Biography

Dr. Susan Sandlund is a managing director at Pearl Meyer. For more than 30 years, Susan has worked with boards, CEOs, and multiple levels of management on planned organizational changes at public and private companies and not-for-profit entities across numerous industries. As an organization psychologist, her work includes initiating and leading large-scale change to drive new business strategies, culture change, clarifying governance and decision-making, board and executive team effectiveness and coaching, organization design, executive assessment and development, and CEO succession planning processes.

Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, Susan was co-founder and partner of Veritas Partners, a leadership development and organization change consulting firm. Prior to launching Veritas, Susan was a partner with Oliver Wyman, formerly known as Mercer Delta Consulting (MDC) Group, working with CEOs and c-suite leaders on business transformation. She also served on the MDC board of directors. Prior to Mercer-Delta, Susan was a senior consultant with the Hay Group where she led leadership development initiatives for a wide array of clients. She served five years as an adjunct full professor at Columbia University and served on the board of trustees of Bon Secours Health System, Inc. (BSHSI) for 10 years, chairing the compensation and human resources committees. She is currently a director and the compensation committee chair for Peckham Industries.

Susan is a frequent speaker at board and industry conferences on the topics of CEO succession, board development, and organization change.

Susan is a member of the American Psychological Association and is certified in Hogan Assessments. She received her BA from Marquette University and her PhD from George Washington University.

Biography 

David Clary is a Managing Director and Head of the Leadership Advisory Practice at Pearl Meyer based in New York City. He has more than 30 years of experience building and growing a variety of professional services and advisory firms most recently focusing on board impact and executive leadership.  

David works with clients to address critical leadership challenges—aligning talent with strategy, improving team effectiveness, and driving execution against business priorities. He is known for a pragmatic, results-focused approach and for translating strategy into actionable outcomes.

Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, David served as the COO of a prominent leadership advisory firm, and earlier in his career, he was a founding partner at Procurian, a market-leading knowledge-based outsourcing and consulting organization, before its eventual sale to Accenture.

David holds a BS from the Kenan-Flagler School at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and an MBA with honors from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, in the Netherlands.

Biography

Peter Thies is a managing director with Pearl Meyer. Before joining Pearl Meyer, Peter was the co-founder and president of The River Group, a leadership and organization development firm. He has over 30 years of experience helping global companies implement strategic organizational changes. Present and past clients include public company CEOs and executives across numerous industries, including financial services, consumer products, healthcare, retail, industrial, professional services, telecommunications, and the nonprofit sector.

Peter was a senior client partner with Korn Ferry’s Leadership and Talent Consulting division and co-leader of the firm’s CEO succession practice. At Mercer Delta Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), Peter held several leadership positions during his 11-year tenure, including responsibility for consulting practice development, client relationship management, and client satisfaction processes. Peter also worked in Accenture’s change practice for several years.

Peter has published numerous articles in business journals and books on organizational change and is frequently quoted by the business media on CEO succession, executive development, and M&A integration.  He holds a PhD and an MBA in organizational behavior from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MS in educational psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in psychology from SUNY Albany.

Biography 

David Clary is a Managing Director and Head of the Leadership Advisory Practice at Pearl Meyer based in New York City. He has more than 30 years of experience building and growing a variety of professional services and advisory firms most recently focusing on board impact and executive leadership.  

David works with clients to address critical leadership challenges—aligning talent with strategy, improving team effectiveness, and driving execution against business priorities. He is known for a pragmatic, results-focused approach and for translating strategy into actionable outcomes.

Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, David served as the COO of a prominent leadership advisory firm, and earlier in his career, he was a founding partner at Procurian, a market-leading knowledge-based outsourcing and consulting organization, before its eventual sale to Accenture.

David holds a BS from the Kenan-Flagler School at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and an MBA with honors from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, in the Netherlands.