Kimberly Thekan

Chief Talent & Brand Officer, Godfrey & Kahn

Kimberly is the Chief Talent & Brand Officer at the business law firm of Godfrey & Kahn.  She leads both their Talent and Marketing & Business Development teams. As a member of the firm's Board of Directors, she provides leadership for the firm's vision, priorities and operations. Additionally, she serves as the Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and is a member of the Compensation, Professional Development, and Recruiting Committees. She works closely with the Managing Partner on many strategic and day-to-day priorities that impact both attorney and administrative team members.​

Prior to joining Godfrey & Kahn, Kimberly was a managing director within the leadership team for Baird Private Wealth Management. She led their strategic human resource planning, with an emphasis on succession, acquisition, integration, development, and diversity. Under Kimberly's leadership, Baird was widely recognized for its innovative talent programs. Prior to Baird, Kimberly was the Director of Human Resources for Stark Investments during their peak growth years. She established their HR function to support associates in 13 domestic and global locations, earning them a 4th ranked position on the “Best Medium Sized Places to Work for in America" in 2007. She also spent more than a decade in public accounting at both Arthur Andersen LLP and Grant Thornton LLP. She was a key member in the wind down of Andersen's Milwaukee office post Enron, and then led the human capital efforts to unify Grant Thornton's Wisconsin offices upon Andersen's demise. ​