The Milken Institute, a globally recognized nonprofit think tank advancing solutions to the world’s most critical challenges, partnered with The Alexander Group, a global executive search firm, to recruit an Executive Vice President of Institutional Advancement. As the Institute expanded its global impact, it sought a dynamic executive leader to drive business development, institutional partnerships, fundraising, marketing, and government engagement initiatives.
Key Leadership Need
The Milken Institute was looking for an Executive Vice President of Institutional Advancement who could lead cross-functional teams spanning business development, global events, marketing and communications, and external affairs. The role required a leader with proven expertise in scaling nonprofit and mission-driven organizations, building international partnerships, and developing high-impact strategic initiatives.
The Alexander Group’s Approach
Managing Director Jane Howze and Director Sarah Mitchell conducted a national search targeting senior executives with experience across nonprofit advancement, business development, strategic partnerships, and global communications.
Search priorities included:
Proven leadership scaling nonprofit, governmental, or mission-driven organizations
Expertise in building global partnerships, marketing, and event management strategies
Strong strategic planning and team leadership capabilities
Kevin Herglotz emerged as the leading candidate with more than three decades of experience in executive leadership roles spanning government, business, and nonprofits, including his prior leadership at HPA Strategies, the National AIDS Memorial, and Safeway.
Successful Placement and Impact
Kevin Herglotz joins The Milken Institute as Executive Vice President of Institutional Advancement. He will lead efforts to expand the Institute’s partnerships, drive business and program development, and elevate the Institute’s visibility and influence globally.
Immediate Impact:
Oversees global business development, marketing, communications, and government relations initiatives
Leads strategic partnerships to support the Institute’s global conferences and policy platforms
Develops growth strategies aligned with the Institute’s long-term mission objectives
Strengthens internal team performance across advancement functions
About The Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that advances collaborative solutions to global challenges by connecting leaders in finance, public health, technology, philanthropy, and public policy. Through events, research, and partnerships, the Institute drives impactful initiatives that improve lives worldwide.
About The Alexander Group
The Alexander Group is an executive search firm based in Houston, known for delivering transformative leadership across nonprofit, healthcare, legal services, financial services, life sciences, technology, and energy sectors. The firm partners with organizations seeking growth, innovation, and global impact through strategic leadership placements.
Seeking proven leaders to elevate your mission-driven organization? Partner with The Alexander Group to secure the executives who create impact.
The American Heart Association, a national nonprofit organization, appoints Sharlene Jenner to drive digital marketing innovation and engagement.
Client: The American Heart Association | Role: SVP, Digital Marketing | Candidate: Sharlene Jenner
The American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. It partnered with The Alexander Group, a global executive search firm, to recruit a Senior Vice President of Digital Marketing. As the organization sought to strengthen its digital-first engagement strategy, it needed a visionary marketing leader to amplify its science-driven mission through digital innovation, emerging technologies, and strategic storytelling.
Key Leadership Need
The American Heart Association sought an SVP of Digital Marketing who could drive integrated digital marketing strategies, leverage emerging technologies like AI for personalized engagement, and align marketing initiatives with the organization’s mission-driven goals. The ideal candidate would bring deep expertise in digital ecosystem leadership, omnichannel marketing, and data-driven decision-making in a nonprofit or large-scale mission-driven environment.
The Alexander Group’s Approach
Managing Directors Amanda K. Brady and Jean Lenzner lead a national search to identify digital marketing executives with proven success in scaling engagement strategies, driving innovation, and aligning digital ecosystems with organizational impact goals.
Search priorities included:
Expertise in digital transformation, omnichannel marketing, and marketing technology leadership
Proven ability to lead high-performing teams and integrate emerging technologies into marketing strategy
Experience aligning digital marketing strategies with organizational missions and revenue growth initiatives
Sharlene Jenner rose to the top with over two decades of leadership experience at organizations such as Vizient, AbelsonTaylor, and Hilton Worldwide, where she specialized in driving digital innovation, marketing transformation, and audience-centered storytelling strategies.
Successful Placement and Impact
Sharlene Jenner joins The American Heart Association as SVP of Digital Marketing. She oversees the strategy and execution of digital marketing initiatives, content strategy, and the integration of emerging technologies to drive relevance, engagement, and revenue growth across both consumer and scientific audiences.
Immediate Impact:
Leads digital engagement strategies aligned with the AHA’s brand and mission
Introduces AI-driven personalization and data analytics to enhance marketing campaigns
Strengthens omnichannel marketing efforts across consumer, professional, and donor audiences
Elevates the AHA’s digital brand presence through innovative content and storytelling
About The American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a nonprofit organization devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of death worldwide. Through groundbreaking research, education, and advocacy efforts, the Association helps millions live longer, healthier lives.
About The Alexander Group
The Alexander Group is an international executive search firm headquartered in Houston. Serving nonprofits, healthcare organizations, legal services, technology firms, and more, The Alexander Group helps mission-driven organizations secure transformative leadership to drive strategic impact and sustainable growth.
Looking to elevate your organization’s digital strategy? Partner with The Alexander Group to find the visionary leaders who drive engagement and growth.
National insurance leader, GEICO, appoints Tangela Richter to lead legal operations, regulatory compliance, and risk management.
Client: GEICO | Role: General Counsel | Candidate: Tangela Richter
GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is one of the largest and most recognized auto insurance companies in the United States. It partnered with The Alexander Group, a global executive search firm, to recruit a General Counsel. As GEICO continues to expand and navigate a dynamic regulatory environment, it sought a highly experienced legal leader to oversee all aspects of legal operations, corporate governance, compliance, and risk management.
Key Leadership Need
GEICO wanted a General Counsel who could lead the company’s legal strategy across regulatory compliance, corporate governance, litigation, risk management, and M&A support. The ideal candidate would possess extensive experience advising senior leadership teams, overseeing large legal departments, and aligning legal strategy with organizational growth objectives in a fast-paced environment.
The Alexander Group’s Approach
Managing Director John Lamar and Director Sarah Mitchell conducted a focused national search targeting senior legal executives with extensive leadership experience in insurance, financial services, and regulated industries.
Search priorities included:
Expertise in corporate governance, securities law, regulatory compliance, and litigation management
Proven ability to advise C-suite leadership on strategic initiatives and operational matters
Experience leading large, high-performing legal teams in highly regulated environments
Tangela Richter emerged as the ideal candidate, bringing over two decades of leadership experience across organizations such as Wells Fargo, American Express, LendingClub, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she consistently advised on governance, compliance, and strategic legal issues.
Successful Placement and Impact
Tangela Richter joins GEICO as General Counsel. She will lead all legal, regulatory, compliance, and risk management functions, supporting GEICO’s growth strategies while ensuring operational integrity across its national footprint.
Immediate Impact:
Strengthens corporate governance practices and regulatory compliance frameworks
Advises senior leadership on legal risk and business strategy alignment
Leads internal and external counsel management for operational efficiency
Develops proactive legal strategies to support the company’s continued expansion
About GEICO
GEICO is a national provider of auto insurance and related products, serving millions of policyholders throughout the United States. As a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, GEICO is dedicated to providing affordable and reliable insurance services while upholding a customer-first philosophy.
About The Alexander Group
The Alexander Group is a global executive search firm based in Houston. The firm partners with leading organizations in insurance, financial services, technology, healthcare, and professional services to recruit senior leaders who drive innovation, growth, and operational excellence.Building a world-class leadership team starts with the right search partner.
Milbank LLP, a premier international law firm with a reputation for excellence in complex financial and transactional matters, partners with The Alexander Group, a global executive search firm, to recruit a Director of Human Resources. As the firm grows its international reach and enhances internal operations, it needs a seasoned HR leader to strengthen talent systems, support firm culture, and align human capital strategy with business priorities.
Key Leadership Need
Milbank sought a Director of Human Resources who could:
Lead firmwide HR operations.
Support the professional development of attorneys and staff.
Implement best practices across recruitment, retention, performance management, and employee engagement.
The ideal candidate would bring law firm or professional services experience and a strong track record of building scalable HR systems within high-performance environments.
The Alexander Group’s Approach
Director Sarah Mitchell led the search, focusing on HR executives with experience managing human capital strategy in fast-paced, global organizations.
Search priorities included:
Experience in a law firm or professional services HR leadership
Ability to align HR operations with organizational goals and cultural values
Strength in employee relations, development programs, and performance management
Anne Radke emerged as the ideal fit, bringing a clear strategic mindset and proven operational discipline, along with experience building inclusive, people-first HR programs that scale.
Successful Placement and Impact
Anne Radke will lead the firm’s HR operations, working closely with leadership to enhance employee experience, modernize HR systems, and build processes that support growth and retention across Milbank’s global offices.
Immediate Impact:
Lead HR planning and operational improvements across departments.
Develop initiatives to support attorney and staff engagement and retention.
Align HR practices with the firm’s long-term talent development goals.
Enhance infrastructure to support future scale and cultural continuity.
About Milbank LLP
Milbank LLP is a global law firm with offices across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The firm is widely recognized for its strengths in capital markets, project finance, restructuring, and M&A, and is known for a client-focused approach rooted in excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
About The Alexander Group
The Alexander Group is a global executive search firm headquartered in Houston. With deep expertise in legal, professional services, financial, and corporate sectors, the firm helps leading organizations identify and hire the senior leaders who move strategy forward and deepen culture.
Need help building a leadership team that drives performance and culture? The Alexander Group delivers the talent that makes transformation possible.
Key Points:
How is DEI changing? Many companies are moving towards more subtle, “Quiet DEI” initiatives, continuing their commitment to diversity without explicitly labeling it as DEI.
There is a continued leadership commitment to DEI. Despite reduced public enthusiasm, many C-suite leaders remain dedicated to promoting DEI values within their organizations.
Evolving DEI Strategies include a focus on organically integrating diversity efforts into broader business practices to better capture everyday workplace cultures.
Peruse the headlines, and it seems the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) movement has moved on—at least for now.
The roster of companies distancing themselves from DEI hiring and practices is a Who’s Who of familiar names—Zoom, Home Depot, DoorDash, Tractor Supply, and Lyft. Social and cultural tastemakers Meta, Tesla, and X join the mix of major corporations that cut DEI teams by 50 percent or more in 2023.
It’s a far cry and a fast fall from the surge of DEI hiring and policies established in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 death. Whether moved by altruism, public pressure, or even economic gains, American companies prioritized racial equality, building teams dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Evolution of DEI Practices
The push for DEI rose to public consciousness in 2020, but its roots are embedded in the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Affirmative action and equal employment legislation such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 were the foundation for DEI, setting the stage for future growth.
.Fast forward 65 years, and you can see how DEI is changing in practice in academia and corporations worldwide.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision overturning affirmative action in college admissions fueled the DEI pushback, creating a domino effect throughout academia.
Shifts in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education tracks how DEI is changing through legislation and found state legislators have introduced at least 65 anti-DEI bills since 2023. Florida, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas have passed legislation that prohibits colleges from having diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or staff and bans mandatory diversity training, among other things.
The decision also prompted executives nationwide to reexamine their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, resulting in the disbanding of programs and internal DEI hires.
Adjustments in DEI Implementation in the Corporate Sector
Most recently, Tractor Supply Co., the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the U.S., took a public step back from its robust DEI policies, citing customer feedback as the reason for eliminating its carbon emissions goals and DEI programs.
With its highly respected board and management group and legacy of community engagement, the company made the decision out of respect for its customers, who include recreational farmers, ranchers, homeowners, gardeners, and pet enthusiasts.
In a press release on June 27, 2024, Tractor Supply Co. said, “We work hard to live up to our Mission and Values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”
The company listed five key changes in the release, including “…eliminating DEI roles and retiring our current DEI goals while still ensuring a respectful environment” and “no longer submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign.”
Tractor Supply Co. isn’t alone in its DEI shift.
Changing Trends in DEI Approaches in Workplace Settings
Washington Post reporter Taylor Telford disclosed that Zoom’s chief operating officer Aparna Bawa told employees the company would replace its internal DEI team with DEI consultants who would “champion inclusion by embedding our values…directly into our people programs rather than as a separate initiative” according to a Jan. 29 memo.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, echoed the sentiments of billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who shared his thoughts about DEI on X, calling it “inherently a racist and illegal movement in its implementation even if it purports to work on behalf of the so-called oppressed.”
Musk followed Ackman’s post with his own, saying, “DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it. DEI, because it discriminates on the basis of race, gender, and many other factors, is not merely immoral, it is also illegal.”
Data from the job search site Indeed further supports how DEI is changing. There is a decline of dedicated DEI policies with a 23 percent decline in job postings with “DEI” in the title or description between November 2022 and November 2023.
The Pew Research Center data shows how the political fault lines reflect the country’s thoughts about DEI. The Pew survey found that 78% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning workers say focusing on DEI at work is a good thing, compared with 30% of Republican and Republican-leaning workers.
How Is DEI Changing or Expanding?
So that’s it, then? Is DEI done? After all, Musk said DEI is immoral, and data shows a reverse in hiring, so it must be true.
Well, not exactly.
Despite data and the change in hiring, many companies are pursuing Quiet DEI, reframing efforts without using acronyms.
A November 2023 survey conducted by Littler Mendelson P.C., the largest global law practice devoted to representing management in employment, employee benefits, and labor law matters, revealed that despite the gloom and doom of the headlines, the C-suite is still actively pursuing and expanding its diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.
More than 300 C-suite executives, including Chief Executive Officers, Chief Legal Officers, and Chief Diversity Officers representing a diverse range of industries and company sizes, responded to the survey, which shed light on DEI’s future.
Highlights include the following:
More than half of U.S. executives say their organizations have expanded their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies over the past year despite an increased backlash against broader diversity initiatives.
57% of C-suite executives in the U.S. said they had grown their diversity commitments over the past 12 months, even as 59% reported growing opposition to diversity programs in the U.S. following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to roll back affirmative-action college admissions policies in June 2023.
91% of C-suite leaders say the Supreme Court rulings have not lessened their prioritization of DEI.
“Most of the business leaders with whom I speak across the professional services and nonprofit sectors continue to support a broad definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion that rejects the echo chambers of old and capitalizes on how the differences make them stronger,” said Amanda K. Brady, Managing Director and Chief Client Officer, The Alexander Group.
Transition of DEI Programs Should Be Straightforward
There is room for improvement, or rather clarity of program execution. Thirty-five percent of the executives said their organizations need clear plans and goals relating to DEI initiatives.
The survey revealed the most popular initiatives tend to be straightforward and established. These include providing training and professional development opportunities to diverse employees and providing organization-wide DEI or “implicit bias” training and educational resources, which have already been implemented or are in the planning stages at 77% of organizations.
About three-quarters of executives (73%) also say their organizations already provide or plan to develop mentorship opportunities for diverse employees.
This data rings true for Jane Howze, Managing Director of The Alexander Group. She has experienced multiple shifts across the executive recruiting landscape throughout her career and says DEI hiring practices may currently look different, but they have taken root.
“Our firm has seen many trends over its 40-year history, and the pendulum always swings back. While there may be a pause in highlighting DEI initiatives, you must think about it in the long term, and we do,” Howze said.
How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are Evolving To Stay In Place
Growing DEI effectively is undoubtedly an evolving process. Caroline Wanga, President and CEO of Essence Ventures, Co-Founder of WangaWoman, and former Chief Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer at Target, thinks it’s time for corporate DEI efforts to take a step back and ask critical questions.
These are Wanga’s five prompts for reframing the corporate DEI discussion:
1. Do your workplace policies give individuals permission to express themselves and ask for what they need?
For the amount of time I invested in being in all the right places for DEI, none of my numbers moved because I was there. My numbers moved when people saw me come to work with dreadlocks and finally started wearing their vacation braids to work.”
2. Do your mentorship programs pair employees based on their appearance or the deeper qualities they need to succeed?
Corporate America mentorship should be aligned to the needs of the person and the best person who can give them that. What they happen to look like should not be a factor in whether they’re a good mentor.”
3. Does your workplace offer space for employees to truly listen to each other?
We were teaching everybody how to come out and say stuff that makes people uncomfortable… What we forgot to do is teach people how to listen to it.”
4. Do your DEI programs foster personal accountability and action?
The next time you use the word ‘ ’instead of saying I need DEI to do this, or I’m worried that DEI is doing this, take out the word ‘ ’and put your name and see how you feel. Because if you’re not doing it, I don’t care about DEI.”
5. Are your DEI initiatives primarily for meeting business objectives or creating a more humane workplace?
DEI is not about ‘How many of this do you have? ’DEI is not about meeting goals. DEI is about teaching people how to get in touch with what they are good at.”
Bottom line in answer to “How is DEI changing in the future?”
DEI initiatives aren’t going anywhere.
“The firms I have spoken to indicated they are doubling down on their DEI initiatives,” said John Lamar, Managing Director of The Alexander Group. “Prioritizing diversity in their workforce, leadership, and client engagements will continue, as will efforts on creating an inclusive workplace culture.”
Transformations in DEI Strategies and Progression of DEI Efforts By Executive Leadership
The evolution of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts highlights that while public enthusiasm for DEI may have declined, these initiatives are far from over. Many organizations are transitioning to a more discreet, “Quiet DEI” approach, showing continued individual leadership commitment despite broader corporate pullbacks. Leaders remain dedicated to organically embedding DEI principles into business practices, underscoring the importance of diversity as a long-term goal. As DEI strategies adapt, the focus shifts toward sustainable integration that reflects the fundamental values of leadership and employees.
Moving forward, consider how your organization can continue to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in the evolving workplace landscape. Whether through quiet initiatives or more visible commitments, DEI should remain integral to leadership strategy. Connect with us to learn more about integrating DEI seamlessly into your business practices.
As one Chief Strategy Officer explained, “I am responsible for nothing and accountable for everything.” Because the CSO is a relatively new role, it has yet to develop a consensus definition. In a recent survey, Deloitte found that 37 percent of the CSOs they surveyed revealed that strategy has existed as a formal function for less than five years at their organization. Deloitte published a white paper describing six distinct roles of a CSO:
The Advisor, who translates the various perspectives of the organization’s senior leadership into a comprehensive corporate strategic plan.
The Sentinel, who monitors the market for changes that could impact their organization’s ability to remain competitive and have medium- and long-term scenario plans in place.
The Banker who addresses lapses in business development opportunities, drives Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A;) deals, licensing deals, and venture capital investments that support the strategic plan.
The Engineer who ensures that the organization’s various business units effectively execute the strategic plan.
The Chief of Staff, who is a liaison between the CEO, outside contractors, and consultants. They drive projects forward and communicate the strategy to internal stakeholders.
The Special ProjectsLeader, who evaluates adjacent markets and executes strategic objectives such as geographic expansion.
The Characteristics of a Successful CSO
The characteristics of a successful CSO are as varied as the role’s responsibilities. Ernst & Young surveyed numerous executives to understand what it takes to be a successful Chief Strategy Officer. Most importantly, a CSO needs to have a good relationship with their CEO. The two need to be on the same page as the organization’s overall strategy, and a CSO must challenge their CEO when their ideas do not align with the plan.
A CSO also needs to have a sound working knowledge of financial best practices to foster a good working relationship with their organization’s Chief Financial Officer. A well-developed strategy that does not have a financial foundation is ultimately an exercise in futility. A successful CSO must also be up-to-date with the latest advances in technology and collaborate with their Chief Information Officer to develop new ways to leverage technology to achieve their organization’s long-term goals.
In addition to developing and maintaining good working relationships with their fellow senior executives, an effective CSO needs their role clearly defined with a scope appropriate for their company’s size. A CSO needs to know what is and isn’t under their purview, which must also be communicated and agreed upon by the other members of the senior executive team. A consensus among the executive team will prevent any feelings of encroachment on their respective duties.
What is the career trajectory for someone in the chief strategy officer role?
Career Progression for the CSO
For many organizations, the strategy department is used as a way to identify top talent and to prepare young managers for long-term success. Concurrently, many Chief Strategy Officers are moved into Profit & Loss (P&L;) executive positions within the company, based on the knowledge they have gained by working closely with line leadership to develop strategies. According to a survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group, “although only 41 percent of CSOs sit on the executive committee or management board, they do tend to rise in the executive ranks, with 67 percent either becoming the head of a business unit or taking on another role on the executive committee.”
Deloitte’s 2020 survey of Chief Strategy Officers confirmed this natural progression. While 48 percent of CSOs surveyed said they wanted to ascend to the CEO role within five years, it is rare to be promoted directly to that position. The most well-known progression from CSO to CEO was PepsiCo’s former Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi, who previously served as the company’s Vice President of Strategy Development. After seven years in the role, she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer then Chief Executive Officer in 2006.
Some roadblocks for a CSO progressing to CEO are practical operational and P&L; management experience. Since the focus of the CSO role is long-term, success or failure in the role cannot be determined for many years. For these reasons, many strategy professionals move on to become line executives.
As the world works to move on from a pandemic that rocked the global economy, organizations must adapt to an ever-changing global marketplace, and the role of chief strategists has become more critical with each new challenge. The Chief Strategy Officer’s job is to predict what other challenges lay just over the horizon and how to best position their organization to remain competitive and achieve long-term success.
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP appoints Alex Schoultheis to lead attorney recruitment, development, and integration strategy.
Client: Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP | Role: Chief Recruiting and Development Officer | Candidate: Alex Schoultheis
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, a full-service law firm with offices across Ohio and Washington, D.C., partnered with The Alexander Group, a global executive search firm, to recruit a Chief Recruiting and Development Officer. As the firm continues to attract top legal talent and support attorney development, it seeks a forward-thinking leader to build scalable programs aligned with its strategic growth goals.
Key Leadership Need
Calfee seeks a Chief Recruiting and Development Officer to lead firmwide attorney hiring, integration, and career development. The ideal candidate brings a background in legal recruiting and talent development, strong strategic planning skills, and the ability to partner with firm leadership to drive growth and retention across practice areas.
The Alexander Group’s Approach
Managing Director John M. Mann conducts a national search focused on legal talent executives with experience in attorney recruiting, lateral integration, and firmwide professional development strategies.
Search priorities include:
Experience leading attorney hiring and development initiatives in law firm environments.
Strategic thinking across talent acquisition, onboarding, and training systems.
Strong collaboration skills to engage with firm leaders and practice group heads.
Alex Schoultheis rises to the top with nearly a decade of experience across firms like Squire Patton Boggs and Thompson Hine, where he leads legal talent teams and builds development systems that align with firmwide goals.
Successful Placement and Impact
Alex Schoultheis joins Calfee as Chief Recruiting and Development Officer. He leads the strategy and implementation of firmwide attorney recruiting, hiring, integration, and development initiatives, ensuring alignment with Calfee’s long-term business goals.
Immediate Impact:
Leads lateral and associate recruitment strategy across offices.
Builds integration programs to improve attorney onboarding and retention.
Develops structured development frameworks to support attorney growth and advancement.
Enhances firm culture through talent-driven leadership.
Insights from the Recruiter
“Alex is a high performer and precisely the Chief Legal Recruiting and Development Officer Calfee needs to build and elevate their recruiting function. His experience with sophisticated firms and background in the Ohio market will serve him well as Calfee continues to expand their outstanding practices. We are excited to see Alex utilize his technical skills and strong emotional intelligence at Calfee.”
– John Mann, Managing Director, The Alexander Group
About Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP
Calfee is a nationally recognized law firm with more than 160 attorneys serving clients from offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C. The firm is known for its practical legal guidance and deep industry insight across litigation, business law, government relations, and IP.
About The Alexander Group
The Alexander Group is a global executive search firm based in Houston. With decades of experience serving law firms, professional services organizations, and corporate leadership teams, the firm helps clients hire leaders who elevate performance and culture.
Searching for legal talent leadership that drives growth? The Alexander Group delivers the people behind your long-term success.
Anyone who has ever been involved with a not-for-profit will at some point be asked to serve on a search committee or lead a search committee’s search for a new CEO/President or senior officer. We have written previously about the responsibilities of search committee members and how candidates can prepare for a search committee interview but wanted to take a deeper look at the role of the Search Committee Chair. We turn to Steve Taylor, a leader in the not-for-profit community for nearly 30 years, who is currently serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Mission Officer of the Arthritis Foundation. Steve recently chaired the search committee for the President & CEO of the National Health Council which has been widely viewed as a well-run search with an outstanding result. Below, Steve answers the questions we are frequently asked as not-for-profits recruit using search committees. How big should a search committee be?
I believe the ideal size is seven, including the Chairman who should also have a vote. You could possibly do nine or five, but frankly, if the Committee becomes too large, it can be hard to coordinate schedules. You have too many opinions in the discussions, and you want every voice to be heard. You’ll also want to make sure it’s an odd number; that way there is no tie.
Who should be on a search committee?
Much of it depends on the position. Ideally, one to three members of the Executive Committee should be on the Search Committee and supplement that with volunteers who represent different parts of the organization. I recommend looking at the various responsibilities of the position you are trying to fill. Which volunteers can best represent and understand these responsibilities? The key to a successful search committee is that you want members with perspective but who are not living in the past. On the other hand, you don’t want search committee members being so free-spirited they are substituting their vision for that of the Board’s.
The ideal Search Committee member understands the history of the organization as well as its future vision.
And that is what is so important when selecting volunteers to serve on a search committee: they need to be familiar [with] and embrace the Board’s vision for the organization and also represent different constituencies of the organization.
Should current employees sit on a search committee?
That is a question that many organizations wrestle with. Sometimes it can make sense, especially when you have long-term employees who understand the organization. But this is not a choice without challenges.
If there are internal candidates for the position, it can be difficult to ask a colleague [to] make an unbiased choice.
Secondly, a staff member on the Committee may not have the strategic view of the organization that a high-ranking volunteer or board member will have.
Thirdly, it can be sensitive for an employee to be involved in salary discussions involving the successful candidate.
What I typically recommend is that one of the Search Committee members serve as a liaison to a group of employees/staff. On the recent search I led for the National Health Council, I personally maintained contact with the senior leadership team. While I did not discuss individual candidates, I asked the search firm to solicit their opinions for the type of leaders we were seeking, and I communicated to them on the progress of the search.
Who selects the search firm, and what should be considered?
I can’t overemphasize the importance of a strong partnership with the search firm. You want it to be a partnership, not just a firm presenting resumes. The Chair should have meaningful input on selecting the search firm because they’ll be the one working [most] closely with them. Of course, the Search Committee reviews proposals and meets with a small number of finalists. But ultimately the Chair of the Search Committee should have a strong voice in selecting a search firm.
For me, it was critical that the search firm had experience in organizing and administratively providing infrastructure to the committee so that I and the Committee could focus on the candidates.
I also believe the Chair shouldn’t rely on the Search Committee or search firm to do all of the coordination. There will be times that it is important for the Chair to jump in to either facilitate meetings or deal with scheduling or personnel challenges. The search firm should be willing to do more than just conduct the search as many members of a search committee have full-time jobs.
I advise my colleagues running search committees to be very specific with what you would like the search firm to do.
Do you want them to:
Attend search committee meetings?
Set the agenda for search committee meetings?
Provide interview questions?
I believe you need a search firm to do anything the Search Committee and its Chairman cannot or do not want to do because of time restraints.
It is a given that a search firm needs to have a robust Rolodex, but I’m still trying to figure out how to evaluate that. [laughing] What you can evaluate is recent searches a search firm has conducted for similar positions. As we evaluated search firms, some listed searches they conducted more than a decade ago! That was a lifetime ago in the not-for-profit world.
And finally, I believe you need to find a search firm that is upfront and honest with you about who the lead staff will be—and that you have the opportunity to meet with that lead staff to ensure compatibility and understanding of the process you envision—before you finalize your selection on a firm.
What allowances did you make during COVID in the most recent search you chaired?
Overall, it worked out well. In certain ways, the process moved more efficiently given the Search Committee met by Zoom and the candidates were interviewed by the search firm and us for first-round interviews by Zoom. One advantage we had as a search committee is that we all knew each other—some better than others—but this familiarity allowed us to work together well virtually.
Once we narrowed the process to our finalists, we asked them to meet face to face, of course, social distancing, wearing masks, etc. with another search committee member and me. Despite adapting to video conferencing, meeting the candidate in person makes a big difference. To have a candidate being willing to invest the time, to travel to a meeting, meet a group of people, some in person, some virtually, was critical to the final steps of our process.
We were able to observe how they handled themselves in the middle of a pandemic, watch how they coordinated their presentation, and even how they arranged the papers on the conference table. In a virtual interview, you have no idea if the candidate has sticky notes all over their computer screen providing possible hints to questions. That was important to us because that’s what the job is going to be (ultimately): face-to-face meetings working with different constituencies and being able to communicate and think on their feet. Interestingly, I believe we would have ended up with the same candidate if we had conducted the search before COVID.
How do you, as a search committee chair, handle candidate withdrawals and surprises?
As a search committee chair or member, you understand that many of the candidates currently are in good positions, and you are hoping to attract them to your organization. You can’t get too nervous about that. It is part of the process. You reach for candidates, and some you attract, and some you lose. And if a candidate pulls out, I believe it’s better that they do it in the search process rather than later.
As for the second part of your question, as Chair, you have to be flexible, responsive, and nimble because issues arise that need to be acted on quickly. Several times, I had to reach out to Committee members individually to keep the process moving either because an issue arose on a Friday night or there was simply not the time to call a full committee meeting. You establish that at the beginning of the search so there is no misunderstanding. In every search, there may be small decisions made either by the chair or by a smaller group on the committee, because trying to get everyone together all the time isn’t possible, but ultimately the big decisions are made as a group.
How much time does it take to do a good job?
The time required ebbs and flows during the search. If you have a good search firm, as we did in using The Alexander Group, there’s less time initially because you allow them to do the search and trust their judgment on the candidates they’re presenting. The search committee chair is then free to focus on the higher-level items most important to finding the right candidate. Once the interview process is underway, you will need to be available for the search committee, search firm, [and] staff as the process unfolds. There is a significant time commitment required for the Chair. The organization needs someone who can make that time commitment because, if it is not a priority, you’ll never finish the search.
Who should be the Chair?
Choosing the right search committee chair is critical to a successful search. It needs to be a leader in the organization who understands its past but also understands the future vision of the organization. It does not have to be the current board chair. It could be a past board chair who might have more time because they’re not the current board chair. It is important that the chair can lead without supervision and is trusted by the board.
Robinson+Cole appoints Liz Sobe to lead strategic business development and client growth initiatives.
Client: Robinson+Cole | Role: Director of Business Development | Candidate: Liz Sobe
Robinson+Cole, a national Am Law 200 firm known for its deep industry insight and collaborative culture, partnered with The Alexander Group, a global executive search firm, to recruit a Director of Business Development. As the firm aimed to expand its client relationships and sector focus, it sought a leader to elevate firmwide business development strategies and embed growth-focused initiatives across practices.
Key Leadership Need
Robinson+Cole needed a Director of Business Development to lead client development, improve data-driven decision-making, and partner with attorneys to expand client relationships. The role required a leader who could blend strategic thinking with execution, backed by deep knowledge of legal services marketing and a strong understanding of firm operations.
The Alexander Group’s Approach
Amanda K. Brady led a targeted national search focused on experienced business development executives in legal and professional services environments. The team prioritized candidates with a strong firm growth planning, attorney coaching, and cross-functional collaboration history.
Search priorities included:
Experience building and executing firmwide business development strategies.
Strength in attorney relationship management and strategic coaching.
Ability to drive client acquisition and retention using data, positioning, and client insight.
Liz Sobe stands out for her extensive leadership across firms like Fish & Richardson, Goulston & Storrs, and Cornerstone Research. With nearly 30 years of experience in marketing and business development, she brings a proven record of helping firms grow market share through relationship-driven strategy and execution.
Successful Placement and Impact
Liz Sobe joins Robinson + Cole as Director of Business Development. She will lead business development strategy, attorney coaching, and client growth programs across the firm, aligning BD efforts with the firm’s long-term market positioning goals.
Immediate Impact:
Drive strategic BD initiatives across practice groups and markets
Collaborate with firm leadership to expand client acquisition and retention efforts
Build cross-functional alignment around growth, visibility, and brand engagement
Elevate attorney coaching, targeting, and pipeline development
Insights from the Recruiter
“Liz brings a unique blend of market-growth perspective and leadership experience across a variety of professional services sectors. Her creativity, pragmatism, and data-driven mindset will no doubt mesh well with Robinson + Cole’s leadership team as they continue to advance the firm’s strategic growth initiatives.”
– Amanda Brady, Managing Director and Chief Client Officer, The Alexander Group.
About Robinson+Cole
Robinson+Cole LLP is a U.S. law firm with offices across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Florida. The firm serves clients across industries, including construction, insurance, environmental law, finance, and healthcare. Robinson + Cole is widely respected for its client-first approach, collaborative culture, and legal innovation.
About The Alexander Group
The Alexander Group is a global executive search firm headquartered in Houston. With a strong reputation for placing senior leadership across legal services, professional services, and corporate sectors, the firm helps clients drive transformation through strategic hires that deliver results.Your next phase of growth starts with leadership aligned to your strategy. The Alexander Group finds the people who make it happen.
Summer travel season has arrived and with it comes opportunities to catch up on New York Times bestsellers, beach reads, and books for personal growth written by modern thought leaders. This holiday weekend, Alexander Group team members are sharing the books they are reading for pleasure, personal enrichment and professional development.
Many of us assume the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs.
What can we do, starting now, to make our older years a time of happiness, purpose, and yes, success?
At the height of his career at the age of 50, Arthur Brooks embarked on a seven-year journey to discover how to transform his future from one of disappointment over waning abilities into an opportunity for progress. From Strength to Strength is the result, a practical roadmap for the rest of your life.
Drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and Eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks’ books for personal growth show us that true life success is well within our reach. By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn, such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress, we can set ourselves up for increased happiness.
Managing Director Jean Lenzner is a voracious reader and the ultimate TAG source for book recommendations from every literary genre, not just books for personal growth.
Audiobook Description:
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today
“I would gladly listen to anything with Meryl Streep as the narrator. This explores love, family dynamics and the lives people lived before marriage.”
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
“A young American woman coming of age novel set against the backdrop of the of the Vietnam War.”
Favorite Non-Fiction Personal Growth Book Description:
Many tales from the Jazz Age reek of crime and corruption. But perhaps the era’s greatest political fiasco—one that resulted in a nationwide scandal, a public reckoning at the Department of Justice, the rise of J. Edgar Hoover, and an Oscar-winning film—has long been lost to the annals of history. In Crooked, Nathan Masters restores this story of murderers, con artists, secret lovers, spies, bootleggers, and corrupt politicians to its full, page-turning glory.
Newly elected to the Senate on a promise to root out corruption, Burton “Boxcar Burt” Wheeler sets his sights on ousting Attorney General Harry Daugherty, puppet-master behind President Harding’s unlikely rise to power. Daugherty is famous for doing whatever it takes to keep his boss in power, and his cozy relations with bootleggers and other scofflaws have long spawned rumors of impropriety. But when his constant companion and trusted fixer, Jess Smith, is found dead of a gunshot wound in the apartment the two men share, Daugherty is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, exposing the rot consuming the Harding administration to a shocked public.
Determined to uncover the truth in the ensuing investigation, Wheeler takes the prosecutorial reins and subpoenas a rogue’s gallery of witnesses—convicted felons, shady detectives, disgraced officials—to expose the attorney general’s treachery and solve the riddle of Jess Smith’s suspicious death. With the muckraking senator hot on his trail, Daugherty turns to his greatest weapon, the nascent Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose eager second-in-command, J. Edgar Hoover, sees opportunity amidst the chaos.
“Jazz Age story of corruption and scandal perpetrated by our most corrupt US Attorney General and a US senator who goes against all odds in his fight to bring him down, while also documenting the rise of J. Edgar Hoover. Hard to believe this book is non-fiction.”
Meet Casey Han: a strong-willed, Queens-bred daughter of Korean immigrants immersed in a glamorous Manhattan lifestyle she can’t afford. Casey is eager to make it on her own, away from the judgements of her parents’ tight-knit community, but she soon finds that her Princeton economics degree isn’t enough to rid her of ever-growing credit card debt and a toxic boyfriend. When a chance encounter with an old friend lands her a new opportunity, she’s determined to carve a space for herself in a glittering world of privilege, power, and wealth—but at what cost?
Set in a city where millionaires scramble for the free lunches the poor are too proud to accept, this sharp-eyed epic of love, greed, and ambition is a compelling portrait of intergenerational strife, immigrant struggle, and social and economic mobility. Addictively enjoyable, Min Jin Lee’s bestselling debut Free Food for Millionaires exposes the intricate layers of a community clinging to its old ways in a city packed with haves and have-nots.
“I’m always reading fiction! I try to read for an hour every night before bedtime – my brain appreciates going somewhere a little less real at the end of the day before sleep. Up next in my queue is Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. She wrote Pachinko – I read that book last year and never got it out of my mind. Right behind it is South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami, one of my top five novelists of all time.”
Recommended by: Abby Buchold, Senior Research Associate
Book Description:
Two newlyweds are searching for their dream house visit the remote home of a renowned psychiatrist who disappeared four years prior. They wind up stuck there overnight due to a bad snowstorm. While looking for something to read to pass the time, Tricia finds a secret room containing audio transcripts for all of the doctor’s patients. Tricia listens to the tapes and discovers the horrific events leading up to Dr. Hale’s disappearance. All will be revealed when she listens to the final tape.
“I have not gotten very far into the book yet, but I’m thinking it will be a good mystery for summer with plenty of twists and turns.”
Recommended by: Jodi Smith, Manager of Administration Support
Book Description:
Dramatically improve workplace relationships simply by learning your coworkers’ language of appreciation.
This audiobook will give you the tools to improve staff morale, create a more positive workplace, and increase employee engagement. How? By teaching you to effectively communicate authentic appreciation and encouragement to employees, co-workers, and leaders. Most relational problems in organizations flow from this question: do people feel appreciated? This audiobook will help you answer “Yes!”
A bestseller on the list of books for personal growth—having sold over 300,000 copies and translated into 16 languages—this audiobook has proven to be effective and valuable in diverse settings. Its principles about human behavior have helped businesses, non-profits, hospitals, schools, government agencies, and organizations with remote workers.
When supervisors and colleagues understand their coworkers’ primary and secondary languages, as well as the specific actions they desire, they can effectively communicate authentic appreciation, thus creating healthy work relationships and raising the level of performance across an entire team or organization.
Growth-Minded Resources and Books for Personal Growth for Executives
Books on personal growth can offer valuable insights that extend beyond individual development—they can also shape leadership skills and enhance professional effectiveness. The Alexander Group is a global executive search firm dedicated to finding transformative leaders. We understand the power of continuous learning. Whether aiming for personal growth or seeking executive insights, these books can provide the inspiration and guidance needed to thrive in your personal and professional journey.
We can support your next C-level search. Contact us to explore how our executive search expertise can connect you with transformational opportunities that align with your vision of success.
