A Unique Opportunity
Missions that change lives and improve the world deserve leaders who foster astonishing impact. BoardWalk Consulting recruits transformational CEOs and C-suite leaders for remarkable foundations and nonprofit organizations across the U.S.
A national firm based in Atlanta, BoardWalk is blessed with an outsized reputation. And the firm is growing: Despite the pandemic, 2020 was our highest-revenue year yet, and 2021 was even better. With clients in at least 33 states, BoardWalk is a recognized, recommended search partner across the country.
We are celebrating BoardWalk’s 20th anniversary in 2022, marking the joy of having completed hundreds of successful searches in partnership with thousands of board members, sources and prospects in service to an eclectic array of compelling missions.
BoardWalk clients are on the frontlines of life-saving, life-enhancing missions, driving equity, inclusion and sustainable change. Our work spans public-benefit organizations of many sizes, scopes and geographies. Clients’ missions include social justice, advocacy, the environment, global peace and health, alleviation of poverty and systemic racism, democracy; academic excellence, from pre-school through post-graduate; community, legacy and place-based philanthropies. They range from startups to multi-million-dollar entities.
The new Director (Consultant) will join BoardWalk at a time of growth and promise. We are a small-but-mighty team successfully competing against firms many times our size. The new Director will join a collaborative team embued with a culture of excellence, creativity, respect and joy in service to our clients’ missions and aspirations.
BoardWalk’s people, process and passion are unique. The firm goes deep to understand our clients and their markets, their challenges and aspirations. We prioritize quality and depth, just-right matches, and long-term client success rather than search quantity. BoardWalk works as a full partner, and our relationships continue well beyond the search. Our depth and focus produce repeat clients, strong relationships, referrals and results.
As the firm builds on its strengths with an expanded team, our newest Director will add energy, leverage, relationships and leadership. The Director will join BoardWalk’s collaborative, energizing culture and be part of ongoing growth and an exciting future.
Mandate for the Director
The Director will be a leader of client engagements, new business and innovation. BoardWalk is on a mission to recruit the inspiring, transformational leaders who will create impactful futures for our nonprofit and foundation clients.
The Director will bring client service, business-building, hiring and management experience, plus passion for this sector. The Director will:
- Lead client relationships and executive searches. The new Director will inspire confidence as a credible and compelling leader of CEO and other C-level searches. Strong at both strategy and execution, the Director will be a leader, strategist and hands-on doer — organized, tenacious, persuasive and engaged. The Director should be gifted at conducting searches, managing clients and teams, and crafting documents that entice interest. The Director will embrace BoardWalk’s client-centered process and approach, providing counsel and leadership that delivers results for nonprofit leadership, management and governance.
- Attract strategic new client relationships and assignments. The Director will be a relationship- and business-builder, creating interest in our services and winning new search opportunities. While winning and working a number of searches a year, the Director will proactively add to the breadth and quality of BoardWalk’s client base. Working with clients and colleagues, they will be a grower of reputation, relationships and revenues.
- Be a collaborative, inspiring BoardWalk contributor. The Director will contribute to the firm’s positive, can-do culture and collective success. While focusing on BoardWalk’s clients and market visibility, the new colleague will be a partner internally, participating with enthusiasm in key firm decisions. The Director will be a team player and a clear, timely communicator able to roll up their sleeves as well as delegate effectively, someone who fosters whole-team engagement and help advance innovation, excellence and sustainable success
- Contribute to the firm’s visibility and thought leadership. The Director will be or become a thought leader and a seasoned, energizing spokesperson, presenter, writer and editor, representing BoardWalk in forums and convenings important to building the firm’s presence. The Director will also help create content for the SmorgasBoard, BoardWalk’s e-newsletter and social media.
- Help build the BoardWalk of the future. The Director will be a catalyst for cultural and organizational progress helping lead innovation and transformation, positioning BoardWalk to thrive in a changing world. The Director will play a significant role in the future of BoardWalk, and in the lives of the clients and missions the organization serves. The Director will become a cornerstone member of BoardWalk’s next generation of leaders, helping to accelerate the firm’s momentum and grow its connections, influence and impact.
The Candidate
The ideal candidate has significant experience in the contexts of client service, business development and nonprofit leadership. The Director will be experienced and self-motivated, with intellectual curiosity, self-confidence, wisdom and humility born of broad-gauged life experience.
This is an opportunity for a leader who has enjoyed success in the corporate or nonprofit sector and wants to tackle significant work in a stimulating, fast-paced environment where no two days are alike. The Director will have the opportunity to strengthen missions and communities by recruiting leaders for organizations that tackle some of society’s most intractable issues.
The Director will have a record of proactively developing business and attracting, serving and retaining clients. We do not require executive search experience per se, but a reputation for thoughtful engagement on issues important to our client base is essential, as is passion for BoardWalk’s work and that of the nonprofit sector and clients we serve.
Personal assets being sought include:
- Skills in professional services; comfort with the role of trusted adviser.
- Strong, proven commitment to justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.
- An eye for talent, and experience hiring and managing senior teams.
- Experience facilitating and coalescing groups around common priorities, actionable decisions and plans.
- Superior communication skills: an active listener, writer, thinker, speaker and champion.
- An entrepreneur’s work ethic combined with respect for process.
- Ability to lead and manage BoardWalk search teams—and the client!—with care and professionalism.
- Perseverance; the discipline and patience to overcome obstacles and tackle challenges.
- High emotional intelligence; an intuitive, compassionate, curious nature.
- An even temperament; ability to function well under the stresses of consulting.
- A healthy sense of self, and the good humor not to take oneself too seriously or traffic in office politics.
- An optimistic, energizing persona that inspires passion for our clients’ work, confidence in our process and pride in our outcomes.
- A collaborative, collegial, can-do team approach.
- Innovation, and the quest for better/best practices.
The Organization
Founded in 2002, BoardWalk Consulting is a retained executive search firm that focuses on nonprofit leadership. The firm works with Boards of Directors and CEOs to recruit senior leaders in global, national and local nonprofits, foundations, academic and faith-based institutions ranging from start-ups to billion-dollar behemoths. About three quarters of the firm’s searches are for the CEO role, and most other searches are for leaders reporting to the CEO (CFO, COO, CDO, etc.).
Unlike many search firms, BoardWalk fosters a collaborative approach rather than a consultant-driven model with separate sub-teams. We are a partner to one another and to our clients, working for clients’ long-term success through engagements that are in-depth, respectful and long-term.
BoardWalk prioritizes and lives the values of inclusion and diversity. Our process and our placements exemplify this commitment. Over the past five years, for example, 47% of our placements have been leaders of color and 53% have been women. We actively engage a diverse marketplace, and our broad network helps us identify and engage diverse prospective candidates. We don’t just introduce a diverse slate of prospects, we recruit the right level of skill and cultural fit that results in clients hiring these candidates. Alternative text for the last sentence: Diverse and inclusive slates have been a hallmark of our work from the very beginnings of the firm.
The firm is proud of its relationships and deep, hands-on approach. We are passionate about finding exceptionally talented and diverse leaders who make a difference over the arc of time.
Beyond our search work, BoardWalk and its team members engage actively with our communities as leaders and volunteers. The firm’s commitment to philanthropy and community is authentic and pervasive.
The Location
BoardWalk Consulting is located in Atlanta, but we work remotely. The firm is open to colleagues based in other locations. To maintain and enhance team cohesion, we have twice-weekly virtual meetings as well as regular in-person get-togethers.
Atlanta is the economic capital of the Southeast and one of the most dynamic metropolitan areas in the country, with over five million residents. Regularly cited for its livability, the metro area is home to the world’s busiest airport, major educational institutions, nationally prominent public-benefit organizations and more Fortune 500 companies than all but two other U.S. cities.
Compelling candidates could come from a variety of backgrounds, and experience with nonprofits, DEI and executive search are especially welcome. BoardWalk Consulting is an equal opportunity employer, and a diverse slate of compelling candidates is actively being sought.
For potential consideration or to suggest a prospect, please email BoardWalk@BoardWalkConsulting.com or call Kathy Bremer, Crystal Stephens or Patti Kish at 404-BoardWalk (404-262-7392).
For the current status of this and other searches, please visit www.BoardWalkConsulting.com.