Bio

Joe has 20 years of experience of which the last 15 have been as a recruitment operator, consultant, and entrepreneur. As the Founder and Managing Partner of Eastward Partners, he has cultivated an elite client list which includes some of the most sought-after strategy houses, private equity funds as well as PE backed organizations, and financial advisory firms in the world.

Joe’s experiences cut across a broad spectrum of talent led challenges which include; construction of executive search processes for retained mandates, designing and implementing talent functions, and scaling recruitment campaigns for growth stage companies.

Joe prides himself on his ability to provide a sophisticated solution to a complex set of human capital challenges.

Bio

​Brett has spent the past decade partnering with some of the world’s most prestigious private equity, venture capital, and financial advisory companies, advising on a widespread area of human capital and talent engagements.

After graduating with a Finance Degree from the University of Notre Dame, he joined forces with Founder and Managing Partner, Joe Carbone, to help start Eastward Search Partners.

Prior to rejoining Eastward, he led the build out for a boutique private equity advisory firm and has executed some of the most high-profile engagements across the industry.

He holds extensive experience working in executive search, focusing not only within venture capital and private equity, but also across the broader financial advisory and restructuring spectrum. 

A native New-Yorker, Brett, his wife, and daughter split their time between New York and Miami where he will be responsible for opening a new office for the firm.

Bio

​Jeff Wilbanks brings over a decade of experience in building long-lasting, trusting relationships as well as developing creative recruiting strategies and initiatives. Jeff has a strong track record of successful executive search assignments across a multitude of industries and functions. He has filled numerous roles for both domestic and global clients in public/private sectors, non-profit, and private equity organizations.

Prior to joining Eastward Partners, Jeff sat on the leadership team for a retained executive search boutique that focused solely on Human Resources and provided recruitment solutions to hire top talent across the country for companies of all different shapes and sizes.   

Jeff received his Bachelor’s degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. He resides in Kansas City with his wife and two children.

Bio

​Lori brings 20-plus years of experience to Eastward Partners having led a team of search consultants and been involved across all aspects of the search process, from leading delivery to managing high-profile clients through a complex search.

Lori graduated from Tulane University with a degree in Interpersonal Communication. She prides herself on her communication skills with executive-level candidates as well as her client base. Her specialty is helping her clients identify the pathway to a successful mandate by levering data and analytics.

She is a competitive tennis player and loves the ability to be outdoors in South Florida 12 months out of the year. This competitive nature carries over into her professional life as well as affording Lori the ability to win multiple outstanding achievement awards in her career. 

Bio

Eastward’s private equity specialist, Reed thrives at building leaders by helping them find the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their value.

While he relies on technologically sophisticated tools to help him identify candidates, it is Reed whom Eastward clients rely on to find outliers who might not look like a good fit on paper but eventually prove out.

Bilingual, with extensive Latin American experience, Reed holds degrees from both George Washington University and la Universidad de Chile. He recently joined Eastward after spending the first part of his career in advisory roles. While out of the office, he devotes time to preventing distracted driving accidents through his work on the board of Text Less, Live More.

The winter sports enthusiast splits time between his Upper East Side apartment and his family’s home in Vermont.

Bio

​Carleigh brings a unique skill set with her diverse background in finance, marketing, and analytics. Combined with her passion for finance and entrepreneurship, she successfully scaled an e-commerce business from her parent's garage while in her senior year of college, bringing an energy and passion that is synergistic with the Eastward Partners approach.

Carleigh is an Associate in Eastwards Research Practice, where she supports the Private Equity and Financial Advisory departments. Carleigh utilizes Eastward's proprietary data and analytics platform to provide human capital insights for clients, specializing in market mapping and reporting, for which she mines data on market liquidity, compensation levels, changes in skillsets over time, location analysis, and diversity.

A graduate of Florida Atlantic University, Carleigh is in the midst of acquiring her Masters of Science degree in Finance, and currently works out of the Eastward South Florida location. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach with her puppy, Charlie.