We drive successful recruiting results through relationship building, informed by custom research.
Let’s complete your team
Together we arrive at real solutions that embody your values, in line with your priorities and needs.
Our recruiting expertise is focused on solving the talent needs of schools, colleges, research centers, and nonprofits.
Why do Heads of School, senior leaders, boards, and search committees count on us to help them identify, attract, and assess talented candidates? Because we foster meaningful connections between people. It’s not just a source of advantage for our clients, it’s what we believe is important.
We help you ask the right questions, build credibility with stakeholders, and invest your time wisely.
We have a track record of successfully recruiting for roles like:
Head of School
Executive Director
Principal
Chief Advancement Officer
Director of Admissions & Enrollment Management
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Marketing & Communications
Why Our Clients Choose Us:
The work we are called to do is not easy or straightforward. That’s because our clients are seeking professionals who can manage the work of others and lead effectively within a resource-constrained environment. We navigate the challenges in recruiting guided by our personal commitment to quality. Our one-year guarantee reflects the confidence we bring to your search process. Our priority is achieving the outcomes you need, even when - especially when - the process requires persistence.
We help you capture opportunity during transitions of talent.
The anxiety of an untimely departure inspires shortcuts: “Where can we post the job?” “Who do we know?” The persistent inability to fill a role with an effective leader can become self-fulfilling. Under that kind of pressure, the likeability of candidates in an interview setting can dominate, adding risk to your search.
How do we help you secure an advantage when it’s difficult to attract the right candidates? Our process helps remove ambiguity and uncertainty because it addresses the core problem.
Our process is designed to gain perspective, secure buy-in, and build awareness.
Here’s why the process works:
Posting a job opening, for example, is distinct from educating busy professionals about the nature of an opportunity and illustrating how they might make an outsized impact. Both techniques build awareness. But our direct outreach to prospective candidates to quickly build relationships and invite their curiosity is how your search achieves traction.
A team’s shared understanding of what’s needed in a role is essential to the effectiveness of your new hire. It can be time intensive to secure buy-in up front. But it is wasteful to have your most desirable candidates opt out as your team achieves alignment while interviewing. Because we start out equipped to tell your story and provide appropriate transparency in our first conversations, the candidates you meet arrive prepared to learn more.
We prescribe a research-based approach rather than relying solely on pre-existing networks. Your search gets a head start when we gain perspectives and a sense of what candidates care about most. That matters because candidates hold the advantage, and conditions are always changing, making a clearinghouse matching method unreliable for meeting the unique needs of our clients.
By truly listening and understanding your needs, we help you discover the best leaders and talent possible for your team.
Our retained search model.
The exceptional level of service we provide is made possible through a retained search fee arrangement. If you’ve witnessed - or been on the receiving end - of less-than-ideal behavior in a recruiting context, it’s likely that there were misaligned incentives.
By contrast, our full attention is available for the organizations who are our clients. We see your search process through to completion because your engagement is staffed only by partners. It is priced and structured to remain intentionally focused, and our reputation depends on your satisfaction.
“You were efficient and thorough, more than any other search I’ve seen.
When I first called you it was a classic oh-no moment in my tenure as Head; I was fully dependent on this one person who had just served notice.
But based on your recruiting, it has proven to be an upgrade I didn’t expect. There were great options among the candidates. I can say without hesitation that we could not have pulled off the pending project critical to the school’s mission and future - now complete - without the vision and effectiveness of the finalist you helped us secure.”
- Head of School
We work with your best interests in mind, from start to finish.
As part of each search process, we:
help you shape the role
market the position with our contacts and sources
provide direct, personalized outreach to prospective candidates
rigorously assess candidate’s capabilities and fitness for your specific context
engage in finalist negotiations and referencing
shape your onboarding process with tailored recommendations
We interview candidates and arrange time for the critical conversations you need to evaluate your options. Your assurance from us includes an agreed term of off-limits for recruiting from your organization. Our fee structure is fixed with no add-ons or surprises; it is agreed to at the outset, and it honors our commitment to a successful result and to the time it takes to exceed your expectations.
Curious to learn more?
Schedule time on our calendar at your convenience. We would be happy to introduce ourselves and explore whether we can be helpful to you.