Ann Carlsen is founder & CEO of Carlsen Resources Inc. (CRI), an executive search and workforce planning firm which operates within the global media telecommunications industries. CRI is a leading executive search firm which uses strategic thinking and innovation to attract the best executives and high level management for some of the most well-known media and telecommunications companies, including Rainbow Media, NBC, Discovery Networks, ABC, Time Warner and Google.
After getting a degree in journalism and business from the University of Colorado, Carlsen’s professional career began as a door to door sales person with the communications consulting services firm United Cable Company. Using her experience with that company she got a sales and marketing job with Cardiff Publishing’s Cable Television Business magazine. In 1984 Ann was employed with the venture capital firm Business Venture Investments, and it was while she was employed at this company that she developed her business and entrepreneurial skills. Her subsequent role as Vice President at Winston Management Group made her realise how much she loved executive search, and she used this passion to establish her own executive search company Future Sense, Inc., which changed to Carlsen Resources Inc.
Carlsen is a very highly regarded leader within executive search, earning herself a good reputation for promoting the best workplace diversity. With this, and a high level of understanding of the industry she is a part of, organizations within the media industry have awarded Carlsen for her work. Her work for diverse recruitment is exemplified with her place as a founding member of the Telecommunications Diversity Network, and she has also worked on behalf of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications for almost ten years. She has served on other committees and organizations, such as the National Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) and the National Cable Television Association (NCTA).