Courtney McDermott Kuhn is Founder & Managing Partner, Encore (formerly Synergy-Search, LLC), a retained executive search and advisory firm founded in 1999.

With over twenty years of experience, Courtney is well renowned in the retained executive search industry having advised heads of private equity firms, investment banks, and alternative asset management firms, CEOs, boards of directors, consulting firm partners and other business leaders on their human capital strategies.  Due to her expertise and outstanding client service delivery and management, she has long standing client relationships some that span decades.

She is frequently called upon by private equity, consumer, professional services and technology leaders for her advice and counsel and to manage their c-suite, senior management and corporate strategy team searches. She is tenured in recruiting partners and other senior level talent to consulting firm clients and investment leaders to financial services clients. She is a champion of tying talent to her client’s business agenda working hand and glove with senior leaders on their strategic talent planning and acquisition leading to lasting company outperformance.

At Encore, in addition to managing the firm, Courtney is focused on cultivating deeper client advisory relationships, on search management and execution, and on building both the executive search and talent consulting practices. 

Courtney took two brief stints away from Encore.  From 2011-2012, she was a principal in Heidrick & Struggles’ Chicago and New York offices and was a member of the Global Financial Services Practice and the Global Technology and Services Practice where she served investment banks, asset management firms, private banks and consulting firm clients. From 2009-2010, Courtney/Synergy-Search partnered with Choi & Burns, a preeminent retained executive search firm to serve investment banking clients and asset management firms. Between 2006 and 2008, Courtney took temporary leave from Synergy-Search to lead the HR and recruiting functions for Z Capital Partners, an alternative asset management firm and distressed private equity manager, where she led senior executive searches for the firm and was also responsible for executive management team assessment and recruiting for portfolio companies.

Prior to founding her own firm, Courtney was the Central Region Recruiting Manager for Deloitte Consulting focused primarily on the financial services, healthcare and telecommunications practices. The five years prior to that, the first of her career, were spent with boutique retained executive search firms.  

Courtney holds a BS Degree in Business Communications from Indiana University.

She is on the Board of Embarc Collective, a non-profit that helps Tampa Bay attract and build bold, scalable, thriving companies.  She is married has two children, two step children and splits her time between Chicago and Tampa.