Cohen & Co has appointed Suzanne Jakstavich as its Chief People Officer. In this role, she will lead the firm’s people strategy and workplace culture to drive growth across its United States offices and its affiliated presence in the Cayman Islands.
Before joining Cohen & Co, Suzanne served as Chief People Officer at a law firm for nearly five years, where she oversaw the complete talent strategy. She managed the recruitment and integration of over 250 attorneys and business staff annually, improved rewards programmes to reduce turnover, enhanced engagement and inclusion, and used people analytics to improve growth and efficiency. She also developed multi-generational benefits, supported acquisitions, and strengthened the firm’s competitive position.
Earlier, Suzanne worked as Chief Human Resources Officer at Heartland Alliance for around three years. There, she restructured a 28-member HR team, introduced a leadership programme for 250 global leaders, revamped compensation for fairness, achieved 75 percent succession placement in key roles, improved vendor management, and reduced organisational risk. She also applied advanced people analytics, negotiated union contracts, and introduced modern learning platforms.
Previously, Suzanne spent about eight years at AvalonBay Communities as Senior Vice President of Human Resources, collaborating with the Board on executive compensation, succession planning, and organisational resilience. She successfully launched a new division with over 250 employees in just 14 months, led a major acquisition that grew the company by 40 percent, managed CEO and CFO transitions, and directed a 45-member HR team. She redesigned employee engagement using targeted surveys, 360-degree feedback, and data-driven strategies.
In the earlier stages of her career, Suzanne held senior HR leadership roles at Crowell & Moring LLP, BMO Harris Bank, and Dell Technologies (formerly Perot Systems). Across these positions, she created onboarding programmes, improved leadership retention, managed international workforce transitions with strong retention rates, supported global acquisitions, developed orientation programmes, and implemented succession planning tools.
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