Lonergan Appoints Kirsten Settle and Michael Cunningham to Managing Partners

Deep tech executive search firm expands leadership after 25 years in business; publishes 2026 Lonergan Silicon Valley 150

BURLINGAME, Calif., Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lonergan, the Silicon Valley premier executive search firm specializing in board, CEO and senior leadership for deep technology companies, today named Kirsten Settle and Michael Cunningham as Managing Partners.

The appointments cap a year of expansion. Since Mark Lonergan founded the firm in 2001, Lonergan Partners has helped build some of the global technology ecosystem's most important public and private companies. About a quarter of its placements are CEOs in deep tech (semiconductors, AI infrastructure, networking, robotics and quantum computing), with the rest spanning boards and senior leadership. Now Settle and Cunningham, with nearly two decades and more than 250 senior searches between them, succeed Mark and lead Lonergan into its next era.

The firm opened an Austin office in 2024 as part of this mission and has launched a new website, logo, and brand identity with a new vector symbol evolving into a more architectural expression of leadership, ambition, and purposeful growth. Constructed from a series of intersecting planes, the mark reflects the moments where expertise, opportunity, and vision align. Individual elements come together to create something stronger, a visual metaphor for Lonergan's role in helping organizations build leadership teams capable of shaping what comes next.

"Kirsten and Michael have been running our most consequential searches for years. This appointment formalizes what our clients already experience," said Mark Lonergan, founder and chairman of Lonergan. "Our firm set out to build something more deliberate than bigger executive search companies: pairing the rigor, discipline, and resources of the world's largest search organizations with personal accountability and precision, acting as a neighbor, not a distant advisor. Kirsten and Michael deliver this experience to clients every day."

"Boards are hiring against a business leadership and technology roadmap that did not exist three years ago with the rise of new challenges around AI transformation, security and sustainability," said Settle. "Michael and I are passionate about finding the right talent against these challenges. Our F18 proprietary process helps deepen engagement between Boards and CEO candidates ahead of a hire to ensure alignment and set the foundation for a smooth, successful transition. We believe this disciplined approach is what separates a good C-level hire from a lasting one."

"Deep tech is no longer only a Silicon Valley story," said Cunningham. "Our Austin office exists because the companies building chips and compute infrastructure are hiring across Texas, Arizona and throughout the US and Canada, and boards want an advisor who is present in those markets."

SV 150

The firm also recently published the 2026 edition of the Lonergan Silicon Valley 150, its ranking of the region's largest public technology companies, issued annually. This year's edition reports record aggregate 2025 revenue of $2.3 trillion across the list and net income of $608 billion, up 41%. Combined market capitalization reached $20 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026, a 33.9% increase, and a record high of 42 Silicon Valley companies now sit in the S&P 500. Lonergan has worked with 51 LSV150-ranked companies since 2010. 

About Lonergan Partners

Lonergan Partners is a premier executive search advisor to the world's leading technology companies, with deep roots in Silicon Valley and reach across North America. Founded in 2001, the firm specializes in board positions, CEO and C-level leadership in deep technology. Every engagement is led personally by a senior partner, from the first conversation to final placement. The firm publishes the Lonergan Silicon Valley 150, a ranking of the region's largest public technology companies, and has authored Who Runs Silicon Valley since 2014. Lonergan Partners is headquartered in Burlingame, California, with an office in Austin, Texas. Learn more at lonerganpartners.com.

Media contact

Nicole Conley
Tanis Communications, Inc.
[email protected]

SOURCE Lonergan