M. Charles Festa

Director, Talent Acquisition

M. Charles Festa leads Palm Tree’s recruiting efforts.

Prior to joining Palm Tree, Mr. Festa worked as a full-desk executive search recruiter for Kforce, specializing in the permanent placement of top finance and accounting professionals at local and regional CPA firms, consulting firms, private equity firms, and other professional services firms within the New England market. His network led him to Palm Tree in 2019, where he was charged with establishing a scalable internal acquisition function, and now leads the firm’s talent acquisition strategy and efforts.

Mr. Festa began his career as a licensed mariner, with over a decade of professional sailing experience aboard private and commercial vessels in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean Sea. He transitioned off the water and into recruiting in 2015, when he joined Brooks Marine Group, a niche executive search firm in Newport, Rhode Island.

Mr. Festa holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and maintains his USCG Captain’s license. Charles is a lifelong surfer and avid cyclist and spends his free time with his wife Lauren, and daughter Leila.

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Pardis Nasseri

Chairman and CEO

Derek Alderton

Vice Chairman

Portrait of a male executive in a blue plaid shirt
Tracy Albert

Vice Chairman, Investment Banking

Clayton Grindle

President and Chief Operations Officer

David Wolinsky

Chief Talent Officer

Ryan Kanaley

Chief Financial Officer

Chris Felderman

Senior Managing Director,
Co-Head of Consulting

Mitchel Nakken

Senior Managing Director,
Co-Head of Consulting

Stephen E. Rossi

Senior Managing Director,
Head of Investment Banking

David M.V. Barnes

Managing Director, Head of M&A

Britt Terrell

Managing Director,
Head of Capital Markets

Phillip Cooper

Managing Director

Spencer Hong

Managing Director

Rouzheen Myrick

Managing Director

Vincent Nguyen

Managing Director

Steven Richards

Managing Director

Dulce Martinez

Head of Client Coverage

Rishi Chellani

Director

Nick Fedorchak

Director

Matt Murray

Director

M. Charles Festa

Director, Talent Acquisition

Dieema Wheaton

Director, Talent Management

Portrait of a male executive in a blue tie
Danny Arnaout

Senior Vice President

Stephanie Kersey

Senior Vice President

Kathleen Obiala

Senior Vice President

Michael Sieglen

Senior Vice President

Joseph Wade

Senior Vice President

Careers with Palm Tree

We have select positions available at all levels of our organization. Contact us for a confidential discussion about joining a firm that L.A. Business Journal named among L.A.'s most influential M&A advisors.

Exposure to projects and opportunities to work closely with clients offers Palm Tree employees lateral and progressive advancement inside the firm.

We currently have positions available within the organization for employees of top accounting and consulting firms and for recent graduates.