Accel Entertainment has appointed Kate McMahon as Head of Human Resources. Hanold Associates’ Katrina Prospero and Sandra Peña led the search for this Chicago-area based role.
Kate McMahon comes to Accel from Rivers Casino & Resort where she was Vice President of HR & Community Relations. Reporting to the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Derek Harmer, Ms. McMahon will be the key leader for all matters related to human capital. Accel Entertainment has recently become a publicly traded company and is looking to bolster its strength in the Human Resources function. Leading all areas of the HR function, including Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Employee Development and Programs, Compliance, Training, and Compensation and Benefit administration and reporting, she will transform HR at Accel from tactical to strategic.
“Kate is a true people leader. With extensive industry experience, Kate will be a valuable partner to the Accel team as they continue to evolve as an organization!” said Katrina Prospero, Hanold Associates Partner.
Accel Entertainment, headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Burr Ridge, has operations throughout the state of Illinois and is the leading distributed gaming operator in the United States on an Adjusted EBITDA basis. Its business consists of the installation, maintenance and operation of video gaming terminals, redemption devices that disburse winnings and contain ATM functionality, and other amusement devices (TouchTunes jukeboxes, pool tables, darts) in authorized non-casino locations such as restaurants, bars, taverns, convenience stores, liquor stores, truck stops, and grocery stores.
The success of the company has attracted significant outside interest. A merger with TPG Pace, a special-purpose company sponsored by an affiliate of TPG, a leading global private investment firm, was announced in June 2019 and finalized in November 2019. With TPG’s partnership, Accel was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ACEL in late November, the first gaming as a service company to be publicly listed. Accel reported revenue of $303M in the first nine months of 2019 and has plans to expand into other states through acquisition and investment.
Hanold Associates HR & Diversity Executive Search is the leading retained boutique executive search firm focused on HR and Diversity & Inclusion Officers. Our client list is diverse across industries, geographies and business scenarios, and culture is at the core of everything we do. Our clients include the National Football League, Domino’s Pizza, Under Armour, Patagonia, Gucci, The New York Times, Tom Brady’s TB12, Kohler, REI, Live Nation Entertainment, Dick’s Sporting Goods, McDonald’s, Major League Baseball, Kellogg, Apollo, Blackstone, TPG, L Catterton, Northwestern University, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Electronic Arts, Fiat-Chrysler, SC Johnson, eBay, Moderna, Hillrom, Great Place To Work, Fossil, Vail Resorts, AbbVie, Carnival Corp., Biogen, Allstate, Bridgestone, Wikimedia, ClubCorp, Nike, Zoom, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Ford Motor Company, among others.
