M. Charles Festa is Director of Talent Acquisition and leads Palm Tree’s recruiting efforts.

Prior to joining Palm Tree, Mr. Festa worked as a full-desk executive search recruiter for Kforce, specializing in the permanent placement of top finance and accounting professionals at local and regional CPA firms, consulting firms, private equity firms, and other professional services firms within the New England market. His network led him to Palm Tree in 2019, where he was charged with establishing a scalable internal acquisition function, and now leads the firm’s talent acquisition strategy and efforts.

Mr. Festa began his career as a licensed mariner, with over a decade of professional sailing experience aboard private and commercial vessels in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean Sea. He transitioned off the water and into recruiting in 2015, when he joined Brooks Marine Group, a niche executive search firm in Newport, Rhode Island.

Mr. Festa holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and maintains his USCG Captain’s license. Charles is a lifelong surfer and avid cyclist and spends his free time with his wife Lauren, and daughter Leila.