Ernst & Young LLP named Kathleen M. Pawlus managing partner of Assurance and Advisory Business Services for the Lake Michigan Area region. She succeeds Dennis Baltzley, who relocated to London as a member of a newly established global Independence Compliance Team.
Pawlus oversees service delivery, quality control, resource management and market activity for the Assurance practice, which includes audit, business risk services, technology and security risk services and speciality advisory services across Illinois, Indiana, West Michigan and Wisconsin. In her new role, Pawlus is a key member of the region’s leadership team and continues her efforts to advance women into leadership positions at Ernst & Young. She also retains her significant client-serving role for one of the firm’s largest private equity clients.
Pawlus was most recently the quality and risk management leader for the Americas Transaction Advisory Services practice, where she set quality and risk management policy for this practice.
Just prior to this, she ran the Chicago Transaction Support practice for 2002 and 2003. She began her career at Ernst & Young in 1982 as an auditor, providing services to public and private companies.
Pawlus earned a bachelor of science degree in business from Indiana University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and one of the region’s representatives on the national gender equity task force.
SARA LEE CORP.
Sara Lee Corp. appointed Christopher J. (CJ) Fraleigh chief customer and marketing officer. Fraleigh will report to Brenda C. Barnes, president and chief operating officer.
Fraleigh joins Sara Lee from General Motors, where he was general manager for the $29 billion GMC-Buick-Pontiac division. In his new role, he leads the charge to strengthen Sara Lee’s consumer focus on creating and building strong brands. In addition, he concentrates on driving customer excellence across Sara Lee as the company works with its major customers to generate growth.
Prior to joining General Motors in 2001 as executive director of advertising and corporate marketing, Fraleigh worked with PepsiCo for 12 years. He joined PepsiCo as an assistant marketing manager and held several positions of increasing responsibility, working on a variety of new and established brands in the retail and foodservice channels. His last role at PepsiCo was as vice president, colas, and director – Pepsi, a $12 billion retail brand. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University and his MBA from Columbia University.
AVENUE A | RAZORFISH
Avenue A | Razorfish, an operating unit of aQuantive Inc., hired Mark Stephens as general manager of the Chicago office in the central region.
Stephens joins Avenue A | Razorfish from Carat Interactive in San Francisco, where he was vice president, media director/account director. While at Carat, he spearheaded major operational improvements and led the Bank of America account. His other clients included Kia, Hyundai, eBay, CNET and Tupperware. Previously, Stephens led media departments for Lot21, now part of Carat, working with clients such as Wal-Mart, SEGA and TiVO, Euro RSCG and Transphere International.
SOLUCIENT
Solucient named Cynthia Kujawa vice president, human resources, with responsibility for implementing human resources programs and practices that support Solucient’s mission and enhance employee relations.
Prior to joining Solucient, Kujawa served as vice president, human resources, for Focal Communications Corps., a national telecommunications service provider headquartered in Chicago. Previously, she gained health care industry experience through her work in human resources management at Healthstar Inc., St. Margaret Hospital and Health Centers and Michael Reese Hospital.
Kujawa holds a master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University and a bachelor of science degree from the University of Illinois.
SMART SIGNAL CORP.
SmartSignal Corp. appointed Steve Tonissen vice president of marketing. In his new role, Tonissen leads SmartSignal’s marketing efforts and plays a substantial role in continuing the company’s growth.
SmartSignal’s equipment performance improvement solution continuously analyzes equipment performance and provides early warning of problems, enabling timely action.
In addition to marketing communications and product marketing efforts, Tonissen focuses on developing new strategic partnerships, raising the industry profile of SmartSignal and building on existing relationships. Prior to joining SmartSignal, he held senior marketing and sales positions with Manugistics Group, RedPrairie, State of the Art, Pansophic Systems and Control Data. he holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
