TEAM BIOS

Team Bios

Patrick M. Prout
President & Chief Executive Officer

Prior to launching his own executive search organization, Pat Prout served as a partner in the Cleveland office of Heidrick & Struggles. He was a member of the firm’s financial services, diversity, chief financial officer and industrial practices. He also conducted successful searches for clients in the insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications, entertainment and sports fields.

Previously Pat was president and chief operating officer, then vice chairman of Bank One, Cleveland, NA, a $2.5 billion assets affiliate of Banc One Corporation. His career in financial services also included positions with Bank of America in Los Angeles, Rainier Bank in Seattle and Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City. He also held sales and marketing positions with IBM, Miller Brewing Company and American Petroleum.

Pat received a B.S. degree in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.B.A. in general management from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business. He took his commission in the U.S. Marine Corps and served two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Betsy Bruening
Vice President

Before becoming a founding partner of the Prout Group, Betsy Bruening was the associate director of Heidrick & Struggles’ Cleveland office. She was a member of the firm’s financial services, diversity and industrial practices, as well as the chief financial officer Associates Council. While at that office she managed all research and execution resources, trained new consultants and associates on search strategy and processes, databases, Internet and intranet tools. She was appointed to the Heidrick & Struggles faculty, where she taught search strategy to all new associates in North America, and developed research and execution models used throughout the firm.

Betsy had previously spent ten years with British Petroleum, holding administrative and management positions with BP’s executive management team as well as the human resources department in succession planning, organizational development, assessment and executive compensation.

She holds a B.A. in management from Malone College in Canton, Ohio, and an M.A. in psychology from Cleveland State University.

Eric Douglas Keene
President - Prout Group Chicago

Prior to joining the Prout Group, Eric served as President of Keene Advisory Group, a Chicago-based search firm focused on emerging executive talent. He has successfully conducted searches for domestic and international clients in the industrial, consumer/retail, life sciences, technology and professional service industries. Formerly with Russell Reynolds Associates, Eric served as a firm-wide leader on diversity and as a member of the corporate officers’ practice.

Post business school, Eric worked in management consulting with McKinsey & Company serving clients on strategic and organizational initiatives. He previously held sales and marketing positions with IBM, O’Connor & Associates and AT&T.

Eric’s civic/community involvement includes board positions with Case Western Reserve University and the Centers for New Horizons. He is a member of the Chicago Club and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Eric received his MBA from Case Western Reserve University where he was the inaugural recipient of the Weatherhead School of Management’s Alumni Association Scholarship. He earned his B.S. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Jonathan B. Edwards
Senior Associate

Prior to assuming his executive search responsibilities at The Prout Group in 2006, Jonathan served as an Executive Recruiter at Ratliff & Taylor, a multi-disciplined human resource services company headquartered in northeast Ohio.  His recruiting activities were for a variety of sales positions for client companies located throughout the United States.

Jonathan began his executive search career at H C Smith Ltd, a global retained executive search firm.  He progressed through various roles from Research Associate to Search Consultant to Executive Search Consultant and Director of Research in executive search engagements and business development activity. His clients included a broad range of corporate and nonprofit arts and social services organizations throughout the United States and Canada.  He also engaged in various human resources consultation activities including strategic planning, succession planning, organizational development and analysis, human resources research, prevailing wage analysis, and executive coaching services for individuals making career transitions.

Jonathan earned a B.A. in English from Kent State University.  He is active in several civic and community organizations.  He currently serves on the board of trustees at The First Tee of Akron and he is a member of Young Professionals of Akron and the Akron Torchbearers.  He volunteers for the Akron Marathon, Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, the United Way of Summit County, the Children’s Concert Society of Akron, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Summit and Portage Counties.

Paulina Skudlarz
Associate - Prout Group Chicago

Prior to joining the Prout Group, Paulina served as Research Associate for Keene Advisory Group. She has successfully conducted research and search administration/execution for domestic and international clients across a variety of industries. She previously worked for Fast Search and Transfer (FAST) in their Chicago office.

Paulina graduated Phi Beta Kappa/summa cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with dual Bachelor degrees in Business Administration and Political Science. She is fluent in Spanish and Polish and is a recipient of the Copernicus Center-Polish Native Speaker Scholarship to attend Northwestern University Law School.

Lourdes Bennett
Office Manager

Lourdes Bennett is the Office Manager for The Prout Group, Inc. With over six years of executive search experience, she currently provides all administrative and logistical support to the group, their clients and candidates. She is also responsible for all bookkeeping and financial reporting for the firm. Lourdes played a major role in this start-up executive search firm with responsibilities ranging from assisting in securing office space, to the implementation of all office infrastructures while supporting the President and Vice President.

Lourdes’ career in executive search began at Heidrick & Struggles. She was part of a three-member team that was ranked first in financial management searches in 2001. She was also the recipient of the Partnership Spirit Award for the Cleveland office of Heidrick & Struggles in 2000.

Lourdes has more than 17 years of administrative support/managerial experience. Additionally, she has experience in intellectual property law as a legal assistant and was previously a claims examiner for a workers’ compensation firm.