A not-for-profit group sponsored by The First Presbyterian Church and St. Mark's Episcopal Church of New Canaan, CT

Meet the CaTS Team!

 

Mac Walker

Mac Walker is Principal Strategist at Career Mission, consultants in work transition planning.      He firmly believes that an individual who develops a personal job search plan is likely to make a quicker, more successful transition.  As the founder of New Canaan CaTS, Mac was with two executive outplacement firms, Drake Beam Morin and Right Associates before starting his own counseling practice in 1994.  He has worked with over 1,000 candidates in a broad spectrum of organizations and functional disciplines. A graduate of Yale University, Mac is a hospice volunteer and also a parishioner of the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, where he is an Elder, a Stephen Minister, and the Program Director of CaTS.  

Jim Lisher

Jim likes to say he has gotten more jobs than everyone in a whole CaTS meeting combined. As Chairman/CEO of Lisher & Company, Inc. he led innovation strategy planning, venture management and new product development on over 200 projects in over 70 diverse Fortune 1,000 companies from AT&T to Dole Foods to Hallmark to Velcro. As an independent entrepreneur and investor, Jim Lisher has been active in the start up or purchase of many diverse businesses from consumer products to medical technology.  He is currently a Principal in two ventures: ON THE JOB men’s skin care products for tradesmen, and TAO FORMULATIONS, Inc., a pharma-grade natural menopause management product. As a founder of New Canaan CaTS, he has counseled hundreds of job seekers over the past 20 years.  A graduate of Kansas State University, Jim’s early business career was in sales & marketing management with Procter & Gamble, UBS/Keebler and RJR/Nabisco.

Mercer Field

An outstanding contributor to CaTS, Mercer Field has more than thirty years of business experience and has advised more than a thousand executives from differing industries, working with a wide range of functions, levels and teams.  She specializes in coaching senior executives, challenging them to think out of the box as they create and implement strategies.  Prior to founding her own practice, Core Value Coaching in Westport, CT, Mercer’s previous business experience includes management in publishing, employee and public relations at GE and directing development for Connecticut Public Broadcasting.  Mercer is an alumna of Smith College.

Jill Ernst

Jill Ernst’s career has been in marketing research and sales for both large corporations and start-ups.  She has been affiliated with CaTS since 2002 through St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.  She is currently working with FusionPoint, providing custom automated analytic and reporting capabilities across various verticals. The research organizations she has worked for include A.C. Nielsen, NABSCAN, SAMI, IRI and MMA (Marketing Management Analytics).  Marketing organizations are Cheseborough-Pond’s and General Foods.  She has a BBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Jim Riehl

With a background in marketing, sales, and strategy, Jim Riehl has been affiliated with CaTS since 2004.  More recently, he has used the CaTS personal job search blueprint to successfully transition into a strategic planning position at Connolly Consulting, in Wilton, CT.  Jim has held increasingly responsible posts with General Mills, Nestle, Fort Howard and Fort James, as well as serving for a time as an independent consultant.  He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, and belongs to the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan.