Mitch Gardner is an Executive Vice President at Vaco, where he brings a proven record of executive leadership, strategic growth, and operational excellence.
With nearly two decades of experience at TEKSystems, Mitch held a series of senior leadership roles, overseeing office expansions, driving growth within National Sales for the healthcare vertical, developing high-performing sales and recruiting teams, and leading the organization’s largest strategic capacity program. In addition to his extensive background in the staffing and recruitment sector, Mitch served as Vice President of an innovative healthcare technology firm, where he was instrumental to the organization’s expansion and operational success.
Mitch embodies Vaco’s culture of collaboration, integrity, and entrepreneurial spirit. He is passionate about driving the growth of Vaco’s technology services by leveraging the firm’s longstanding client relationships and exceptional talent base.
Deeply committed to his community and grounded in strong family and faith-based values, Mitch resides in the Jacksonville area with his wife, Ellen, and their four children. He is actively involved in local initiatives, including supporting families affected by autism, and coaching youth sports. Outside of work, Mitch enjoys spending time outdoors, hunting, and fishing with his family.
Sid Mitchener is the Executive Vice President of Strategy & Operations at Vaco, playing a pivotal role in the core management team that drives Vaco’s strategic vision and operational excellence.
With over 25 years of experience in consulting, recruiting and sales management, Sid’s career has been shaped by his dedication to the engineering and technical recruiting fields. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Virginia Military Institute.
Before joining Vaco, Sid made significant contributions during his six-year tenure at a privately held technical consulting and placement firm with a $3 billion valuation. He established offices in Knoxville, Tenn., and Atlanta for the contract engineering division, consistently achieving President’s Club recognition for his sales levels. Following this, he took on the role of a producing branch manager, advancing the IT consulting and placement division with an S&P 500 staffing firm in Raleigh.
In 2004, Sid joined forces with David Rhode to co-found the Raleigh office of Vaco, marking a significant milestone in his professional journey. He strongly believes in prioritizing relationships and fostering a people-centric culture. Sid has been instrumental in various ventures and projects, such as founding a division within Vaco focused on supply chain, establishing a successful retained search practice, and initiating innovative ventures like BUILT and Vaco’s division focused on creative talent. He has mentored and advised several initiatives within Vaco, demonstrating his commitment to growth and innovation.
Sid’s leadership style is guided by the principle of collaboration and the importance of teamwork. He emphasizes empathy, intellectual curiosity and tenacity, striving to hire great individuals and empowering them to uphold high standards. Looking forward, Sid envisions Vaco continuing to adapt to market demands, leveraging relationships and vertical integration to offer comprehensive solutions in staffing, managed services and consulting. He remains actively engaged with the community, supporting various local organizations and initiatives that drive positive change. Outside of work, Sid cherishes spending time with his children, especially engaging in their sports activities.
Leslie Cobb-Hector has over 20 years of experience, specializing in delivering innovative solutions to CFO and CIO organizations.
In her role as Senior Vice President and Executive Partner at Vaco, she leads strategic growth initiatives in California for Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco and San Diego and in Texas for Houston and Austin. Leslie oversees a diverse client base encompassing Fortune 500 enterprises, mid-market entities, private-equity firms and start-ups.
Leslie’s professional journey began in the field of accounting, where she worked in public accounting before transitioning to industry, supporting businesses from a variety of sectors, including construction, manufacturing, healthcare and financial services. Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration in Finance, she brings an incredible amount of knowledge, education and experience to her role.
Throughout her extensive tenure at Vaco, Leslie has showcased her strategic mindset and unyielding commitment to quality and efficiency. Whether integrating acquisitions, expanding offices or advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion across the enterprise, Leslie’s impact resonates in her dedication to empowering and nurturing talent, especially focusing on promoting women leaders. She epitomizes a servant leader, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, accountability and innovative growth in the dynamic landscape of the talent solutions industry. In her eyes, Vaco is not just a workplace—it’s a platform to effect meaningful change and transform people’s lives through work.
Passionate about making a difference, Leslie has been serving on the Board of Directors for the Houston Habitat for Humanity for the last seven years, holding chair, vice chair, and secretary roles. Leslie is currently serving as vice chair on the Robin’s Landing Board of Directors. Robin’s Landing, a Houston Habitat for Humanity subsidiary, is a mixed income, master-planned community promoting affordable housing in Northeast Houston.
As Vaco’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Recruiting, Kyle Allen oversees top line growth initiatives, culture reinforcement, employee engagement and recognition.
With an emphasis on sales enablement, Kyle works with Vaco anchor partners and line of business leaders to establish engagement, goals and targets, training objectives and ways to celebrate the wins along the journey. Given his extensive talent management and business development skills, Kyle has a keen ability to identify opportunities with existing employees as well as potential new hires to thoughtfully expand Vaco’s capabilities and footprint.
Kyle joined Vaco in 2012 after serving as an auditor at Ernst & Young and managing director of executive recruiting at Crowe Horwath; he became anchor partner of the Vaco Nashville office in 2016, and then senior vice president and executive partner in 2021. He is actively involved with several community organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors for UpRise Nashville, a career development program that provides training in highly sought-after skills along with leadership and personal development. Kyle is especially passionate about mentorship and providing people with opportunities to advance and be their best selves.
Kyle lives in Nashville with his wife, and he has three children.
As Senior Vice President and Executive Partner at Vaco, Chris Persiani plays a pivotal role in empowering businesses to thrive by providing practical solutions to their challenges.
Chris is a seasoned business leader with a diverse background in accounting, finance, compliance, risk and IT. He has over 20 years of experience, including notable tenure at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen.
With a keen ability to establish strong relationships and provide strategic direction, Chris excels at addressing clients’ immediate needs while also guiding them toward long-term success. His leadership extends to strategic staffing, ensuring that the right people are in place to execute solutions effectively.
Prior to joining Vaco, Chris co-founded Xperianz (pronounced experience), a professional services firm, which was later acquired by a global consulting company. After the acquisition, Chris successfully revitalized an underperforming brand, exceeding expectations in the process. This accomplishment caught the attention of Vaco’s founders, who sought Chris’s expertise to strategize and launch their Cincinnati office. Under Chris’s leadership, Vaco Cincinnati rapidly became one of the company’s fastest-growing offices, achieving Top 10 status in less than two years.
Chris is known for his exceptional networking skills and his dedication to helping individuals advance in their careers, connecting talent with opportunities regardless of their career stage. He dedicates time to assist executives and professionals, sharing insights on personal branding and career pathing. Chris remains committed to helping people navigate career transitions, and he is passionate about mentoring and advising at all levels. He considers it a privilege and an opportunity to share his insights, and he enjoys making a positive impact on people and their careers.
Chris’s unique ability to bridge the gap between strategic planning and operational execution has been instrumental in his career success. He thrives on building and growing businesses, a trait that has consistently propelled him throughout his tenure in the consulting and strategic staffing industries.
While he may stay away from the limelight, Chris’s impact as a builder and mentor remains deeply ingrained in his professional journey. He continues to play a pivotal role in shaping Vaco’s future, working closely with regional offices to drive growth, foster leadership and create opportunities for emerging talent within the organization.
Tom Turpin is an experienced Executive Partner at Vaco, currently based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
With a proven track record in guiding organizations through both challenging and prosperous times, Tom has played a vital role in the development and implementation of strategic plans – for start-up organizations and large enterprises alike. He strongly believes in engaging, teaching and empowering people at all levels to achieve collective organizational goals.
Prior to Vaco, Tom served as President at Randstad Canada, overseeing the technologies, engineering and enterprise solutions divisions for several years.
In addition to his corporate roles, Tom is deeply involved in charity work, supporting causes that are near and dear to his heart. He is a strong advocate for assisting underserved communities, especially children, through charities such as the Jennifer Ashton’s Children’s Charity and initiatives led by the renowned Mike “Pinball” Clemons. Despite facing personal challenges early on in his career, Tom’s resilience and dedication to helping others shine through in both his professional and charitable endeavors.
As Senior Vice President, Executive Partner, at Vaco, Ben oversees the strategic vision and operations of the Indianapolis and Detroit offices, in addition to leading the Finance and Accounting division in Cincinnati.
With over two decades of experience in staffing, consulting, and talent management, he has successfully driven growth and innovation. Throughout his career, he has held various leadership roles and excels at cultivating long-term client relationships. Ben is known for his ability to build high-performance teams, optimize operational efficiency, and implement customized solutions that meet the unique needs of clients. By leveraging a deep understanding of market trends and client dynamics, he ensures Vaco continues to deliver exceptional talent and consulting services that help businesses thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Beyond Vaco, he dedicates much of his leisure time to attending sporting events with his wife, cheering on his son and daughter as they compete.
In his nearly two decades with Vaco, Kevin Witt has held a variety of leadership roles.
In his role as president, his focus is on the continued expansion of the strategic staffing business and furthering collaboration with Vaco Holding’s portfolio of consultative brands.
Prior to joining Vaco in 2004, Kevin was a senior manager with Ernst & Young. He holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting and Master of Accountancy from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Kevin and his wife, Leigh Ann, live in the Nashville area with their three children, each of whom are his favorite. He is an outdoor sports enthusiast and especially enjoys hunting and fishing.
