners International, LLC, a network of independently owned career management firms which Keystone co-founded in 1987.
Prior to joining Keystone, Elaine served as Director of Career Services at Stonehill College where she was a member of the faculty. She was formerly Assistant Director of Career Planning and Placement at the Boston University School of Management. Elaine frequently addresses professional associations and is a regular contributor to the career section of Boston.com where her monthly column, The Hire Authority, advises Human Resources professionals and hiring agents on how to maximize their human capital and optimize their workforces. Elaine is also a regular contributor to the Boston Globe's Job Doc. A graduate of the Management Development Program at Boston University, Elaine holds a Master of Education degree from the University of Vermont and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. She is a member of several professional associations, including The Boston Club.