John Lamar is one of two principals of The Alexander Group and serves as head of the firm’s Professional Services Practice. As a leading recruiter for consulting and Am Law 100 firms, he is internationally recognized for his proficiency with C-suite fit: recruiting management executives with the skills and cultural alignment to successfully lead various administrative, operational and strategic roles. His functional expertise encompasses finance, operations, information technology and security, practice management, knowledge management, business development and marketing, talent management, recruiting, and diversity & inclusion.
Based in San Francisco, Mr. Lamar divides his time primarily between major markets on both U.S. coasts, plus London, balancing the needs of each executive search with personal attention to the development and maintenance of his long-term client partnerships. Mr. Lamar’s diverse experience extends beyond his professional services practice; he has recruited leaders for clients in both the public and private sectors, ranging from emerging growth businesses to Fortune 100 corporations.
Prior to joining The Alexander Group in 1993, Mr. Lamar served as a senior consultant with the Financial Advisory Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York and Houston, and he was an investment banker with the New York office of a Hong Kong-based merchant banking firm.
Jane Howze, a founder and one of the principals of The Alexander Group, has more than 30 years of experience in executive search. She has successfully recruited executives worldwide in every industry and for every leadership position. Ms. Howze leads The Alexander Group’s board searches and diversity practice, and our clients look to her as a valued, pragmatic business advisor. She is a certified Personalysis trainer, sharing her expertise in this innovative assessment tool to help clients build stronger teams. Ms. Howze is also a regular columnist for Paper City and the author of “Best Practices for Executive Search Firms” for the “Inside the Minds” book series, and she is frequently quoted in major national publications.
Prior to founding The Alexander Group, Ms. Howze recruited for Korn Ferry. She began her career as a commercial loan officer for a leading Texas bank, practiced business law with a Houston law firm, and served as Associate General Counsel for a California-based, multi-national financial institution. She is a member of the State Bars of California and Texas.
Amanda Brady, Managing Director and Chief Client Officer, has 30 years of legal industry experience, including 20 years as a leading executive search consultant serving Am Law 100 law firms and major corporations. In addition to recruiting C-suite executives and board members, Ms. Brady also provides clients with market trend and operational intelligence. Her broad expertise encompasses all business services, including finance, marketing, business development, talent management, and diversity and inclusion. As CCO, Ms. Brady offers unparalleled support to firm clients while mentoring and leading The Alexander Group’s internal consultant group. Ms. Brady serves on the firm’s Executive Committee.
Ms. Brady joined The Alexander Group in 2004 and held positions of increasing responsibility until 2014. From 2014 to 2019, she served as Global Practice Leader of Major, Lindsey & Africa’s Law Firm Management Practice and as Managing Partner of MLA’s Houston office, and then as Chief Operating Officer of a national consumer defense law firm. She returned to TAG in 2021.
Ms. Brady was elected a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management in 2017 and was named one of Lawdragon’s “100 Leading Legal Consultants and Strategists” for 2016 – 2019. She holds a Yellow Belt in Legal Lean Sigma® and serves as a Scholar in Residence of the Legal Lean Sigma Institute’s PI, PM, and P+ Ecosystem™ certification programs.
John Mann is Managing Director at The Alexander Group with extensive experience conducting executive searches for clients ranging from major organizations to startup and middle-market enterprises. Mr. Mann has recruited for public and private clients across the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific, including Fortune 500 corporations, startups, professional services firms and not-for-profit organizations.
From 2011 to 2024, Mr. Mann founded and led Alex & Red, a rapidly growing national search firm that extended a high-touch recruiting process for future C-suite leaders. In 2024, Alex & Red was integrated into The Alexander Group, where Mr. Mann is part of the leadership team.
Mr. Mann’s prior experience includes serving as a client account manager for Bowne, a financial, marketing and business communications services company, where he assisted Fortune 100 clients in the development of initial public offerings, debt and equity offerings, and other shareholder and compliance materials.
Ms. Ehrgott, Head of our Global Life Sciences Practice, brings more than 35 years of both global and national business development and executive search expertise to The Alexander Group. She has conducted searches for top C-Suite executives across research and development, commercial, finance, corporate development, tech ops – manufacturing, quality, and supply chain, legal, corporate affairs and communications, investor relations, information technology, compliance, human resources, and diversity and inclusion for Fortune 500 companies as well as private equity/venture capital backed emerging growth clients across multiple industries, including pharmaceutical, biotech, generics, consumer packaged goods, medical device, manufacturing, not-for-profit, retail, financial services, and professional services.
Ms. Ehrgott serves on the National Board of Advisors of Life Science Cares. Life Science Cares is a nonprofit organization that leverages the power of the life science industry and provides a platform to solve poverty by uniting the human and financial resources of life science companies and industry leaders.
Prior to joining The Alexander Group, Ms. Ehrgott was Head of Talent Acquisition for Europe & ROW as well as Head of Global Talent Acquisition Projects for Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics. Ms. Ehrgott was tapped by this newly formed division of Novartis not only for her consultative approach to executive search but also for her proven track record to achieve the “slightly impossible.”
Previously, Ms. Ehrgott was Co-founder & Partner of a national interim staffing firm that recruited executive level human resources professionals for a Fortune 500 client base.
She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lehigh University and a former classical ballet dancer.
Sally King is a seasoned international executive known for her expertise in global operations, strategic planning, and merger integration within the professional services industry. With more than 30 years of experience, Ms. King has navigated complex challenges and orchestrated transformative initiatives for both law firms and major corporations, consistently driving profitability and productivity enhancements.
Having served in key leadership roles at prestigious organizations such as General Electric, NYNEX, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, Ms. King has honed her skills in firm leadership succession planning, merger integration, corporate governance, talent management and operations.
Ms. King’s strategic foresight and hands-on approach are key to reshaping organizational structures, driving cultural transformations, and fostering innovation amid dynamic industry landscapes.
Ms. King joins The Alexander Group as a member of the advisory and consulting team, expanding the firm’s ability to serve clients through team and executive assessment, advisory, and consulting strategies.
Jean Lenzner is a veteran of the executive search industry with more than 30 years of experience in recruiting, professional development, training, diversity and retention. Despite her wide-ranging business expertise, she remains an enthusiastic lifelong learner, always excited to embrace new ideas and approaches to meet the unique requirements that every search and project entails.
Prior to returning to The Alexander Group—which she co-founded and where she served as partner for 10 years—Ms. Lenzner was director of professional resources for Bracewell LLP, where she oversaw recruiting and retention for the 400-attorney global law firm. Previously, she was the director of experienced recruiting for Arthur Andersen LLP.
Sarah Sawaya is a highly regarded executive search professional with more than 20 years recruiting Board and C-Suite leadership. She enjoys a well-deserved reputation for establishing long-term client relationships and relationships where she serves as a trusted business advisor. For more than a decade, Ms. Sawaya has applied strategic insight and industry knowledge to every search, delivering exceptional results for clients.
Prior to joining The Alexander Group, Ms. Sawaya was a co-founder of Impact Executive Partners, a Los Angeles-based executive search firm, where she and her team partnered with a broad array of both domestic and international clients, financial services, technology, and consumer product industries. Prior to creating Impact Executive Partners, Ms. Sawaya was part of the core founding Los Angeles team for RSR Partners. She began her executive search career with Egon Zehnder International.
Ms. Sawaya received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard University. She is a proud member of the Cherokee Nation and is involved in multiple civic and community organizations, including the Board of Crayon Collection.
Jonathan Verlander has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry and financial services and has conducted executive search assignments for clients across the United States, Europe, and Africa. He has recruited professionals in energy, power, and natural resources, industrial, technology, and financial and professional services, including Am Law-ranked and boutique law firms.
Mr. Verlander joined The Alexander Group’s sister firm, Alex & Red, in 2022 from a global executive search firm where he was Partner and Houston office lead for the US business. In 2024, Alex & Red was integrated into The Alexander Group. Mr. Verlander has worked with a range of clients, from venture capital-backed start-ups developing novel technologies and first-of-kind project and product development to integrated multinational corporations. He has advised on organizational design, competency mapping, succession planning, compensation, and leadership development. He is recognized for his keen business acumen and pragmatic business advice.
Prior to his executive search career, Mr. Verlander held finance roles at Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He began his career in geology and business planning roles with Shell and Enterprise Oil.
Mr. Verlander earned a PhD in Geology and a BA in Geology with honors from the University of Oxford. He is a licensed practitioner in Hogan psychometric assessment tools.
Sarah Mitchell has more than 20 years of recruiting experience, the majority of which have been with The Alexander Group. As a member of the San Francisco office, she focuses on legal, marketing, human resources, finance and information technology leadership positions across a broad range of industries, with an emphasis on life sciences, professional services and not-for-profits.
Ms. Mitchell has also worked in-house as a recruiter for Amazon.com in Seattle. When she’s not busy finding top talent for our clients’ most critical positions, she can be found on a hike in the Berkeley hills with her husband, in a yoga or Pilates studio, or on stage as a theater actor.