Caroline Gardner

Caroline is an experienced executive search professional with a penchant for understanding each client and candidate story. In her role as Associate, she leverages her journalism background, her prior search experience and her passion for retail, fashion and beauty to identify top talent and engage candidates with career-changing opportunities. She is particularly focused on DE&I and adding high-impact, diverse talent to retail C-suites and executive teams.

Caroline joined the firm in 2023 with multi-faceted executive search experience. Prior to joining KPA, she worked in the Consumer Practice at Korn Ferry where she executed searches across CPG, beauty, retail, and hospitality. Prior to that, she worked in the Healthcare & Life Sciences division at Heidrick & Struggles focused on executive and board-level searches.

Earlier in her career, Caroline spent time in DC working at various government and Washington DC-based firms focused on policy analysis and communications, leveraging her Journalism degree from Georgetown.

Caroline lives in New York City and is also a mentor with Streetwise Partners, an organization that advances economic equity by connecting underrepresented talent with mentorship and career opportunities. A life-long runner, Caroline has completed two marathons, and loves to run in Central Park with friends.