Team
Who We Are
We are building a team of professionals that are passionate about healthcare and talent, and who are looking for an opportunity to build something special. We value integrity, accountability, intellectual curiosity and grit, and we pride ourselves on being both action and results-oriented while still having fun at what we do.
Mission
Simply put, we exist to help healthcare companies hire the best executive leaders in the industry. Further, we want to leverage our network in creative ways, both to help our clients grow, and to find opportunities to give back to the healthcare community.
Tim Gordon is the Founder & Managing Partner of Aequitas Partners, which he founded after spending over two years helping to build Oxeon Partners, nearly from its inception. Since the firm’s founding, Aequitas has been engaged on Board, CEO, CFO, CGO, CTO, COO, VP of Sales, and VP of Marketing searches, among others, for clients whose focus ranges from Population Health, to Interoperability, to Clinical Workflow Transformation. As a Director at Oxeon, Tim led searches and placements across the C-suite for clients such as Evolent Health, PatientSafe Solutions, Shareable, RxAnte, Silverlink, Liazon, The Advisory Board Company, eVariant, T-System and Cambia Health. Additionally, Tim managed the human capital content creation for StartUp Health’s Curriculum, and continues to advise its entrepreneurs on building their leadership teams. His interest lies in the strategic and consultative build-out of high caliber executive management teams for companies in the Aequitas Partners Portfolio — companies that are changing the way the world thinks about Healthcare.
In addition to managing the firm, Tim spends time every month consulting with StartUp Health entrepreneurs holding office hours and engaging with them on topics ranging from hiring sales and business development executives, to recruitment strategy, to long term human capital planning. He is also a Mentor at StartupBootcamp and MATTER, is the Co-President of The Healthcare Club New York, and an Advisor to a number of early stage healthcare companies.
Tim graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Supply Chain & Information Systems, but has been a Nittany Lion all his life. Originally from the Philadelphia suburbs, Tim spent more than a decade in Manhattan, where Aequitas was founded, and now resides in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife Kristy, who is a Nurse Practitioner at Jefferson University Health System, and his son Theo.
Polina Hanin is a Senior Principal at Aequitas Partners with a passion for enabling entrepreneurs to achieve their audacious visions by building a committed team around them. As a functional generalist, Polina works with clients of all stages to define their recruitment strategy and make sure that the hired executives have the right mindset and capabilities to have an immediate impact. Outside of search, Polina also runs the Health Talent Exchange and Annual Compensation Study, all with the goal of improving equity and access to opportunity.
Polina joined Aequitas after spending nearly a decade as the Portfolio Director at StartUp Health, a platform that invests, broadcasts and unites health entrepreneurs around the world. While there, she oversaw and managed a portfolio of 300+ companies. She was the primary coach for entrepreneurs at all stages of the startup lifecycle, helping them craft their story that led to companies raising more than $750M after joining StartUp Health, gaining contracts from national institutions and growing their visibility. Polina was also instrumental in building out and scaling the company’s programming, community and internal platform that enabled the team to collaborate and share industry insights.
Polina got her start in the health space in the early 2000’s at Viscogliosi Bros., a merchant bank focused on the musculoskeletal industry. Throughout her tenure, she held multiple roles within the firm’s portfolio companies - everything from corporate finance to cleaning instrument sets. While there, she launched MCRA, a consulting firm for commercializing orthopedic technologies, where she brought in the first 20 clients. Polina also led M&A, corporate development and distribution-related activities for Centinel Spine’s spinal stabilization device portfolio.
Polina earned her BA at Wesleyan University and her MBA at University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Polina is an avid comedy show / concert-goer, crossword-puzzler, and country-hopper. Born in St. Petersburg, raised in northern New Jersey, Polina now resides in New York City.
Stephanie Sutsko is a Principal at Aequitas Partners. She joined the firm in 2021 with 7 years of executive search experience and a decade of experience working in the pharmaceutical and clinical research industry. Stephanie has a passion for the intersection of healthcare and technology and the impact that digital health companies can have on patients’ lives.
Prior to Aequitas, Stephanie was a Principal at Howard Fischer Associates, where she served as a partner and strategic advisor to executive leaders of both emerging-growth and Fortune 500 companies. She collaborated with her clients to identify, engage, and evaluate strong talent to drive success for their business needs. She worked across many industries including SaaS, telecommunications, industrial technology, healthcare, manufacturing, computer software, financial services and media. She has recruited across functions, placing Board members, CEOs, C-Suite executives, and other executive leaders in operations, finance, marketing, IT/engineering, sales, and HR.
Stephanie started her career in executive search at the Atlantic Group where she expanded the firm’s practice into life sciences and technology. Her early career was in pharmaceutical clinical research where she worked both for clinical research organizations and in Big Pharma at Novartis. There she focused on bringing new oncology treatments to market as well as patient recruitment initiatives across indications.
Stephanie graduated with degrees in Biology and History from the University of Delaware where she was also a member of Chi Omega sorority. She is a certified Pilates instructor, roller-coaster enthusiast, and loves spending time outdoors. She is originally from Philadelphia and now resides in the suburb of Bucks County with her family, including daughter, Emmelyn, and son, Gavin.
Kelly McEldrew is a Principal at Aequitas Partners. She joined the firm in 2022 with 10 years of executive search experience.
Prior to joining the firm, Kelly was a Principal at Howard Fischer Associates, where she partnered with executive leaders of both emerging-growth and Fortune 500 companies, collaborating with clients to identify, engage, and evaluate strong talent to drive success for their business needs. Her work spanned across multiple industries, including media, telecommunications, digital, consumer and enterprise services and products and technology. She has recruited across functions, including Board members, CEOs, C-Suite executives, and other executive leaders in operations, finance, marketing, IT/engineering, product, sales, and HR. In addition to traditional executive search, a large portion of her search portfolio was dedicated to helping her clients enhance and fulfill their executive commitment to DE&I by engaging with top level diverse talent.
Prior to Howard Fischer, Kelly started her search career at the Atlantic Group, a boutique executive search firm focusing on finance recruitment.
Kelly graduated with honors from Georgetown University with degrees in Psychology and English and a minor in French. She was also a member of Georgetown’s Varsity Women’s Track and Field and Cross-Country teams. She is originally from Gwynedd Valley, PA and now lives in the East Passyunk neighborhood of Philadelphia with her husband, Brett, and son, Parker.
Danielle Storms is an Associate Director at Aequitas Partners. She joined the firm in 2022 with 7 years of executive search experience across retained firms and client side. Since joining the firm, Danielle has focused on candidate development across functional areas for companies ranging from Seed to post-IPO.
Prior to joining the firm, Danielle was an Account Manager at RevelOne where she partnered with leaders at venture capital firms and their portfolio companies. She collaborated with her clients to identify, engage, and evaluate strong talent to drive success for their business needs. She worked across many industries including e-Commerce, Consumer Goods and Services, FinTech, EdTech, Venture and SaaS. Before joining RevelOne, Danielle was on the executive search team at Comcast where she supported search efforts for VP and C-Suite executives across all business units, regions and functions including Sales, Finance, Strategy, Marketing, Human Resources, and Talent. Additionally, she worked on broader research projects including competitive mapping, compensation, and D&I initiatives.
Danielle started her career at True Search as a Summer Analyst in their internship program. Danielle graduated from Penn State with a degree in Public Relations and minors in Psychology and World Literature. She is originally from Central New Jersey, but has lived in Philadelphia since graduating. She currently resides in South Philadelphia with her dog Hunter.
Regina Heffernan is a Senior Associate at Aequitas Partners where she drives cross-functional searches across various sectors of the Digital Health industry. She joined the firm after working at Independence Blue Cross as a Product Manager where she managed enhancements to the product portfolio for various market segments including virtual care, disease and chronic condition management, customer service, and weight management solutions.
Regina began her career in Government and External Affairs at AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies focusing on Medicare, Medicaid and other publicity funded low-income populations. During her time there, she was responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the Political Action Committee. In addition, Regina supported the company’s state legislative and advocacy efforts and the development of their strategic government affairs objectives in current and expansion markets.
Regina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and recently earned her Masters of Business Administration, Management Specialization from La Salle University. She also volunteers and works closely with Fred’s Footsteps, which is an organization that provides interim funds for otherwise financially stable families to help them handle the financial burden of a child’s illness or traumatic injury.
Julia Kramer-Golinkoff is a Senior Analyst at Aequitas Partners. She is passionate about digital health and the application of technology to lower healthcare costs and improve patient care, especially for underrepresented populations. She believes success and impact is driven by innovative leaders, and is committed to bringing top talent to technology-enabled companies across the healthcare continuum.
She started her career as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she oversaw a number of clinical research studies. She also served as the Communications and Advocacy Liaison for the Global Leukodystrophy Initiative Clinical Trials Network, working with clinicians, research teams, and advocacy partners from around the globe. Julia is a co-founder of Emily’s Entourage, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing research for rare nonsense mutations of Cystic Fibrosis.
Julia received her BS and MSPH from Tulane University. She currently resides in New York City. On the weekends, you can either find her racing down the ski slopes or playing just about any beach game. She is always in search of her next concert or show!
Britta Kinkeldei is an Executive Assistant at Aequitas Partners. As Tim’s first ever assistant, she is excited to work closely with Tim and the leadership team to lend support on searches, organize company events, and work behind the scenes to make sure everyone’s day runs smoothly.
Throughout her career Britta has worked in investment banking, fashion and, most recently, in Venture Capital. She’s excited to learn more about executive search and contribute to the process of helping our clients thrive.
Britta received her Bachelor in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California and earned an MBA in Media Management from Hamburg Media School in Germany. Born and raised in Germany, she spent her late teens in the suburbs of Philadelphia and most recently moved back to the area after spending nearly a decade in the San Francisco Bay Area. Outside of work, you can catch her playing Roblox with her son Sebastian or having dance offs with her daughter Penelope. You can also find her at a concert or trying out the latest restaurant in town with her husband Colin.
Emily Baker
Graduate Associate
We’re Hiring
If all of this excites you, we want to hear from you. We’re always on the lookout for great people to join us in these efforts.