We are the Kansas City Retained Executive Search and Leadership Development firm that provides professional, personalized solutions with world-class results. Our mission is to serve by providing the highest quality service, keeping integrity at the center of everything we do, maintaining an optimistic can-do attitude, and giving gratitude to others for the gifts we have been given.
Cornerstone in the News
Cornerstone Kansas City Announces Emma Berlinger as Marketing Intern
February, 2025
We are pleased to announce that Emma Berlinger has joined the Cornerstone Executive Search in Kansas City, as the new Marketing Intern.
Emma is currently a senior at Benedictine College pursuing a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Emma has gained hands-on experience through various academic projects and campus involvement that have honed her skills in content creation, social media management, and market research.
In her new role at Cornerstone, Emma will focus on enhancing our social media presence, developing content strategies, and assisting in the execution of marketing campaigns. Her enthusiasm and innovative approach are expected to contribute significantly to our ongoing projects and initiatives.
Cornerstone Kansas City Announces Chris Pigott as CTO/SVP Global Head of Technology/IT Recruiting
January, 2025
We are pleased to announce that Chris Pigott has joined the firm, Cornerstone Executive Search in Kansas City, as the new CTO/SVP Global Head of Technology/IT Recruiting. We have been helping great companies recruit great leaders for over 40 years and Chris will be instrumental in continuing to serve our clients who seek to attract and retain great Technology/IT talent. Chris’s servant leadership will be a valuable addition to the team and, more importantly, the clients we are privileged to serve.
Chris Pigott is a seasoned technology leader with 25+ years of experience spanning both start-up and corporate environments. His expertise lies in application development, delivery, operations, and IT management, with a focus on building and scaling global services, engineering, product management, IT/DevOps, and operations teams. Chris has deep expertise in Public Cloud, Private Cloud, and On-Premise applications.
Throughout his career, Chris has built organizations from the ground up, growing teams from a single technology hire to over 300 people globally, reaching roles such as SVP and C-level. He has worked extensively with venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms to create successful executive teams and has collaborated with global C-level executives for over 20 years. His roles have included CIO, CTO, CISO, Head of Global DevOps, and Head of Global Professional Services, as well as overseeing global tech sales, giving him a broad and unique perspective.
Chris began his career at MCI/Verizon, where he held various IT, operations, and network management roles. He was the 71st employee at Genesys, a leading enterprise software vendor specializing in customer interaction, ERP, BPO, and CRM solutions. He helped scale the company from under 100 employees to over 1,000, contributing to its $300M in revenue and eventual $2B acquisition.
From 2011 to 2016, Chris worked at LiveVox and EIS Group, leading global cloud-based SaaS solutions. LiveVox was later acquired by NICE. From 2016 to 2018, he served as VP of Sales and Service Technology at Charles Schwab, where he led the transformation from legacy systems to cloud-based services. In 2018, Chris became CTO of FieldConnect, focusing on ERP and Field Services, and has since worked extensively with Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, Office365, Dynamics365, and Salesforce Lightning.
In 2020, Chris launched his own consulting firm, providing executive consulting to enterprises and advising VCs and PEs across the technology sector. His industry connections and recruiting skills for director-level and above positions, particularly in public cloud, AI, CCaaS, CRM, ERP, and data governance, are recognized as being among the top 1% globally and positions Chis well for a career move into executive recruiting and consulting.
Cornerstone Kansas City Announces Kelly Kearney as New Market President
October, 2024
Cornerstone Executive Search - Kansas City is thrilled to announce the promotion of Kelly Kearney, Vice President of Recruiting to the role of Kansas City Market President effective October 1.
Kelly has been a dedicated leader within Cornerstone, demonstrating exceptional expertise in recruiting, talent development, and strategic leadership. His deep understanding of the Kansas City market and unwavering commitment to our organization make him the ideal choice for this important new role. As Market President, Kelly will continue to report to Dan Heiman, Owner of the firm and lead our Kansas City operations, overseeing market strategy, growth initiatives, and continued excellence in client and candidate engagement.
Please join all of us here at Cornerstone in congratulating Kelly Kearney on this well-deserved promotion and wishing him continued success in his new role!
Cornerstone International Group Announced a New President at the Global Conference held in Prague.
September, 2024
Cornerstone International Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Dan Heiman, managing partner at the Kansas City office, as our new President, effective January 1, 2025. This transition follows a strategic leadership and succession planning process initiated in 2021. Mr. Heiman will be the second to hold the presidential role in our 35-year history.
Simon Wan, CEO and Chairman of Cornerstone, expressed gratitude for Larry Shoemaker's impactful leadership over the years. Larry's dedication and vision have been instrumental in establishing Cornerstone as a truly global enterprise. "I am also pleased to share that Larry will continue with Cornerstone as Vice Chairman, effective January 1, 2025, to support our marketing and member development initiatives over the next three years," said Simon Wan.
As we embark on our 35th year, Cornerstone International Group remains committed to our mission of identifying and developing leaders, facilitating career transitions, and enhancing client and candidate experiences. Our enduring focus on adding exceptional talent as cornerstones for our clients worldwide underscores our dedication to long-term value creation.
Dan Heiman's five-year term as President begins on January 1, 2025. We look forward to his leadership and the continued success of Cornerstone International Group.
