Heather Traber, Founder and CEO
As a Senior Talent Acquisition Leader for more than 20 years, Heather has advised hiring managers and HR departments at Fortune 500 companies on how to identify, attract and hire the best talent. With experience working across multiple industries, she is well-versed in the methodologies and tools recruiters actually use. Throughout her career she has seen too many recent college graduates come up short in their job searches. Based on feedback from countless hiring managers and search committees, she knows firsthand who gets hired and who doesn’t.
An open water swimmer and former competitive triathlete, Heather is not afraid of a difficult challenge. After college, she travelled alone throughout Southeast Asia for almost a year. She then settled in New York City to pursue a career in acting, attending a two-year program at Classic Stage Company, an award winning Off-Broadway theater. Heather’s approach in Gainfully draws upon these experiences: preparing for a job search is not unlike preparing for a role in a play or an athletic event. Research, focus, and practice are required to perform your best.
Allen Hance, Ph.D., Managing Partner
With decades of experience in academic, non-profit, and government leadership roles, Allen provides Gainfully clients with expert advice about career options and opportunities in both the private and public sectors. Most recently, Allen served as Associate Provost for Global and Community Engagement at Roger Williams University. Previously, he was Assistant Dean of the College and Director of Engaged Scholarship at Brown University. Hance held a faculty appointment in International and Public Affairs and taught courses in multiple fields including ethics and philosophy, environmental and sustainability studies, and sociology.
Prior to his university work, Allen was the executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, a public foundation in Annapolis, MD, and served as co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network, a regional funding collaborative of 25 public and private foundations. He worked at the Northeast Midwest Institute in Washington as a senior policy analyst and served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. He received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boston College, an M.S. in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Dartmouth College.