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“If two boys each have an apple and they swap these apples, in the end they each only have one. But if two people each have a thought and they exchange these thoughts, each ends up with two new thoughts.” Plato

Dr Thomas
Tomkos
Managing Partner (Founder)
thomas.tomkos@tomkos.partners

Dr Thomas Tomkos looks back on more than 25 years of consulting experience at supervisory and executive board level across diverse industries. His clientele includes publicly listed global corporations and medium-sized enterprises as well as family-run businesses of various sizes and backgrounds. In addition to board and executive-level appointments, as a proven corporate governance expert he also handles mandates relating to board and supervisory board evaluations, corporate governance frameworks, board effectiveness, succession planning and generational transitions.

Prior to founding tomkos.partners, Thomas held various positions at Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA) from 2005 to 2024, most recently as Head of the German Board & CEO Advisory Partners Practice Group and the European CFO Practice, and he was also involved in establishing the Global Family Business Practice Group. He was responsible for RRA’s German operations for seven years until 2017 and drove the firm’s market-leading positioning during this time. He also coordinated the firm’s European activities in the family business segment and previously the European Aviation, Aerospace and Defense Practice. Prior to that, Thomas was Managing Director of LTU Aircraft Maintenance and previously headed the Strategy and Aviation Division of a European strategy consultancy. He began his career at Gemini Consulting in Berlin.

Thomas studied physics, mathematics and philosophy at the University of Hamburg, where he also obtained his doctorate in theoretical physics. During his studies, he acquired his first entrepreneurial experience as the co-founder of an online start-up in the medical sector. He is fluent in German, English and Greek and has served on supervisory boards, boards of directors and as a shareholder. He is co-initiator of the Applied Governance Circle (AGC), which provides important impetus for the further development of best practices in German corporate governance.

Kathrin
Fischer
Director Research & Markets
kathrin.fischer@tomkos.partners

Kathrin Fischer is Director Research and Markets at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, she previously worked at Russell Reynolds Associates from 2007 to 2024 – the last ten years as Research Director – before joining tomkos.partners. As a member of the European CFO Practice Group and the German CEO & Board Practice Group with a focus on the industrial sector, she worked with Thomas Tomkos on a wide range of projects.

Before joining RRA, Kathrin spent nearly seven years with Boston Consulting Group in Hamburg and London as a Researcher in the Energy Practice Group. Her responsibilities included the acquisition, processing, analysis and documentation of internal and external data and information. After completing her studies, Kathrin initially worked as a Continuing Training Consultant for the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, where she was involved in drafting, planning and organizing continuing training programs.

Kathrin Fischer studied ecotrophology at the Technical University of Munich and spent one semester at Cambridge as part of an Erasmus scholarship. In addition to her native German, she is fluent in English, proficient in Spanish and has basic knowledge of Swedish. She also holds a degree in business psychology and is Hogan-certified to interpret psychometric test results.

Uta
Fischer
Project Director
uta.fischer@tomkos.partners

Uta Fischer is Project Director at tomkos.partners in Hamburg.

With more than 15 years of executive search experience, most recently at Russell Reynolds Associates, she works directly with Thomas Tomkos. Her focus is on supporting and managing recruitment mandates for executive, management, supervisory and advisory board positions and on coordinating effectiveness reviews of supervisory and advisory boards as well as boards of directors.

Prior to that, Uta spent many years as an account manager and budget director at owner-managed advertising agencies and international network agencies, focusing on the development and management of communication and marketing concepts for the finance and media sectors. Having been with tomkos.partners from the very beginning, she contributes this expertise to all questions relating to marketing and branding within the company.

Uta holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing communication from the Academy for Marketing & Communication in Cologne.

Maren
Schmidt-Maibach
Senior Project Manager
maren.schmidt-maibach@tomkos.partners

Maren Schmidt-Maibach is Senior Project Manager at tomkos.partners and has been part of Thomas Tomkos’ core team for many years.

She began her professional career in the hotel industry in Asia, where, influenced by her family background, she acquired international experience early on. After several years in the industry, most recently primarily in Germany, she became an assistant in a development assistance consultancy. Building on the project management skills she acquired during this time, she has since worked in personnel recruitment and spent more than 18 years in executive search before joining tomkos.partners.

As a key member of the team, she brings a high degree of professionalism as well as organizational and communication skills to the successful implementation of demanding projects at tomkos.partners, including many in board advisory (corporate governance analyses/effectiveness reviews), ensuring strong client orientation through her skills as a planning manager.

Alexandra
Bueschler
Head of Operations
office@tomkos.partners

Alexandra Bueschler is Head of Operations at tomkos.partners. Holding a degree in business administration specializing in human resources, she has more than two decades of professional experience in managing commercial and back-office operations. Alexandra began her career with a vocational training in wholesale and foreign trade, followed by business administration studies at the University of Hamburg with a focus on human resources management.

Over the course of her professional career of more than 22 years, she has developed extensive expertise in areas such as finance and human resources, and has successfully applied her structured and solution-oriented approach as well as her deep understanding of operational processes in various corporate contexts.

At tomkos.partners, Alexandra is responsible for office management and accounting as well as personnel management.

Patrick
Smereka
Research Manager

Patrick Smereka is Research Manager at tomkos.partners in Hamburg and handles the early phases of many of the firm’s mandates.

Patrick has been active in executive search since 2008, when he became a working student at Russell Reynolds Associates. At RRA, he supported various practice groups in the area of research during the implementation of executive search mandates until 2016, already working closely with Thomas Tomkos and Kathrin Fischer during this time.

Apart from working for tomkos.partners, Patrick has also been independently active as an entrepreneur since 2019, supporting market development for medium-sized consulting firms with a focus on construction, engineering as well as mechanical and plant engineering.

He studied law at the University of Hamburg. In addition to his native German, he is fluent in English and Polish.

Dr. Sebastian
Schmidt
Director Information & Technology
sebastian.schmidt@tomkos.partners

Dr Sebastian Schmidt is Director Information & Technology at tomkos.partners and responsible for information and communication systems, IT security and data protection.

He began his professional career in banking and worked for more than ten years for Commerzbank AG in corporate and investment banking in Hamburg, Frankfurt and London. In 2012, he switched to IT consulting and worked, among other things, as a Project Manager on software development projects for KfW in Frankfurt.

He later expanded his experience as a Business Relationship Manager in ECE’s real estate sector in Hamburg for five years. As Head of Department IT Governance, he was responsible for project portfolio management, information security and data protection at ECE.

As part of his own entrepreneurial activities, he is a managing partner in the consulting and real estate sector.

Sebastian studied economics in Hamburg and subsequently received his doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Giessen. He is fluent in German and English.

Nataly
Zick
Editorial & Publishing Specialist

Nataly Zick has been supporting tomkos.partners as Editorial & Publishing Specialist since the firm was founded.

After completing her vocational training in Munich and obtaining her university entrance qualification (design and graphics) in Hamburg, she began her professional career in 1991 at a small advertising agency in areas such as typesetting, final artwork and layout, eventually switching to Gruner + Jahr two years later. She then spent several years at the publishing group Milchstraße, initially in administration, then as assistant to the commercial director. When online operations were spun off to Tomorrow Internet AG, she followed her supervisor to the new company and became assistant to the CFO. After the IPO and merger with Burda and the headquarter relocation, she remained in Hamburg, initially becoming assistant to the CEO at JobScout24 and later overseeing two liquidation projects, including the closure of the Hamburg office. Since 2024, she has been working full-time in customer service for an e-commerce company.

Since 2003, she has been working independently for various companies, including executive search, providing services with regard to creating, editing and reviewing documents.