Amy Dordek Dolinsky

About

Amy Dordek Dolinsky is an energetic leader and entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in executive and board search, project-based recruitment, business development, human capital strategy and entrepreneurship. A respected thought leader in the Human Resources, startup, food and hospitality community, Amy is known for her experience scaling companies, driving revenue, and leading professional services organizations. Her expertise spans from sales leadership to board work. She co-founded four companies; one backed by Private Equity and was in leadership roles for two other PE backed companies. She brings significant leadership experience and has two successful exits.

Amy is Director of Business Development at Lucas James Talent Partners, a national search firm. The company has 100 employees across the U.S. and Amy serves on the Executive Team. Her team has filled more than 4,000 roles for 450 clients nationally over the past four years. The company was 331 on the Inc 5000 list in 2023 and recognized as a Top Place to Work by Inc Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. Amy co-founded an executive network called “The People Collective,” serving senior HR community locally and now nationally.

Before joining Lucas James Talent Partners, Amy spent five years at GrowthPlay and co-founded the PE backed sales effectiveness firm. Amy led Business Development and along with her co-founder, completed four successful acquisitions. She supported due diligence both from a financial perspective as well as the human capital aspects of the deals. The company sold in 2019. Prior to GrowthPlay she was the Managing Director, Midwest at BPI Group, now ZRG, a Human Capital, Executive Coaching and Career Transition firm where she had P&L responsibility and led sales.

Amy has been an executive at two PE backed companies and several closely held private companies. At The Johnsson Group, a finance and accounting consulting firm, where Amy worked prior, she was VP of Business Development and was retained by the acquiring firm to stay on in sales leadership.

A recognized thought leader in recruiting, sales effectiveness, and entrepreneurship, Amy is known for driving growth and innovation. She is also a highly respected civic and non-profit leader in her community. Amy was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the top Notable Executives in 2019 and was honored for her lifetime achievements by Meals on Wheels Chicago.

Amy has served on the board of the International Women’s Forum Chicago, a global executive women’s network, was Membership Committee Chair for the Economic Club of Chicago and completed two terms as Board President of Meals on Wheels Chicago. She also offers strategic guidance as an advisory board member for a tech enabled services startup, a hospitality company, a tech company, and a media company.

Amy's entrepreneurial ventures include partnering with her husband, Steve Dolinsky, a 13-time James Beard award winning journalist to launch Pizza City Tours in 2018 and co-creating Pizza City Fest, a pizza festival business that has hosted events over the past three years in Chicago, Nashville, and Los Angeles.

Deeply committed to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders, Amy speaks often on the topic of board service, startups and entrepreneurship, sales leadership, career development and strategies for accelerating growth.