Mr. Distefano is responsible for worldwide branding, advertising, media relations, thought leadership, employee communications and all other aspects of public relations for the Firm.

Mr. Distefano brings nearly 20 years of experience in marketing to Korn/Ferry. Between 2001 and 2007, he was Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications for Korn/Ferry. Initially, Mr. Distefano was the Chief Marketing Officer of Futurestep, the wholly owned middle-management recruitment subsidiary of Korn/Ferry.

During his tenure at the Firm, Mr. Distefano has guided the transformation of the Korn/Ferry brand from a leader in executive search into the premier global provider of talent management solutions. In 2012, Mr. Distefano was responsible for the launch of Greatness Cultivated, Korn/Ferry’s first major, award-winning advertising campaign.

In 2008, Mr. Distefano founded the Korn/Ferry Institute, a place for the Firm to publish scores of articles, studies and books that explore global best practices in organizational leadership and human capital development.

Subsequently, in 2009 Mr. Distefano launched Korn/Ferry Briefings on Talent & Leadership, the Firm’s flagship publication dedicated to offering a fresh and unique perspective on the most pressing issues facing boards and the C-suite today.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Distefano was vice president of acquisition marketing and new channel development at GetSmart.com, acquired by  Providian Financial Company in 1999 and now part of LendingTree.com.

Before joining GetSmart, Mr. Distefano served as director of marketing at Benefits Consultants, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD). Mr. Distefano began his marketing career at TIAA-CREF.

He is an active member of the Public Relations Society of America, the CMO Council and the CMO Club.

Mr. Distefano earned a bachelor’s in economics from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and was named one of the world’s top 50 CMO’s by Exec Rank in 2012.