Chicago, Illinois, United States, August 2025 – Suzanne Jakstavich has started as Chief People Officer at Cohen & Co. In this role, she will lead people strategy and culture to support the firm’s growth across its U.S. offices and affiliated presence in the Cayman Islands.
Prior to joining Cohen & Co, Suzanne spent nearly five years at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as Chief People Officer, where she led end-to-end talent strategy. She oversaw the recruitment and integration of more than 250 attorneys and business staff annually, enhanced competitive rewards programs to reduce turnover, advanced engagement and belonging, and leveraged people analytics to drive growth and efficiency. She also designed multi-generational benefits, supported strategic acquisitions, and strengthened the firm’s overall competitive position.
Before that, Suzanne served for around three years as Chief Human Resources Officer at Heartland Alliance, where she transformed a 28-person HR team. She launched a leadership program for 250 global leaders, overhauled compensation for fairness and competitiveness, achieved 75% succession placement into key roles, improved vendor management and the organisation’s cost/risk profile, applied advanced people analytics, negotiated union contracts, and introduced new learning platforms.
Earlier, Suzanne spent about eight years at AvalonBay Communities as Senior Vice President – Human Resources, partnering with the Board on executive compensation, succession planning, and organisational resilience. She successfully launched and scaled a new division to more than 250 employees within 14 months, led a major acquisition that expanded the company by 40%, guided CEO and CFO transitions, and oversaw a 45-member HR team, redesigning engagement through targeted surveys, 360-degree feedback, and data-driven initiatives.
In her earlier career, Suzanne held senior HR leadership roles at Crowell & Moring LLP, BMO Harris Bank, and Dell Technologies (formerly Perot Systems). Across these positions, she developed comprehensive onboarding programmes, improved leadership retention, managed cross-border workforce transitions with high retention rates, built global orientation programmes, supported international acquisitions, and implemented innovative succession planning tools.
About Cohen & Co
Founded in 1977, Cohen & Co is one of America’s Most Recommended Tax and Accounting Firms by USA TODAY and serves a broad range of clients — from privately held companies and their owners; to public and private funds, advisers and fund service providers within the investment industry; to Fortune 1000 multinational enterprises. “Cohen & Co” is the brand name under which Cohen & Company, Ltd. and Cohen & Co Advisory, LLC, and its subsidiary entities, provide professional services in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and professional standards. Cohen & Company, Ltd., a licensed independent CPA firm, provides attest services. Cohen & Co Advisory, LLC and its subsidiary entities provide tax, advisory and business consulting services and are not licensed CPA firms. Combined we have more than 800 dedicated professionals across the U.S., 15 offices and a presence in the Cayman Islands through an affiliated entity.
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