Advance Partners Hires Kendra Cato as its Director of Strategic Partnerships

Cleveland, OHIO – September 9, 2024 – Advance Partners, a Paychex company providing payroll funding, strategic consulting services and comprehensive back-office solutions to staffing firms, announced today that Kendra Cato has joined the organization in the newly formed role of Director of Strategic Partnerships, effective immediately. Cato has nearly 20 years of strategic planning, sales, marketing, and research experience, and is a highly sought after keynote speaker in the staffing industry. She’ll be responsible for establishing and formalizing partnerships to drive business and client success.

Cato will work closely with the Advance Partners leadership team, including Jeremy Bilsky, Senior Director and General Manager, and Mike Brew, Director of Revenue and Customer Operations, as well as with the company’s highly experienced sales team. For the last 10 years, Cato has been dedicated to serving the staffing industry–as a marketer, thought leader, speaker, author, and one of the founding members of Women of Color in Staffing.

“As the leading funder of staffing firms, Advance Partners is dedicated to helping clients, and the staffing industry as a whole, grow and thrive. Kendra’s perfect for this new role because she’s not only incredibly smart, driven, and respected in the staffing industry, but she shares our goals of building community and connecting people,” said Brew. “Kendra’s unique talents will help our team elevate the innovative solutions and unparalleled support we offer staffing firms so that together we can better serve the greater business community and hard-working talent looking for meaningful employment.”

Advance Partners has been on a growth-path since it started over 25 years ago and is dedicated to bringing even more working capital into the staffing sector. Cato will play a crucial role by spearheading the company’s new partnership program with the goal of enhancing its service offerings and client experience, bringing together a diverse and innovative range of staffing partners, and showcasing the staffing industry as a vital contributor to economic prosperity.

“I’ve been inspired by so many people in the staffing industry who genuinely want to bring opportunities to businesses and people, something I’m also passionate about. The team at Advance Partners is the epitome of this spirit of collaboration and has a top-notch reputation in the industry for its service and integrity,” said Cato. “I’m excited to work with them to build a strong partnership program that demonstrates you can be successful while putting people first, and I appreciate that they’ve put their faith in me for this important role.”

About Advance Partners

Advance Partners champions next-level staffing firm growth through payroll funding, back-office solutions, and strategic business coaching. We are 100% dedicated to the talent acquisition industry and proud to support businesses that put millions of people to work every day. As a Paychex company, we offer the resources, stability, and innovation of a multibillion-dollar HR powerhouse, but that’s only half the story. We are also a company with the heart of a startup. We were founded to serve as a growth partner to the go-getters of the talent acquisition industry and that remains essential to our core. We have shaped our close-range approach to customer care and funding to give staffing firms the trust, comfort and confidence to say yes to game-changing opportunities.