Leadership
BENTE K. HANSEN, Ph.D.
After earning a doctorate in Anatomy and Physiology from the University of Northern Colorado, Dr. Hansen has had a successful 15-year career in biotechnology, biomedical and health care industries before moving into the retained executive search industry. She has worked with start-up companies from concept to IPO, as well as with Fortune 500 organizations.
Bente served as the Executive Director of the Center for Executive Health at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where she was in charge of operations and programs, attracting executives and companies nationally and internationally when the preventive medicine platform was fairly new. She was the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Development as well as a board member of HMG, an early stage medical device company in the cardiovascular industry. Other management positions include VP of Business Development at Hygeia Pharmaceuticals, consultant at Pyxis Corporation, a subsidiary of Cardinal Health, Inc. and co-founder of Medical Impact, Inc. serving the medical community.
Bente’s retained executive search experience started in positions as VP and Managing Director of Bioscience for DHR International, headquartered in Chicago, developing the bioscience practice for the firm and received an Award of Excellence for Top Performance. She was recruited to Gilbert Tweed Associates in New York where she led the firm’s practice in California before starting Bente Hansen & Associates. The firm was founded in 1999.
In her career, she has counseled CEOs and the upper management of a wide range of public and private companies including Amylin Pharmaceuticals, EMD Biosciences, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Arena, Accelrys, SAIC, APP Pharmaceuticals and AgResearch in New Zealand. Her chapter on science recruitment was published in Alternative Careers in Science which has recently come out with a second edition and she contributes to NextWave, an Internet career site for Science Magazine.
Bente’s involvement extends to numerous industry committees: The Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, Corporate Directors Forum, CONNECT, UCSD Athena, BIOCOM and BIO. She is a frequent speaker on career development and compensation practices, a TWIN Honoree from YWCA and recognized by UCSD for contribution at the Cancer Center. She is the past Chairperson of the San Diego Chapter of the American Lung Association and was instrumental in launching the Lung Express and the founding Chair of the Bioscience Affinity Group of Athena. Bente participates on the Biotechnology Advisory Council of California State University, San Marcos.
MARY G. COLACICCO, Ph.D.
Mary Colacicco earned her Ph.D. from Purdue University and comes with 30 years of operational experience in the non-profit industry as President of Travelers Aid. She had responsibility for board recruitment, day-to-day operations, fiscal planning, business collaborations, fund-raising and being the spokesperson for the organization. Mary applies her knowledge in finance to the search firm and manages day to day operations. Her expertise in the non-profit sector has provided the foundation for the Company’s search focus in that sector.
Not only does she bring years of experience working with Boards of Directors, she also served as an advisor/consultant to several national organizations as they restructured for increased profitability. Part of her responsibilities including evaluating the current CEO and assisting with filling vacant CEO positions.
Dr. Colacicco has been involved in several CEO searches for non-for-profit organizations including the United Way of San Diego County, the San Diego Council on Literacy, Travelers Aid Society, the Travelers Aid International and the American Lung Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties. She has also been responsible for placing various level executives in many not-for-profit organizations including vice presidents and directors in the areas of fund development, finance and program administration. Her corporate involvements locally include board participation on Nonprofit Management Solutions, the San Diego Council on Literacy, San Diego-Imperial County Girl Scout Council and membership in the San Diego Rotary Club, LEAD San Diego, San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and several other non-profit organizations.
Mary was Chair of the San Diego County Regional Task Force on the Homeless for ten years where she was responsible for developing and implementing programs for the homeless, battered women and those in poverty. She chaired several coalitions of agencies - specifically the Emergency Resources Group, a coalition of sixty organizations in San Diego County including Catholic Charities, Episcopal Community Services, Neighborhood House, United Way, Urban League, St. Vincent de Paul Center, Salvation Army and the Rescue Mission. Additional community involvement in the coalition included the San Diego Gas and Electric, the San Diego United Way and the AFL-CIO Labor Council.
Her local and national awards include: The John V. Naish Award of Honor for Distinguished Volunteer service (United Way); the Ben Polak Award of Excellence for Outstanding Professional Leadership (United Way); Award of Appreciation for Outstanding Service (United States Catholic Conference – Conference of Bishops); Certificate of Appreciation (UCSD Cancer Center Foundation). She was chosen Woman of Achievement by Soroptimist International and recognized for her service by Altrusa International.
She has served as Visiting Professor at Purdue University and has taught and supervised research projects at several colleges including the University of La Verne.